Indeed, it's that time of year when RH CEO Peter Olson rallies the troops with good Christmas tidings, e.g. what the company did well (without any indication of where they did not so well.) Publishers Lunch has the scoop -- and the memo -- which offers up all sorts of cheer, mostly to do with what books sold the best (John Grisham's THE BROKER, Christopher Paolini's ELDEST, the audiobook of HARRY POTTER VI, and the Oprah-endorsed paperback of A MILLION LITTLE PIECES.)

Also singled out are the Sales, Distribution and Operations corps, applauded by Olson for "their efforts with our publishing divisions to bring our overall low return rate down even lower. This year the company reached a level of sell-through efficiency we only dreamed of previously."

But what seems rather troubling is Olson's forecasts for 2006 -- instead of focusing on key titles in trade or reference, he opts for movie-tie ins like MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, ERAGON and FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS (not to mention the DVC movie.) Was it easier to mention books already published, or did he not want to jump the gun on what books will be getting more marketing mojo at the expense of thousands?

But then, hedging bets might not be a bad thing, as Michael Cader pointed out in today's Lunch, because all that cheerleading eventually gives way for more sobering numbers when the year-end results hit at the end of March: "In last year's holiday letter," Cader said, "the company was 'on course to equal or exceed 2003's record full-year,' which translated in March into flat sales and rising operating EBIT." It's all a matter of what you call success, I guess...