All That Publicity Pays Off for Jenna Bush's Book

For the past month, Jenna Bush has been on an epic cross-country book tour, promoting her new AIDS-and-poverty-awareness tome in high schools and bookstores from Naperville to Waxahachie to Pasadena. All this after a massive promotional kickoff (interviews with People, Diane Sawyer, Rachael Ray, our own front page). How's it paying off?

Pretty well, it seems. Since its Sept. 28 release, "Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope," aimed at young adults, has sold 41,000 copies, according to a Nielsen BookScan estimate yesterday.

It may not sound like a lot -- and they're definitely not Harry Potter or Da Vinci-type numbers -- "but very few books actually sell that many copies," said Amy Berkower, president of the Writers House agency in N.Y.C. "Blockbuster numbers? No. But it's great for children's nonfiction," currently a rather slender niche. The success of the Bush book "is great because it could pave the way for more" of the genre, Berkower said.

Another publishing industry expert is reserving judgment: "She had that unbelievable publicity that knocked her up to number one on the New York Times children's bestseller list," said the source, who declined to be named discussing a competitor. "But in terms of earning back [expenses], it's too early to tell."

Bush's reps at HarperCollins say the BookScan count, which excludes some big-box retailers, is incomplete: They claim 100,000 copies sold. "We are very pleased with the sales thus far," said Sandee Roston. And Bush still has two months to go on her publicity tour.

HEY, ISN'T THAT . . . ?

* Nats pitcher John Patterson greeting fiancee Shannon Schambeau on Sunday at the end of the Marine Corps Marathon (Schambeau's first, with a finish time of 4 hours 54 minutes), he in a T-shirt and shorts, she in one of those post-race blankets. The ballplayer and the former Miss D.C. will tie the knot in Florida in two weeks.

* George Clooney wearing a fleece jacket and being followed by a camera crew on Key Bridge yesterday morning, filming another scene for "Burn After Reading," which had to extend its D.C. filming through today because of the rainy weekend.

* Frances McDormand, Clooney's co-star, dining with five others at Mendocino Grille in Georgetown on Friday. The Oscar winner wore jeans, a fleece, a cute knit cap; ate sablefish; told the manager she liked her shoes.

* Lance Armstrong running right past the finish line and outta sight at the Ulman Cancer Fund's 5K race in Columbia on Saturday. Trying to avoid the crowds? No, apparently he just wanted to keep going (he's prepping for the N.Y.C. Marathon); after jogging another mile, he turned around and came back to shake hands.

* Paul Wolfowitz catching the late show of "The Jane Austen Book Club" at Bethesda Row Cinema on Saturday. Must have been date night.

THIS JUST IN . . .

* Post columnist and ESPN yakker Tony Kornheiser has re-upped with Bonneville International to resume his a.m. show on the station formerly known as Washington Post Radio, our colleague Paul Farhi reports. He'll be on WWWT (1500 and 820 AM, 107.7 FM) live from 8 to 10 a.m., on tape from 2 to 4 p.m., starting Jan. 21.

* Lawrence Wilker, right, who restored the Kennedy Center to fiscal health during his 10 years as president before leaving in 2001, has been hired as interim head of Miami's Carnival Center, which struggled financially in its first year and this week ousted its CEO.

QUOTE

"I'm pretty sure I've got better moves than Giuliani ."

-- Barack Obama after dancing (to Beyonce's "Crazy in Love") with Ellen DeGeneres on her talk show yesterday. Told he has the best moves of any presidential contender, the Illinois senator acknowledged "it's a low bar." Obama did not weigh in on DeGeneres's Iggy-the-adopted-dog crisis, a key concern for '08 swing voters.