The Week is hosting a book party tomorrow night for Marc Ambinder and D.B. Grady for their new book, Deep State: Inside the Government Secrecy Industry. Ambinder is editor-at-large for The Week, and a contributing editor for GQ and The Atlantic; Grady is a correspondent for The Atlantic.

The event includes cocktails and conversation with the authors at the National Press Club that includes a talk moderated by The Week‘s Paul Brandus, who writes West Wing Reports.

An excerpt of the book’s description on Amazon reads like an episode of ABC’s “Scandal.”

“The government secrecy industry speaks in a private language of codes and acronyms, and follows an arcane set of rules and customs designed to perpetuate itself, repel penetration, and deflect oversight. It justifies itself with the assertion that the American values worth preserving are often best sustained by subterfuge and deception. There are indications that this deep state is crumbling. Necessary secrets are often impossible to keep, while frivolous secrets are kept forever. The entire system has fallen prey to political manipulation, with leaks carefully timed to advance agendas, and over-classification given to indefensible government activities.”

NYT magazine writer Mark Leibovich‘s long awaited book, This Town, is toast. That’s right, canceled. Much to the shock of he and his trusted editors, the publishing house poo pooed the final read, reasoning it didn’t quite flow, and gave it the axe.

Socialite and PR maven Tammy Haddad was spotted smiling ear to ear over the weekend during a raucous dinner at Café Milano with CNN Analyst and WaPo Contributor Hilary Rosen, also a managing partner at SKDKnickerbocker.

Leibovich, meanwhile, is saddened, in shock, and questioning his entire career trajectory. He’s taking a few weeks off to do some serious introspection on a yoga and meditation retreat at an ashram in the Bahamas.

He replied only by email, saying… Read more

In an interview with Deborah Kalb, ex-Politico writer Karin Tanabe, who wrote The List, a novel based on her experiences working at the male-dominated, competitive publication where long hours are a given, spilled a few more details on the aftermath of writing the controversial book.

For instance, some Politico reporters have refused to read the book and shun those that do. Still, some editors couldn’t resist.

“Well, I haven’t heard anything negative except a murmur that a few reporters there refuse to read my book and chastise others for doing so! Fair enough. But I’ve also heard that two editors were spotted reading it inside the newsroom and I’ve had wonderful support from friends who are still there and friends who have gone on to other media jobs.”

Tanabe, who lives in Washington and Dubai, is working on another book about the auction industry. Her protagonist works at Christie’s in New York.

It may be tough for journos to break into book-writing, but for Denene Millner, landing her first book deal in 1997 was “a total fluke.”

The journo wrote a feature story for the New York Daily News about how the relationship book The Rules wouldn’t work for black women and, by 3:00 p.m. that day, Millner had landed a book deal for that very subject. Since then, she’s penned 21 titles, including Steve Harvey‘s bestseller, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man.

“It opened doors for me for other projects, because when other celebrities are considering who should write their book, they’re going to see my representation and my reputation as a writer,” Millner told Mediabistro about the runaway hit. “You know, New York Times-bestselling writer and top-selling book of 2009 is a hell of a calling card. In some other ghostwriting projects, my name hasn’t even been on the spine or the title page, but I try my best to negotiate that so that somebody knows I wrote it besides my family. It opens a lot of doors for more work, which is kind of awesome. It’s all any writer can ask.”

For more, read So What Do You Do, Denene Millner, Co-Author of Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man?

Book? What book?

This appears to be the attitude of Politico, who hasn’t written word one on the new book out by former Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), who served time in the big house for his criminal dealings with lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Just think of it as their own quite f–k you to Ney.

No doubt the book, Sideswiped: Lessons Learned Courtesy of the Hit Men of Capitol Hill., wasn’t a joy ride for Politico, so it’ll be surprising if Politico reporters show up to Ney’s book party tonight at the Monocle. After all, Ney devotes an entire chapter to skewering Politico‘s own John Bresnahan, a longtime Washington political reporter covering Capitol Hill. Which is probably why you didn’t see excerpts of it in this morning’s Playbook.

Even so, you’d think they’d print the criticisms and strong accusations Ney had for House Maj. Leader John Boehner, painting him as a heavy drinker and someone who allegedly promised him funding if he dropped out of his congressional race, which he did. Boehner’s office has, of course, denied the charges and accusations in Ney’s book.

Nope. To Politico, Ney is a has been. Why bother? Except that Politico always bothers with tell-all tomes. Not this time.

UPDATE: Politico finally got around to writing about Ney’s book on March 8. Uncharacteristically late for them, indeed. But to their credit, they do mention the Bresnahan chapter. In the story, Patrick Gavin quotes Editor-in-Chief John Harris as saying, “John’s reputation for toughness and journalistic integrity is universally known and respected by his colleagues at POLITICO, at competing news organizations, and among lawmakers and staffers in both parties on Capitol Hill.” It’s unclear why Harris didn’t say this two days earlier when asked about the scathing chapter on Bresnahan.

Former Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), who served time in federal prison for his involvement in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, is out with a new book, Sideswiped: Lessons Learned Courtesy of the Hit Men of Capitol Hill. In it, he rips the cover off the alleged bad boy behavior of longtime Capitol Hill reporter John Bresnahan, now a reporter for Politico. Ney’s references about him stem from when he was previously a reporter for Roll Call.

In Chapter 26 of the 377-page tell-all, Ney makes Bresnahan out to be unethical and bullying. “The only way to describe Bresnahan is to utilize the name given to him behind his back and widely used by staff, even by friendly staff, and that was ‘troll,’” Ney wrote. “He is a muckraking reporter, and it was said that he would only attempt a positive story if forced as a means of getting to the mud. Bresnahan had no limits and no problem with threatening or destroying anyone in his path. He was considered a ‘bottom feeder’ who eventually ended up at Politico, a political journalism organization.”

If he was a “bottom feeder,” it is abundantly clear from the chapter, titled “The Press Á La Abramoff,” that Bresnahan was one that Ney personally feared. Nearly the entire chapter focuses on him, bordering on obsession. In several graphs, Ney describes an incident in which he says Bresnahan was angered that Ney’s office had failed to give him a big scoop about their legal fund. He spoke of an email that Bresnahan wrote to his then-flack, Brian Walsh, former spokesman for the NRSC, which allegedly said he was going to “fuck Mr. Ney.” Ney wrote, “This sent chills down my spine.”

An interesting factoid: According to Ney, Abramoff’s plan was going to buy the Capitol Hill newspaper, Roll Call, and make Bresnahan editor. Point being, the purchase would give Abramoff more power.  “I, as well as others at the time, feared the vicious, corrupt Bresnahan,” Ney wrote.

In other weirdness, Ney writes of poker games in which hundreds and thousands of dollars were spent, with Bresnahan being among the players with Abramoff associate Tony Rudy, and then-Delay aide Mike Scanlon, House staffers and lobbyists. Ney wrote that it was “speculated” that lobbyists purposely folded to “feed money to Bresnahan.” In 2005, Ney wrote, he lost hands to avoid getting bad press, saying he’d rather lose than piss “John” off. Sure enough, Bresnahan allegedly showed up at Ney’s office to collect his $200.

Politico has declined to comment.

Ex-Politico staffer Karin Tanabe revealed last night that there will be a sequel to her fictional book The List. “There’s got to be a sequel,” she said at a party celebrating the publication of her first book.

Though The List is a kind of fictional tell-all about Tanabe’s tenure at Politico, several current staffers still showed up to offer congratulations. Former employees showed up as well, including Kendra Marr Chaikind, who was fired from the publication in 2011.

“I wrote it really fast in secrecy,” Tanabe said in a short speech to the room of 70-ish attendees. She started it in the summer of 2011 while still working at Politico. “I was terrified,” she said.

Tanabe acknowledged other Politico “survivors” in the room (some of whom could be heard trading jokes about Politico) and said her book is about “paying homage” to reporters working in today’s new media environment. Of new media, she said, “It’s easier to make your career but also break your career.”

At one point, what appeared to be the cast of D.C. Housewives swooped in and had their photo snapped by the photographer. Among the women (and wearing all sorts of furs and leathers) were… Read more

It’s a pretty big accomplishment for a first-time author to land on the New York Times bestsellers list, but Isabel Wilkerson definitely deserves it. The Pulitzer-prize winning journalist spent 15 years researching and conducted over 1,200 interviews for The Warmth of Other Suns, an account of the men and women who lived through the Great Migration, when 6 million African-Americans moved to the North.

In the latest Mediabistro feature, she talks about her writing process and gives tips to fellow journos who want to write a book. Below, an excerpt:

You interviewed more than 1,200 individuals. What skills do you possess that made people feel comfortable sharing their stories and information?

I always go into interviews with a great sense of gratitude for the courage it takes to share one’s story, particularly one so painful and heartbreaking, things that they had deep within themselves and had just gotten to the point of being able to share. So I think being an empathic listener, someone who was truly wanting to understand what they had endured — those are things I think they could pick up and sense in me. I also think they felt I had a sense of connection with them.

For more, read Hey, How’d You Write a New York Times Nonfiction Bestseller, Isabel Wilkerson? [Mediabistro AvantGuild subscription required]

Ever wanted to meet the New York Time‘s Ethicist? Well, now you can at least make the acquaintance of the first Ethicist, Randy Cohen, who joins the Washington DCJCC later this month for a talk. Cohen will discuss his book Be Good: How to Navigate the Ethics of Everything.

Cohen will reflect on his 12 years as the Ethicist, in which he wrote on such subjects as sex (gasp!), love, religion, family, and relationships. Moment magazine’s Nadine Epstein will interview Cohen on those topics and more.

The DCJCC is located at 1529 16^th Street NW. Moment is co-sponsoring the event. The event is scheduled for February 20 at 7:30 p.m.

Details, tickets, etc… Read more

Karin Tanabe‘s novel The List, heavily based on her experience as a reporter at Politico, publishes Tuesday. She spent the last year in Dubai working for ITP Publishing, a British magazine company.

As of this week, Tanabe’s back in Washington, working on her next fictional book. Today, she completed the Fishbowl5.

1. Why write a type of kiss-and-tell book about Politico in fiction format? And how much of the main character is based on you?

I worked in journalism for a decade, but I was always a journalist who wanted to end up a fiction writer, it just took a little while. I definitely looked to my experiences at Politico for inspiration for The List but newsroom life without a heavy dose of fiction would make a bit of a dull read. Politico is an eerily quiet newsroom and I didn’t want to write a quiet book!

As for Adrienne Brown, my main character, her job as a Style reporter was very much based on mine as a CLICK reporter for Politico and her struggles between ethics and ambition were based on my experiences, but the similarities fizzle from there. When I wrote her character, I pictured a young, stylish woman coming from the glamorous world of New York fashion magazines and I thought about what working as a Washington journalist in new media would be like for her. How would she react to the power culture of D.C? Would she become one of these people who lives and breathes her job? For me, though I did go to Politico from a magazine background, I knew D.C. and the wonk culture very well, so Politico wasn’t a shock to the system.

2. Do you think your book will upset Jim VandeHei or John Harris or anyone else at Politico? What do you think the writers there will think after reading?

I don’t think it will upset VandeHei, Harris or other Politico editors and reporters, honestly. The mile-a-minute culture of Politico is not something the higher-ups have ever tried to keep a secret, nor do they attempt to fight the stereotypes about the office. I think their model works for them and if people don’t agree with it, so be it. Do they lose some good reporters and editors because they don’t fit the Politico mold? I think they have, but Politico attracts some of the brightest and hardest working journalists around and I definitely became a better writer and journalist when I worked there.

In the newsroom I present in The List, I write about sexism, favoritism and plenty of other hot button topics. Was all that inspired by Politico? I’ll leave it to readers to decide.

3. The main character thinks about sex a lot. Is she a complete freak in the sheets?… Read more