There are a couple publishing-related items in The New York Times worth noting here.

With the economic downturn on everyone's mind, publishers and book retailers are looking at ways to trim costs as they nervously eye what all expect to be a glum Christmas shopping season. Stores are hiring less holiday help and buying less inventory for the new year. Publishers are recalculating print runs and travel budgets—as well as advances, especially for midlist authors. Not all is doom and gloom, however. Literary agent Larry Weissman, sees a possible silver lining: "At some point I think people are going to say, 'You know what, this is not nourishing.' I think and I hope—and maybe it's just blind hope—I think there is a yearning for authenticity out there, and people are going to go back to the things that really matter, and one of those things, I hope, will be reading books."

The second piece takes a close look at the recent agreement to allow Google to sell electronic versions of out-of-print copyrighted works. This decision has potentially huge ramifications for both writers and publishers, and is seen as a giant leap in publishing technology. Neill Denny, editor of The Bookseller, writes: "Almost overnight, not only has the largest publishing deal been struck, but the largest bookshop in the world has been built, even if it is not quite open for business yet."

--Jeff Reich, editor 

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