Among other start-up muckrakers, John Oakes and Colin Robinson's OR Books has sold paperback rights to their first title, GOING ROUGE, to Michele Matrisciani at HCI Books--which is reissuing the book today. Under OR Books direct-sale model, the book had not been available in traditional stores or online vendors, limiting sales despite the wave of Palin-related publicity. HCI president Peter Vegso says in their announcement "this title, although outside our usual publishing perimeters, presented an exciting and interesting challenge."

Next up for OR Books is Norman Finkelstein's book on "Israel's Growing Isolation After the Gaza Invasion," set for January, in which he "looks at how the reckless and disproportionate military action against the Palestinians in Gaza a year ago has led some of Israel's closest allies to question their support for the country," while "offering the possibility of something hopeful emerging from the tragedy of what occurred in Gaza."

Oakes says eliciting a paperback partner will "certainly be a goal for each published work of ours."