Louganis, who now has AIDS, made his announcement during an interview on ABC's "20/20" program Friday night and in an autobiography, "Breaking the Surface" (Random House), which will reach bookstores this week.

Lewis's autobiography, "Inside Track," is just reaching bookstores.

"The Reluctant Dragon" is one of the latter, and since an unabridged, fully illustrated edition has yet to reach bookstores, best content yourself with Moore's version.

When Simon & Schuster signed Mr. Klein to a contract, it was on the stipulation that his book be the first about the merger to reach bookstores, and he rushed to finish it in six months.

It will be a while - more than a year, one prospective bidder estimated - before the book reaches bookstores in the United States because the book must be translated and then go through the standard production cycle.

It has just been published in England, where it has attracted warm reviews, and will begin reaching bookstores in the United States this week.

Edited by Herb Boyd, a journalist for The Amsterdam News, and Robert L. Allen, an author, "Brotherman" is one of dozens of such books dealing with race that will reach bookstores this month.

Unlike many past presidential contenders who have published campaign books over the years, he is aggressively using his autobiography, "Four Trials," which has just reached bookstores, as a fund-raising tool.

This being the case, it is not surprising that "The Myth of the First Three Years" is stirring controversy even before it reaches bookstores.

But in publishing, where marketing campaigns and print runs are carefully scheduled to match selling seasons, the more punctual a book is in reaching bookstores, the better.