TODAY'S NEWS

McIntosh Named to New Spot at Random House
Madeline McIntosh is returning to Random House in a newly created high level post in which she will report directly to CEO Markus Dohle. Beginning December 1, McIntosh will become president of sales, operations, and digital, with the heads of those different areas reporting to her. Among those reporting directly to McIntosh are Andrew Weber, senior v-p, operations & technology; Jaci Updike, senior v-p, director, Random House Adult Sales; Joan DeMayo, senior v-p, director, Children’s Sales, director, Special Markets Sales; and Bonnie Ammer, executive v-p, International Sales. Read on »

Marvell, E Ink Team to Create Next Wave of e-Reader Components
By Calvin Reid
Marvell, a California based semi-conductor and microprocessor producer, has entered into an agreement with E Ink, the producer of electronic paper display screens for all the major digital reading devices, to produce a new generation of integrated processors designed to both reduce the price and improve computing performance in a wave of new e-ink screen reading devices slated to hit the market over the next year. Read on »

Borders Offers “In-Stock Guarantee”
Borders, which earlier in the year struggled to keep books in stock as it reduced inventory levels, has introduced a new holiday program under which the retailer will provide free shipping on any item listed on Borders.com that is not carried in a store where a customer is shopping. The goal of the “In-Stock Guarantee,” said Mike Edwards executive v-p and chief merchandising officer for Borders, “is to have every single customer leave our stores happy this holiday season.” There is no minimum price level to qualify for the free shipping and there are no per-customer limit on the number of items eligible for the program. The guarantee program will run through most of the holiday season, with December 16 as the final date items can be located and reach customers in time for Christmas. Items will be sent via the U.S. mail. Read on »

Publishing Results Drop at Marvel
Marvel Enterainment announced this morning that sales in its publishing segment fell 6% in the third quarter ended September 30, to $48.9 million. Operating income declined 19.7%, to $10.2 million. The company attributed the sale decline to lower custom-publishing revenue plus a drop in advertising, partially offset by a $1.6 million increase in sales to the book market. An increase in talent costs plus the decrease in custom publishing, which carries higher margins, were cited as the reasons behind the profit decline. For the first nine months of 2009, publishing revenue fell 3%, to $89.5 million, and operating income was off 18.8%, to $28.2 million.

Earlier this year Marvel agreed to be acquired by Disney in a deal the company said it still expects to close before the end of the year.

Anderson Abruptly Resigns from Christian Booksellers Association
By Marcia Z. Nelson
Longtime CBA leader Bill Anderson has resigned as president and CEO of the Christian retailing association. No reason was cited in a statement released Friday evening by CBA, the Colorado Springs-based association. Anderson joined CBA in 1978 from Moody Publishing and became president in 1985. “Christian retail has been given a high and holy calling, and we must be faithful to God and His Word. CBA plays a vital role in his industry, and the industry has a vital role in the Kingdom,” Anderson said in the CBA statement. Read on »

Blogs

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Web Exclusive Book Reviews
This week: stars for Michael Psilakis's How to Roast a Lamb, Andrew Smith's Eating History, Peter Nichols's Final Voyage, Rebecca K. O'Connor's Lift, Desmond Morris's Planet Ape, and Sherry Jones's The Sword of Medina. Plus: journalist Amy Goodman, conservationist Lawrence Anthony, actor Robert Englund, ex-J.A.P. Lisa Fineberg Cook, international trade expert Daniel Griswold, 60 Minutes correspondent Byron Pitts, and more. Read on »

Job Moves
Lisa Gallagher has joined Sanford J. Greenburger as an agent. Gallagher was most recently senior v-p and publisher of William Morrow, where she worked with such authors as Dennis Lehane, Laura Lippman, John Grogan and Neal Stephenson. Before William Morrow, Gallagher opened the U.S. office of Bloomsbury Publishing.

Michelle Wetherbee has been named creative director at HarperOne, and will be joining the company on November 11. Wetherbee, a veteran of the book publishing industry, worked as art/creative director at numerous companies, including Harcourt, O'Reilly Media, The University of California at Berkeley and, previously, at HarperSanFrancisco.

Gwendolyn Heasley has joined Artisans and Artisans Inc., as an agent focusing on young adult. Her own debut YA novel, Confessions of a Teenage Recessionista, was sold to HarperCollins in a two-book deal in July.

The PW Morning Report
B&N Sued over Nook; Debunking the Bolano Myth; Thomas Nelson’s Self-Pub Division; iPhone vs. Kindle; E-Books vs. Hardcovers. Read on »

AUTHORS ON THE AIR

Authors on the Air: The Audacity to Win; Al Gore; John Grisham
This evening, The Daily Show consults David Plouffe, campaign manager for Barack Obama's primary and general election victories in 2008, whose The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama's Historic Victory (Viking, 978-0670021338, $27.95; Penguin Audio unabridged CD, $39.95), pubs today. Read on »

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Christmas…Burroughs Style
A group of Santas hit Grand Central, the Flatiron, and Union Square yesterday to promote Augusten Burroughs’s new memoir, You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas (St. Martin's Press). The Santas handed out thousands of postcards, danced, took pictures, and appropriately flashed their message to onlookers everywhere. Burroughs then did a signing at the B&N in Union Square at 7 pm. Submit your pictures here »