HarperCollins

No joke: The Oracle of Omaha made his billions by tapping into his feminine side. Author LouAnn Lofton's new book, Warren Buffett Invests Like a Girl, explains what women and Warren do right when it comes to the markets, and how you can learn from their temperaments.

Beginning as early as the end of the week, 6,000 Borders employees will be out work, and publishers will likely lose millions of dollars in bad debt. Hardest hit will be "midlist" authors -- those whose books aren't bestsellers but still do well enough to justify their publication.

Sarah Palin's publisher, HarperCollins, says it has settled its lawsuit with Gawker, which posted leaked images of pages from Palin's new book, "America by Heart." Neither company disclosed details of the settlement, but HarperCollins proclaimed itself "gratified."

When Sarah Palin protested after gossip site Gawker posted pages from her upcoming book America By Heart, Gawker taunted her for her lack of knowledge about copyright law. But a federal judge has ordered Gawker to take the pages down temporarily.

Why did News Corp. bury the earnings of its book publishing unit HarperCollins? Does the media giant view the publisher as merely an afterthought -- or could Rupert Murdoch be contemplating a sale?

Starbucks is launching a new digital network Wednesday that it says will give customers access to free e-books, movies and access to some paid news sites. The move is meant to attract customers and customer loyalty, and also to provide Starbucks with a new revenue stream.

Conservative books sell -- a fact that the traditionally liberal publishing industry has learned to embrace. HarperCollins plans to join publishers Simon & Schuster, Penguin, and Random House with a conservative imprint of its own, Broadside Books.

No matter how you feel about the YouTube-launched sixteen-year-old pop sensation, there's no denying that he's an entertainment industry juggernaut. News of not one, but two major Bieber deals came just this past Monday.

Two of the Big Six publishing houses reported a rise in sales this week, further evidence that the worst of the industry's doldrums may be coming to an end. Simon & Schuster also increased profit, while HarperCollins remained in the red.

Two prominent book publishers reported first quarter earnings this week. For HarperCollins, the news was much better than this time last year. But for Harlequin, the fluctuating Canadian dollar exchange rate created a paradoxical situation: Sales dropped, but profits jumped.