Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary

A total of 274 Borders employees were laid off, most of which were corporate employees in all departments except the buyer/planner group. According to the PW article, 156 positions at the Ann Arbor, MI, headquarters were eliminated and 118 positions at the distribution centers, field marketing organization and corporate sales division.

The loss of Borders would be devastating for the publishing industry as there would be half as much shelf space for books and thus decreasing the chances publishers will take on new and innovative writers.

Source: Publishers Weekly.

There was an Australian library (I think) that once hosted single’s parties which I thought was a brilliant idea. Apparently, though, some of the Literati* think that book tastes are more of a turn off than a turn on. Self help books are apparently something that would likely make women keep their clothes on. One male editor at Harper recounts the tale of giving a girlfriend Nabokov’s “Ada”, a book that is apparently about incest at its core. The relationship didn’t last, but the girlfriend’s love for the book did.
I think a boyfriend giving me a book about incest could give a weird message, like, I’d like to screw you like you’re my sister or, alternatively, I think of you like a sister and thus, this is my kiss off book.
As for Ned and I? The big fiction that we tell everyone is that we met at the bookstore (or was it the library). We didn’t but it’s something that the parents like to hear.
More at the Times.
* I know some in the cubicles of publishing might object to the term Literati, but I wasn’t the one who coined the term.

I love reader blogs and whenever one links to us, I go and check them out. Read for Pleasure began blogging this summer. She has an affinity for numbers, statistics, and, most importantly, books. RfP, as she is known in the commenting world, published a Used v. New article last week on her blog. It was an insightful column with interesting facts and insights. I asked whether I could reprint it at Dear Author and she graciously said yes.

* * *

Amazon.com first started selling used books in 2002. It was a huge success. By 2004, 67% of used books sales were online–a higher percentage than any other product category. (Only 12.7% of new books sales were online.)The Author’s Guild urged its members to de-link Amazon in protest, and sent an open letter to Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon:If your aggressive promotion of used book sales becomes popular among Amazon’s customers, this service will cut significantly into sales of new titles, directly harming authors and publishers.April 9, 2002Bezos in turn emailed Amazon’s used booksellers:We’ve found that our used books business does …