Montana newspaper makes a few bucks off the 'small-town quirkiness' of police reports

One Montana newspaper is turning crime into something that pays. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle staff decided it was about time to collect the 1,000 best (or most entertaining) police reports printed in the paper over the last 30 years and publish them in a book, reports Paige Worthy of the Inlander, the monthly newsletter of the Inland Press Association. We Don't Make This Stuff Up became an "out-of-the-box revenue generator for the 16,000-circulation paper," Worthy writes. Managing Editor Nick Ehli told her "It just seemed obvious" to compile the best of the reports in a longer format.

Ehli worked with a local designer to make the book approachable and easy to read. It was published during the paper's centennial last year, making for "a nice commemoration." It was sold from the newspaper office and other local businesses for $10. But when the book hit the shelves of the state's largest independent bookseller, Country Bookshelf, it immediately became a best seller. The first 7,500 copies were gone before the holidays; 5,000 more have been ordered. Country Bookshelf owner Ariana Paliobagis said customers bought five or 10 copies at a time to send to family and friends, and said its success is due to "the sense of small-town quirkiness it offers." (Read more)