Booksellers Ready for Sold-Out Gore Tour.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6442966.html?nid=2286

The Assault on Reason, Al Gore's take on "the current politics of fear, secrecy, cronyism and blind faith," doesn't go on sale until next Tuesday, but several lucky booksellers are already cashing in on the politico's popularity, preparing to host him at six mostly sold-out, ticketed events in five cities.

The tour to promote the book from Penguin Press will include a May 22 event in Los Angeles coordinated by Book Soup; a May 24 interview with Charlie Rose at New York's 92nd Street Y (book sales by B&N); a May 25 event at B&N's Union Square store in New York and a June 6 event at the downtown Chicago Borders. Due to overwhelming demand, Book Passage in Corte Madera, Calif., moved its May 23 event to a now-sold-out 2,000-seat venue from one half that size. Washington, D.C.'s Politics and Prose has also secured a larger-than-usual 1,500-seat auditorium for its May 29 event. Tickets average around $30, which includes a copy of the book; revenue from ticket sales will cover the venue rental. Book Passage's $40 tickets also include a donation to local environmental and educational organizations.

Gore returns to the book tour circuit with his celebrity factor still soaring from An Inconvenient Truth (Rodale), his bestselling book and Oscar-winning documentary. With competition to host the appearances so high, booksellers were obliged to accept strict guidelines for the events.

Mike Giarratano, event coordinator at Politics and Prose, said Penguin Press and Gore's people are asking booksellers to sell only The Assault on Reason and the young reader's edition of An Inconvenient Truth, which was published by Viking Juvenile: "We don't want the focus to be on , but on his new book." Said Giarratano, "They dictate a lot of those guidelines. Basically, the publisher wants it a certain way, and we go with that. But we're also looking out for the people that are going to our event."The store is actually discouraging audience members from bringing any books for signing: "We're telling people not to bring books in. He'll be signing 1,500 copies of his new book," Giarratano said. "It's just too much. We can't accommodate all that."

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[patricia92243]

1. $30 and that includes a book - seems like a good deal to me. Wish he were in my litle town :(