Local Sales Lagging

As an author, Pete Rose is a pretty good baseball player -- at least if a random sampling of sales of his new book “My Prison Without Bars” at five bookstores in Long Beach and Lakewood was any indication Thursday.

Rose’s book, in which he admits to betting on baseball while managing the Cincinnati Reds in the 1980s, went on sale Thursday morning, with an unusually large first printing of 500,000 copies.

At two of the five stores, Rose’s book was nowhere to be found, although computer checks at Borders and Waldenbooks indicated there were copies of the book in the store. Clerks suggested the books had not yet been put on display.

At a Barnes & Noble, a Times reporter was the first to buy the book.

“I haven’t heard much about it,” said an assistant store manager who declined to give his name, citing company policy. “It’s not flying out of here.”

A clerk at a B. Dalton in the Lakewood Center Mall said that by 2:30 p.m., she had sold one copy and that another customer had wondered when the book would be available in paperback.

At a Target, also in the Lakewood mall, Rose’s book was marked down by 30% from the cover price of $24.95 and was displayed next to humorist Al Franken’s book.

Business was considerably better elsewhere. Online at amazon.com, where buyers were able to order the book, the title was among the top 25 sellers for the last week, according to spokesman Bill Carr.

Carr said Rose’s book ranked 22nd in sales Thursday. He would not reveal the number of books ordered but said it was five times as many as former football star Lawrence Taylor’s book.

Rose, meanwhile, was signing copies of the book at a store in Ridgewood, N.J. More than 200 people lined up outside Bookends, and owner Walter Boyer said he expected to sell all 1,000 copies he had in stock.

Associated Press contributed to this report.