PW: Publishers Papal Bullish

PW Daily reports that Pope John Paul II’s passing has inspired a frenzy of reader and publisher interest:

Perhaps the most unusual project has longtime pope-watcher Greg Tobin writing an “instant biography” of the new pontiff for Barnes & Noble. The company plans to publish the work 8 to 10 days after the new pope is selected, says Leigh Ann Lambrosi, director of marketing/publicity for Sterling/B&N. Tobin published a previous book, Selecting the Pope , with B&N a year ago.

Mystery fans on DorothyL have been chatting up existing pontiff-themed crime fic for days, while PW relates that Amazon’s top slots are  seeing  similar non-fiction titles in heavy rotation:

Among the top selling books at Amazon today are Memory and Identity (number 2), Pope John Paul II: In His Own Words (number 4), and Rise, Let Us Be on Our Way , the pope’s own book released to disappointing sales by Warner last fall, which was number 18 on the Amazon list.

No speculation yet regarding impact on Dan Brown’s retail hegemony.