Borders Sales Rise as Inventory Shrinks
With its going-out-of-business sales kicking in over the last 10 days of July, revenue at Borders Group hit $152.2 million in the June 26–July 30 period. In June revenue at the chain was $90.1 million. The retailer began its liquidation sales July 21, and inventory at the end of the month was down to $208 million.

'Shack' Author Signs with Hachette
Wm. Paul Young, author of The Shack, has signed for a new novel with Hachette Book Group's Nashville division, announced Rolf Zettersten, senior v-p of Hachette's FaithWords and Center Street imprints, who acquired the book. Young was represented by Robert Barnett of Williams and Connelly. Published in 2008, The Shack has more than 15 million copies in print.

Holt Names Editor-in-Chief
Gillian Blake has been named editor-in-chief at Henry Holt. Blake, who will be starting on September 1, has been at Holt since 2009 and has worked with, among others, Rob Lowe (editing his recent bestseller for the division), and William Boyd. Blake has, over the years, worked for
Scribner, Bloomsbury, and HarperCollins. She succeeds Jill Lamar, who had been in the position since February.

Hudson Jumps On Borders's Airport Space
Hudson News has opened two stores in former Borders airport locations in the Baltimore–Washington International Airport just four days after Borders vacated the space. Last month, Hudson converted the Borders store at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. Borders had 26 remaining airport stores at the time of liquidation.

S&S to Distribute Kindle Bestseller
John Locke, the first self-published author to sell over one million copies of his books in the Kindle Store, has struck a distribution deal with Simon & Schuster. The deal, which was negotiated by agent Jane Dystel, is an exclusive agreement whereby S&S will handle Locke's eight Donovan Creed novels into the retail market. The books are expected to be on sale by February 2012, and S&S said there are "more titles to follow" under the deal.

Levitt Retires
After 43 years with PW, Jim Levitt has announced his retirement as international sales director. For 28 years, Levitt represented PW in the West and then "retired" to do only international sales, an area he focused on for the past 15 years. Some 50–60 reports later—ranging from South Africa to Scandinavia and from Alaska to Australia—Levitt will call it a career August 31. One of his defining moments was the recently published "Printing in Hong Kong" report, which was the 25th annual report on that subject. Levitt estimates that he has visited six continents for PW and has traveled more than 500,000 miles.

Name Change For MBA
In advance of its fall trade show, the Midwest Booksellers Association has changed its name to Midwest Independent Booksellers Association, or MIBA. This is the second new moniker for the association, once known as the Upper Midwest Booksellers Association.