By Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg
When Harper Lee's new novel "Go Set a Watchman" goes on sale
July 14, the Northshire Bookstore in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., will
be ready.
Reflecting the book's status as one of the most-anticipated
cultural events of the summer, Northshire and the Saratoga Film
Forum plan to co-host a July 13 screening of "To Kill a
Mockingbird," the movie based on Ms. Lee's literary debut, and a
dinner featuring Southern food from a local restaurant known for
its fried chicken and jambalaya. Guests will receive a copy of "Go
Set a Watchman" at midnight, when the event is over.
Although there won't be the 5,000-plus midnight parties that
greeted 2007's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," chains and
independent bookstores have placed sizable orders. Book retailers
across the country are banking on the novel to lure in customers as
they compete with e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. Last year,
bookstore sales fell 4.7% from a year earlier to $10.89 billion,
according to preliminary U.S. Census Bureau data.
Northshire is so confident that the novel will be a hit that it
ordered 250 copies for each of its stores in Saratoga Springs and
Manchester, Vt.
Although details of the book's plot are scant, the story
features Scout, a key character in the Alabama-based "To Kill a
Mockingbird," as an adult. "We're dying to know what she's like as
a grown-up," said Carol Maxwell, board president of the Saratoga
Springs film group.
Nobody is suggesting that "Go Set a Watchman" will have as much
staying power as Ms. Lee's first book, which has sold more than 40
million copies world-wide and won a Pulitzer Prize since it was
published in 1960.
But in a literary landscape already awash with big titles by
David McCullough, Anthony Doerr and Paula Hawkins, News Corp's
HarperCollins Publishers says it will print two million copies of
"Go Set a Watchman." That is a major commitment given that many
fiction readers have turned to e-books. (News Corp also publishes
The Wall Street Journal.)
"Everybody wants it to work, because there's profound respect
and affection for the author," said Lorraine Shanley, president of
publishing consulting firm Market Partners International.
One Midwest retailer, Prairie Lights Bookstore in Iowa City,
Iowa, has preordered 75 copies, which co-owner Jan Weissmiller
described "as a big number for us."
But Ms. Weissmiller was measured in her expectations. "People
are curious, but there isn't a lot of sense that it's going to be
another 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' " she said.
One hurdle the publisher and bookstores might face is that it is
increasingly important for authors to make in-store appearances to
spark sales--something a spokeswoman for HarperCollins said the
famously private Ms. Lee won't be doing.
Much about Ms. Lee's new book is still shrouded in mystery. The
surprise announcement of its planned publication set off questions
about Ms. Lee's health and whether her true intentions were being
honored. But Alabama state investigators determined that the
89-year-old wasn't being exploited.
HarperCollins has declined to make galley copies available, in
hopes of preventing them from leaking out.
"We're in the dark as to what's in it," said Bradley Graham, a
co-owner of the Politics & Prose bookshop in Washington. "All
this fuss being made about it gives me some pause about its real
worth. But it's going to hit with a huge splash."
The nation's largest publicly traded bookstore chain, Barnes
& Noble Inc., is already promoting the novel with window
posters in each of its stores. The chain will open at 7 a.m. on
July 14. Early birds will receive a free cup of coffee with
purchase.
"We're putting our biggest marketing effort behind it," said
Mary Amicucci, who oversees adult consumer and children's
books.
The chain hosted discussions of "To Kill a Mockingbird" in all
of its stores last month and plans discussions of the film version
and a read-a-thon of Ms. Lee's first book.
The new book is already being heavily discounted. Amazon has
priced the hardcover edition at $14.66, a 48% discount from its
$27.99 cover price.
The online arm of Barnes & Noble is offering the title for
preorder at $16.79. The e-book price, which is set by HarperCollins
and can't be discounted by retailers without permission, is
$15.99.
Few titles have had as bumpy and unlikely a publishing journey
as "Go Set a Watchman," which was written in the 1950s.
After her editor suggested she rewrite the book from the point
of view of Scout as a young girl, Ms. Lee submitted "To Kill a
Mockingbird."
The manuscript for "Go Set a Watchman" apparently slipped from
sight, only to be rediscovered in 2014 by Tonja Carter, Ms. Lee's
attorney.
All of this raises the question: How good a read will the new
novel prove to be?
Ms. Lee appears to have no doubts. HarperCollins released a
statement in February in which she said, "After much thought and
hesitation I shared it with a handful of people I trust and was
pleased to hear that they considered it worthy of publication."
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