Book News, In Brief

We did not forget Louis Braille's birthday on January 4th. In fact, we're offended at the accusation. We sent him a card. He must not have seen it.

Financially, this holiday season is going to be crap. The publishers have admitted it. The big box stores have said the same thing. So why are certain booksellers claiming everything's going to be alright? (My guess: They're either lying, high, or still practicing that The Secret bullsh*t.)

The next time you visit online print-on-demand publisher Lulu.com, you may be surprised at what you find. They're not printing books. Well, not at the moment, anyway. When internet watchdog Valleywag contacted Lulu to ask what was up, "a customer-support rep said that the company had known about the ordering bug for a week, and might not fix it for another week." Valleywag's conclusion: "Lulu doesn't have enough actual customers to worry about letting them conduct business with the company." Ouch.