W. W. Norton and Company has high hopes for one book it plans to release on Sept. 12: the memoir of Ali H. Soufan, a former F.B.I. agent who played a major role in terrorism investigations between 1997 and 2005. A spokeswoman for Norton said that the book, “The Black Banners,” will have close to 150,000 copies in print when it is released, a significant number in these days of e-books and struggling brick-and-mortar bookstores.
Smaller publishers have also noted the anniversary. “We’re Not Leaving,” by Benjamin J. Luft, a compilation of stories told by first responders, is set for publication on Tuesday by Greenpoint Press.
Added to the mix are previously published works, like “The Looming Tower” by Lawrence Wright, the best-selling look at the events leading up to the attacks, that have recently been reissued in new editions. Norton has rereleased what was perhaps the best-selling Sept. 11 book of all, “The 9/11 Commission Report,” with a new afterword by Philip Zelikow, executive director of the commission.
Simon & Schuster has reissued “What We Saw,” an account of Sept. 11 with pictures and video (the book comes with a DVD), and the paperback edition of “The Truth About Grief” by Ruth Davis Konigsberg, a nonfiction study of grieving that includes a chapter focusing on those who lost spouses in the attacks.
Booksellers have put in modest orders, not expecting a great rush to stores for the occasion in the coming days.
Full story at New York Times.