As long as anyone can remember, autumn has been the big season in book publishing, the season to unveil the blockbuster novel and the talked-about nonfiction book.

Mr. Baldacci usually receives advances of millions for his blockbuster novels, but he agreed to accept a token $2,000 for his contribution.

After a best-selling author mysteriously disappears, an ex-librarian and romance writer named Jacqueline Kirby is given the dubious honor of writing a sequel to the woman's blockbuster novel.

He provides a dumbed-down version of Friedrich Hayek's classical liberalism but doesn't mention Ayn Rand's blockbuster novels.

Gone are the days when he could sit undisturbed in the Grand Gallery of the Louvre, sketching out the murder scene that opens his blockbuster novel.

For publishers, the scramble to acquire some of these books is starting to resemble the competition for a celebrity biography or blockbuster novel.

The multiple roles put her at the center of a web of intrigue worthy of Random House's blockbuster novel "The Da Vinci Code."

But most of today's blockbuster novels average $4.50 to $4.95, and publishers feel they may have to raise prices again - even at the risk of another decline in total sales.

He has also acquired few blockbuster novels, an area in which Random House has fallen short in the eyes of its corporate parent.

True, the house was blessed with blockbuster novels by Tom Wolfe and Scott Turow.