The acknowledged model has been Penguin Lives, which began in 1999. With such well received mini-biographies as Garry Wills' work on St. Augustine and Karen Armstrong's best seller on Buddha, the Penguin books have proved both profitable and tempting to imitate. Last week, author and editor George Plimpton began coordinating a series of sports books for W.W. Norton. I find the books Atlas has published to be fascinating. Publishers have long made use of the short narrative.
Short books are now so common that some authors have been commissioned by more than one publisher.
Armstrong wrote about Buddha for Penguin and Islam for the Modern Library. Wills wrote about St. Augustine for Penguin and about Madison for Times Books. Most publishers declined to give sales figures, but the Modern Library says its first printings are about 25,000-30,000 and that Armstrong's Islam book is the top seller at about 40,000. Series editor Scott Moyers is especially encouraged because he thinks the Chronicles should do even better in the long-term. We care about sales now, but in the end, we're looking at back list, we're looking at course adoption by teachers.