Book News, In Brief is Back!(ain't nothing changed but my limp)

We've seen some pretty crummy looking books since we started dealing in used product, but none of them have come close to the crappy condition of this one.


Continued weak sales and after-tax charges have added to Borders' first quarter losses. Lest you think we're gloating, a confession: Our Memorial Day weekend sales could've been a little more memorable.


Fortune Magazine has compared the launch of Amazon's Kindle to Apple's launch of the iPhone. While the sales figures were staggering different (500k to 200 million), Fortune feels confident that Amazon is gonna clean up with the Kindle in the next few years. Via.


The Millions Book Blog recently compiled over a dozen movie trailers for a book club focusing on books that were made into films. This inspired in me a 'Bookselling For/To Dummies'-style idea: Using the trailers from film adaptations to sell the books that they were based upon.


Bookseller.com warns, "A decline in the amount of children's poetry being published has reached 'crisis point' according to Chris ­Holifield, director of the Poetry Book Society." This, despite the fact that nearly every Twittering/Facebooking/livejournaling poet's work could be considered childish...at best.


One last link, this one less book news than retail news. A recent poll found success rates as high as 83% for folks haggling for discounts. Note to our customers: Don't. Even. Think. About. It.