From Publishers Lunch today:

Borders is holding a fiction contest open to all company employees. They promise to select at least one winner, which they will publish as part of their new proprietary publishing program, “including the full support of Borders merchandising and marketing arsenal.” EVP Rob Gruen says in the release, “We have such confidence in the talents of our staff that we are anticipating multiple winners and hope to publish fictional works ranging from mysteries and thrillers to romance and historical novels.”

Prominent placement and in-store advertising for a book come at considerable cost to publishers, so it’s usually only the books with serious support from their publishers that sell well at chain bookstores. This means that the employee authors at Borders will already have a significant advantage over the horde of “mid-list” authors immediately out of the starting gate. Aspiring writers, get thee to Borders!