GalleyCat added that under the new structure--which takes effect in 2011--Karp indicated that teams consisting of two editors, two publicists, and one marketing specialist will "propose, develop, and execute their own publicity and marketing plans, from the moment of acquisition through paperback publication."
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Borders Group laid off more employees at its Ann Arbor, Mich., headquarters. AnnArbor.com reported that Borders "declined to specify the number of 'job eliminations' at the company's Phoenix Drive corporate headquarters, which had 650 workers before the cuts." Earlier this year, Borders laid off 88 headquarters employees (Shelf Awareness, January 29, 2010).
In a statement, Borders said, "As we aggressively work to restore the financial health of the company, we have reorganized core areas of our business to ensure that we have the necessary resources in place to support our strategic initiatives. As part of this process, we have made changes to our staffing levels so that the right people are in the right positions and that those positions are aligned with our strategic objectives."
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Jonathan Franzen is the first living American novelist since Stephen King a decade ago to grace the cover of Time magazine. The New York Times Paper Cuts blog reported that Lev Grossman's profile of the author is in this week's issue, which hits newsstands Friday. Franzen's novel Freedom will be released August 31. ---
Redgroup Retail, parent of the Borders and Angus & Robertson chains in Australia and a company that accounts for more than a quarter of Australia's $1.5 billion (US$1.35 billion) book industry, "is mired in debt and slashing its range, leaving publishers anxious about the industry’s health," according to Crikey, which reported that Redgroup "has been forced to jack up prices, increase returns and extend trading terms with its suppliers, according to industry sources. The company told the New Zealand Stock Exchange in July it was likely to breach two of its banking covenants at the end of the month, with debts believed to be in the order of $50-75 million."
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The Regulator Bookshop, Durham, N.C., featured "Five Things Jeff Bezos Doesn't Want You to Know About the Kindle" on its blog:
- You read slower on a Kindle.
- You almost certainly read stupider on a Kindle.
- The Kindle flunked out of Princeton.
- Amazon can play Big Brother with your books.
- Governments can play Big Brother with your books.
Regulator also has a great new video on the pleasures of reading when it's too hot to move.
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Five must be the magic number this week. ReadWriteWeb suggested Five Ways That E-Books Are Better Than Paper Books:
- Social Highlighting
- Notes
- Look-up of words
- Ability to Tweet & Facebook quotes
- Search
Giving equal time to the loyal opposition, ReadWriteWeb followed up a day later with Five Ways That Paper Books Are Better Than eBooks:
- Feel
- Packaging
- Sharing
- Keeping
- Second-hand books
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Talking with people who run small businesses along the Pacific coast, the Detroit Free Press
asked how they're surviving tough economic times. Glenna Martin, owner
of Periwinkle Station bookstore, Florence, Ore., said, "Survival
depends, first, on location. I've got a perfect spot here on the main
street. And, second, you've got to know your customers and what they
want."
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McSweeney's crack team of engineers recently "analyzed the most popular e-readers on the market in order to confer our annual 'Editor's Choice' Award" and, after considering a number of factors, concluded that "one e-reader stood out"--the newspaper.
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Fairmont Gold hotel guests in the U.S. and Canada will have access to Kobo eReaders, featuring a library of Random House books. Upon returning the Kobo eReader, guests will receive a special offer for $2 off select Random House titles redeemable at kobobooks.com/randomhouse. The opportunity to use a Kobo eReader is a benefit of Fairmont President’s Club, the company's guest loyalty program.
"Travelers are a great fit for the Kobo offering and a group that is eager to engage in eReading," said Michael Serbinis, CEO of Kobo. "We know that travelers do not want to carry heavy books in their luggage, and vacations provide the perfect time to relax and catch up on reading. This partnership allows Kobo to expand our reach and offer our service to an important segment of our customer base."
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While recommending three recently published books about the silent film era--Rudolph Valentino, The Silent Idol: His Life in Photographs by Donna L. Hill, The Sea Gull: The Chaplin Studio's Lost Film Starring Edna Purviance by Linda Wada and a new edition of the original English-language translation of The Diary of a Lost Girl by Margarete 
Böhme--on his Movie Crazy blog, critic Leonard Maltin also put in a plug for self-publishing:
"I sometimes decry the decline of professionalism in various disciplines--including publishing--but I can't think of a better argument for breaking down the barriers of traditional publishing than these three exceptional books, which I doubt any commercial house would have taken on. They may be labors of love but they also convey a commitment to both scholarship and the esthetics of the printed page.
The Diary of a Lost Girl was published by former longtime Booksmith (San Francisco) bookseller Thomas Gladysz, the director of the Louise Brooks Society. Gladysz also wrote the book's introduction.
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Book trailer of the day: Everything I Know About Marketing I Learned from Google by Aaron Goldman (McGraw-Hill), which will be published August 30.
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Effective August 31, Lucy Del Priore joins Macmillan Children's Publishing Group as director of school and library marketing for FSG Books for Young Readers, Feiwel and Friends, First Second, Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, Priddy Books, Roaring Brook Press and Square Fish.
Del Priore was director of school and library marketing at Penguin Young Readers Group for most of her career; she spent the past three years as a publishing consultant and freelancer. She has conducted research and worked on a variety of projects for companies including Random House, Little, Brown and Simon & Schuster, as well as with institutional wholesalers.