Regan at a book party in September 2004.Photo: Getty Images
Another day, another chapter in the O.J. Simpson–Judith Regan debacle. (We’ll once again insert an offensive “This story won’t die!” so you don’t have to.) Numerous outlets are reporting that as of March 1, Judith Regan’s HarperCollins imprint, ReganBooks, will be folded into HarperCollins proper, with books from her division bearing the interim imprint “HC.” Her L.A. headquarters — she moved her operation to California last year, so as to better cross-market TV and film projects — will be shuttered, with five senior staff members returning to New York and ten employees being let go. While most of the 100 books signed by ReganBooks will transfer over to HarperCollins, one more casualty will be Peter Golenbock’s 7: The Mickey Mantle Novel, a planned salty, eww-inducing “fictionalization” of the baseball player’s bedroom exploits. We have no idea if the future HC will continue publishing a controversial, ReganBooks-style list, but O.J. and Mickey’s fates make at least one thing clear: You should probably pitch your unseemly tales of former sports greats’ exploits elsewhere for the next little while.
ReganBooks to Shut Down After Firing of Its Creator [NYT]
Former O.J. Publisher’s Imprint to be Dissolved [MSNBC]
