Origami Unicorn

Yet Again Borders

They're starting to close stores, profitable stores, in good locations. Also, there may be another bidder in the offing for the stricken company. Publishers Weekly continues the long, sad tale of the slide toward oblivion. It's hard to see how the company might be saved at this point. It seems more likely it will be broken up for what its resources can bring, and that will be the end of it all.

Tracking Borders

There's a website that let's you follow what they think and hope they are doing, with a lot of links to court filings and the like. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal has the news that Borders is being forced to close stores to meet its creditors demands.

A New Model for Publishing?

Forbes has a look at how Amazon and impacting publishing and what it might all mean in the long run. Short version: everything may be changing forever and always, as authors send their books out on trial and "publishers" skim off the most likely to be profitable.

The End of Big Box Bookstores?

Did the boom of past years lead to the creation of big box bookstores? Will the change in economic times plus the rise of online selling and ebooks mean their end? One blogger considers the matter, as does another.

Books: Is the Future Digital?

At the Unesco conference in Monza, Italy on the future of the book, the answer seems to be maybe not, as Google deneis any desire to become a publisher. The Bookseller.com reports. One rather suspects that Google's unwillingness to be seen as a publisher is rooted in the ongoing battle that is the Google Book Settlement.

Dracula, with Béla Lugosi

Vampires were not always those of Twilight and Anne Rice. Here we have Béla Lugosi as the undead count without remorse. It's not embeddable; click through to see the 1931 film.

Dilbert

Spun of from the comic strip, this ran for two seasons and thirty episodes. We begin at the beginning:

And the rest of this episode.

Two to Four Weeks to a Borders Sale?

It sounds like a sale of all or many of the existing bookstores may occur in the next two to four weeks, even though the company continues to try and reorganize itself. The Detroit News comments. This article, written for people outside of New York and outside of the industry explains a bit more than most.

Borders Battles On

With an extension and a reported offer, Borders continues to try and pull itself up. Publishers Weekly reports. Meanwhile, Borders in Australia is wrapping things up, and major publishers still don;t want to supply the company with books.

The Seventh Big Publisher?

What happens if/when Amazon becomes one of the exclusive club of major publishers? The New York Observer has a few ideas. Amazon's taking on choke-hold on media delivery may not be good news for any of the other players, including, in the longer run, readers.