Magazine Me XV
Last night I picked up the Aug. 12 issue of Publishers Weekly, a special 300-plus page edition dedicated to fall titles. Reading PW on the train to work today, aided by a delay at Government Center, I was struck by the feeling that this -- this magazine, but particularly this issue -- is pornography. Just as Folio: magazine strikes me as pornography for magazine publishers (even moreso than Samir Husni's annual guides to new consumer magazines) PW is pornography for book publishers. And booksellers. And active readers.

The Aug. 12 issue is a veritable catalog of forthcoming books, with the first 130-plus pages devoted to publisher-specific display advertisements, a slim news and feature well, and about 150 pages of book listings organized by format, subject, and publisher. My copy is already dog-eared because I've started to fold the corners on pages featuring books I want, books that sparked story ideas for Fast Company, and books by authors I'd like to interview some day.

Publishers Weekly: Nervy, pervy. Who'da thunk?