ReganBooks was an American bestselling

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

or division of

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

book publishing house (parent company is

News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Ne ...

), headed by editor and publisher

Judith Regan Judith Regan (born August 17, 1953, in Massachusetts) is an American editor, producer, book publisher, and television and radio talk show host. She is the head of Regan Arts. Early life and education Regan grew up in Fitchburg, Massachusetts and B ...

, started in 1994 and ended in late 2006. During its existence, Regan was called, by ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

'', "the world's most successful publisher"."The Gathering Storm"
by Brendan Bernhard, ''LA Weekly'', June 2, 2005 The division reportedly earned $120 million a year. ReganBooks focused on celebrity authors and controversial topics, sometimes from recent

tabloid Tabloid may refer to: * Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism * Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size ** Chinese tabloid * Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size * Sopwith Tabloid, a biplane aircraft * ''Ta ...

s."Trend-Setting Publisher Plans To Move to and Go Hollywood"
by Edward Wyatt, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', April 12, 2005"ReganBooks Moving to Hollywood"
, The Book Standard, April 12, 2005

History and publications

Prominent ReganBooks titles include

Jenna Jameson Jenna Marie Massoli (born April 9, 1974), known professionally as Jenna Jameson (), is an American model, former pornographic film actress, businesswoman, and television personality. She has been named the world's most famous adult entertainme ...

’s ''

How to Make Love Like a Porn Star ''How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale'' is the autobiography of adult film star Jenna Jameson, published August 17, 2004. It was mainly written by co-writer Neil Strauss, later famous for writing '' The Game'', and published by ...

'', biographies by General

Tommy Franks Tommy Ray Franks (born 17 June 1945) is a retired general in the United States Army. His last army post was as the Commander of the United States Central Command, overseeing United States military operations in a 25-country region, including the ...

, professional wrestler

Mick Foley Michael Francis Foley (born June 7, 1965) is an American actor, author, retired professional wrestler, and color commentator. He is currently signed to WWE under the company's Legends program, acting as a company ambassador. Foley worked for m ...

, and radio talk show host

Howard Stern Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and television personality, comedian, and author. He is best known for his radio show, ''The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terre ...

, three different books on the

Scott Peterson Scott Lee Peterson (born October 24, 1972) is an American convicted murderer. In 2004, he was convicted of the first-degree murder of his wife, Laci, who was pregnant at the time, and the second-degree murder of their unborn son, Conner, in Mod ...

case, and those by political commentator

Sean Hannity Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American talk show host, conservative political commentator, and author. He is the host of ''The Sean Hannity Show'', a nationally syndicated talk radio show, and has also hosted a commentar ...

. Though ultimately owned by politically active

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

, ReganBooks disavowed any political agenda, publishing, for example, books both supportive of and critical of

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

."Political but Not Partisan: A Publisher Has It Both Ways"
by Edward Wyatt, ''The New York Times'', October 13, 2004 In August 2004, ReganBooks had three books on

The New York Times Best Seller list ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

, including the top two non-fiction positions, and the highest profit ratio at HarperCollins."The Devil and Miss Regan"
by

Judith Newman Judith B. Newman (born 1961) is an American journalist and author. She writes about entertainment, relationships, parenthood, business, beauty, books, science, and popular culture. Her work has appeared in more than fifty periodicals, including ...

, January 2005, '' Vanity Fair'' In 2005, ReganBooks announced plans to move from

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, making it one of the first major book publishers to move from the east to the west coast.

Controversy and closure

In November 2006, ReganBooks announced plans to publish

O. J. Simpson Orenthal James Simpson (born July 9, 1947), nicknamed "Juice", is an American former football running back, actor, and broadcaster who played for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. Once a popular figure ...

's book ''

If I Did It ''If I Did It'' is a book by O. J. Simpson and Pablo Fenjves, in which Simpson puts forth a “hypothetical” description of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Simpson's former manager, Norman Pardo, claimed that Simpson was ...

''; publication was later cancelled by

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Rupert Murdoch. After the public fallout ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' reported, "Regan's meddlesome-free days are almost certainly over" and Murdoch will be "clamping" down on control. On December 15, 2006, Regan was fired from HarperCollins, allegedly over

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

comments. The staff at ReganBooks were reassigned within the HarperCollins General Book Group. ''The New York Times'' reported that ReganBooks' offices were closed and "a stunned Ms. Regan was confronted by security guards who arrived with boxes and ordered her to leave." Regan sued News Corporation for $100 million for defamation over the anti-Semitism charge, asserting that it was "completely fabricated"; in January 2008 News Corporation settled the lawsuit and publicly stated, "After carefully considering the matter, we accept Ms. Regan's position that she did not say anything that was anti-Semitic in nature, and further believe that Ms. Regan is not anti-Semitic."

Books published

* Bodansky, Yossef. ''The Secret History of the Iraq War''. (ReganBooks, 2005) * Boortz, Neal; Linder, John. ''

The FairTax Book ''The FairTax Book'' is a non-fiction book by libertarian radio talk show host Neal Boortz and Congressman John Linder, published on August 2, 2005, as a tool to increase public support and understanding for the FairTax plan. Released by ReganBo ...

''. (ReganBooks, 2005) * Bork, Robert H. ''

Slouching Towards Gomorrah ''Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline'' is a 1996 non-fiction book by Robert H. Bork, a former United States Court of Appeals judge. Bork's thesis in the book is that U.S. and more generally Western culture is in a ...

: Modern Liberalism and American Decline''. (ReganBooks, 1996) . * Canseco, Jose. '' Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big''. (ReganBooks, 2005) * Dickinson, Janice. '' No Lifeguard on Duty: The Accidental Life of the World's First Supermodel''. (ReganBooks, 2002) * Dux, Frank. '' The Secret Man: An American Warrior's Uncensored Story''. (ReganBooks, 1996) *Foley, Mick. '' Foley Is Good: And the Real World Is Faker than Wrestling''. (ReganBooks, 2002) * Gibson, John. '' Hating America: The New World Sport''. (ReganBooks, 2005) * Hannity, Sean. '' Deliver Us From Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism'' (ReganBooks, 2004) *Hannity, Sean. '' Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty over Liberalism'' (ReganBooks, 2002) *Feldschuh, Michael. ''The September 11 Photo Project''. (ReganBooks, 2002) *Jameson, Jenna. '' How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale''. (ReganBooks, 2004) * Maguire, Gregory. '' Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West''. (ReganBooks, 1995) *Payne, Patricia. ''Sex Tips from a Dominatrix''. (ReganBooks, 1999) *Simpson, O. J. ''If I Did It''. (Cancelled in November 2006) * Thompson, Paul. ''The Terror Timeline''. (ReganBooks, 2004) * Taormino, Tristan. ''Down and Dirty Sex Secrets''. (ReganBooks, 2003)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reganbooks Publishing companies established in 1994 Companies disestablished in 2006 News Corporation subsidiaries Defunct book publishing companies of the United States 1994 establishments in New York City 2006 disestablishments in California