New Book List Provides a Fresher Look at Sales

In a development that casts a fresher light on book sales across the country, USA Today has launched its own weekly bestseller list. The new Thursday list reflects book sales through the previous Sunday, offering a quicker reading on retail movement than is provided by the widely cited national lists published by Publishers Weekly and the New York Times, which report two weeks late.

“We wanted to do our own list and we tried to figure out a way to make it significantly different and, hopefully, better than the Times and Publishers Weekly lists,” said Joe Urschel, USA Today’s managing editor for special projects. He added that USA Today sought to avoid going by orders for newly published books, which can be quite high, and nail down actual cash-register activity.

USA Today’s list is a catch-all compilation that ranks hardcovers with paperbacks, fiction with nonfiction, cookbooks with bodice-ripping romances. No. 1 on the first list Oct. 28 was Howard Stern’s “Private Parts,” followed by Robert James Waller’s “The Bridges of Madison County” and his new novel, “Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend.” The top 10 sellers also included six paperbacks, with reissues of Amy Tan’s “The Joy Luck Club” and Edith Wharton’s “The Age of Innocence” ranking fourth and fifth. (The latter two books have been made into well-received movies.)

“I’m delighted to see the new list,” said Irwyn Applebaum, the publisher of Bantam Books. “Anytime you can get a well-read national publication to make room for reporting on books, with sidebars and such, it really helps the business.”

At the same time, Applebaum mentioned concerns among some of his colleagues that the “beauty pageant” nature of the new list may add to the kind of competition among publishers that “we already spend too much time on.”

The USA Today list is based on book sales at 3,000 chain and independent stores that report their weekly tallies by computer modems to specially designed software at the newspaper. The New York Times notes each week that its list reflects sales figures at 3,050 bookstores, plus wholesalers serving 28,000 other retailers, such as gift shops and supermarkets.

Postscript: Representatives of USA Today were planning to court advertising directors of New York publishing houses in an apparent bid to bring book ads to its new bestseller page.

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When Celebs Bankroll the Pols: Democrats seeking political office would do well to befriend rock star Don Henley. The performer went way beyond most high-profile contributors last year by giving almost $67,000 to 31 Democratic candidates, including Bill Clinton, Paul Tsongas and Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.).

Recipients of Henley’s generosity are identified in a list of “Celebrity Contributors” that appears in the October / November issue of Campaigns & Elections, a Washington-based magazine for political junkies and professionals who work in the vote-seeking industry.

Others who forked over individual gifts of $1,000 or more:

* Katharine Hepburn, to Ross Perot and Sen. Harris Wofford (D-Pa.).

* Frank Sinatra, to U.S. Senate candidates Brock Adams (D-Wash.), Mel Levine (D-Calif.), John Seymour (R-Calif.) and Sonny Bono (R-Calif.).

* Roseanne Arnold, to Bill Clinton and to U.S. Senate hopefuls Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Carol Moseley Braun (D-Ill.)--all of whom won--and Lynn Yeakel (D-Pa.), who was defeated.

Lee Iacocca gave to Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder’s presidential campaign; designer Ralph Lauren to George Bush; Arnold Schwarzenegger to cousin-in-law Joseph Kennedy, the Massachusetts congressman; Hugh Hefner to Clinton; and Stephen King to Clinton and Tsongas.

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A Rush Limbaugh Bookquake: That seismic tremor last week was only the sound of 2 million copies of Rush Limbaugh’s new book being racked on store shelves. The launch of “See, I Told You So” represents a record first printing, bigger than the 1.5 million copies announced for Stephen King’s new collection of stories, “Nightmares and Dreamscapes” (Viking).

Limbaugh’s publisher, Pocket Books, plans to drill even deeper. The publisher will release 75,000 “gift editions” of the book around Thanksgiving. This $45 version (of the $24 book) will be printed on gilt-edged paper, enclosed in a blue cloth slipcase and contain a color portrait of Limbaugh and his autograph in gold.

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On the Road With Letterman: Sportscaster Marv Albert’s new memoir, “ ‘I’d Love to But I Have a Game’ ” (Doubleday), is blessed with a demented introduction by David Letterman, who recalls an alleged odyssey with the guy who later became the “sports blooper boy.”

Letterman wrote, “As we ate mile after mile of two-lane, Marv told me all about himself. Setting fire to his parents’ house when he was 6. How he planned and botched his own kidnaping . . . Killing a guy. His early marriage to Kim Novak and prison. He had a real gift for filling the hours with sparkling conversation.”