Ross promises to revive Collins business.(Trumpeting Trump)(Steve Ross of HarperCollins)

Steve Ross hadn't been in his new office at HarperCollins for a week when he found himself plunking down a hefty sum for his first acquisition: the next book from flashy self-promoting entrepreneur Donald Trump. Ross, who recently took the reins of the house's Collins division, closed a "big seven-figure deal" for Trump's next book, Think Big and Kick Ass--in Business and Life, on his first Friday on the job. Ross sees the book, scheduled for release October 16, not only as a major get for Collins Business, but also as a harbinger of the future of the imprint, which he intends to restore to its former glory in the business publishing sphere.

Ross, who decamped from a …