Random links: Romance sales, reviewer jabs and Mr. Potter

The power of love: Harlequin, the publisher synonymous with romance, has reported modest gains in this year’s second quarter, which ended June 30. It’s not entirely because of an increase in readership--even though authors like Debbie Macomber are cited as boosting sales--but also because of a traditional corporate strategy: cutting jobs. The folks at Galley Cat also offer a bigger picture of the industry, supplying the latest numbers on book sales (they were up in June) from the Association of American Publishers.

Reviews that make you go "ouch": Across the Atlantic, in a recent issue of the Times Literary Supplement (July 27), Edward N. Luttwak ends a long piece on "The Reagan Diaries" with a sharp swipe at its editor, Douglas Brinkley. In part, Luttwak writes: "Regrettably, there is still a place for shoddy, thoroughly unworthy editors. Douglas Brinkley, to whom this precious historical document was unaccountably consigned, has not done any of the things that should have been required of the editor of such material." Brinkley, to disclose here, contributes to our section. Luttwak once wrote for the section, but that was a long time ago.

With the previous item in mind: I stopped at writer Jason Pinter’s blog, The Man in Black, and noticed a July 31 posting, "What’s a Review Worth?" He describes what it feels like when a reviewer is snarky about one’s book--veteran or debut author, it hurts all the same, he says.

What a surprise: What new book is breaking publishing sales records? If you needed more than 10 seconds to say it’s the final Harry Potter novel, then you must be from another planet. Scholastic is now reporting that U.S. sales in the last 10 days are at 11.5 million copies. Previously the publishing house said that the book sold 8.3 million of those copies within 24 hours. Scholastic also plans to print another 2 million copies to keep up with demand. Whew.

Nick Owchar