Sinking ship pays $1 million to stay afloat!!!

[ellen_datlow]

I just read in Publishers Weekly that new Borders CEO Ron Marshall will get $1 million base salary plus signing bonus for the first of his three year contract. Then, for the next two years he only gets $750,000. Gee, I'm definitely on the wrong end of publishing.

Comments

[deadshrimpblues.livejournal.com]

I nearly cried with joy when I got a fifteen dollar check for my first short story. Yeah.

I wonder if he swims around in it like Scrooge McDuck.

[nihilistic-kid.livejournal.com]

Haha, don't worry, Borders won't be around for three more months, forget three years!

[jeffpalmatier.livejournal.com]

You mean your own income isn't close to that? :-D

no-one...

[themadblonde]

who has enjoyed your books would agree to that.

[txtriffidranch.livejournal.com]

Yeah, especially since the captain of the Titanic didn't get a bonus like that for driving his ship to the bottom. (I'm reminded of the former CEO of Home Depot, who received close to a quarter-billion dollars after getting fired for crippling Home Depot. I really wish I could make that kind of money for being that incompetent.)

[kylecassidy.livejournal.com]

one way to stop a ship from sinking is LIGHTEN THE LOAD!

nice of mr. marshall to offer his pockets! maybe this'll get that hole above the waterline.

[pm-again.livejournal.com]

I bought POE at Borders.

But, in this age of Amazon, I continue to wonder how or why any bookstore thinks they're going to sell most of their books, etc. at fool retail price.

Please note that I didn't suggest that they publish YBFH :)

[(Anonymous)]

I believe WaMu hired a new guy and paid him a shitload shortly before they went under, too... I went into the local Borders a few days after Xmas and it looked as if they were already in the morgue. There used to be a case displaying new releases in the SF section. It was totally gone. The Star Wars/Forgotten Realms/FranchiseFic section appeared to have taken over a full aisle, while original fiction had shrunk to a couple of opposing shelves (much of their previous territory now covered in an explosion of manga). The other departments didn't look much healthier. At the other end of town, Barnes & Noble looked superficially healthier. - MarcL

[aimeempayne.livejournal.com]

Borders started going downhill in 2000 when they restructured their store management out of existence. They hired high school students at minimum wage, and focused on stocking massive quantities of best sellers instead of a wider range of titles. They stopped promoting from within, instead preferring to hire general managers from stores like Sears Hardware.

I'm not bitter or anything.