Ulin "extremely anguished" about books cuts

Times book editor David Ulin tells Publishers Weekly that, in the post-Book Review era, the upside is that “editorially and aesthetically, we are going to be producing the same kind of work. We are generating our own content and are not reducing the quality of the reviews.” The presence in the new Arts and Books section of Calendar will be three pages at first, he says. Those pages are twice the size of the tabloid pages that the Book Review was printed on. There will be more on the Web, and Ulin tells PW that the annual Festival of Books will continue. (For now?) Ulin is due to be on "Airtalk" with Larry Mantle at 10:30 am on KPCC (89.3 FM.)

Also: The name of the new Sunday lifestyle magazine will be LA and it will be distributed in the Sunday paper, but have no connection to the Times newspaper staff (like Parade, or the ads.) As we told you last week, the first issue is Sept. 7. In case you still don't get what this beast is, newly named publisher Valarie Anderson is also director of fashion advertising for the Times. Press release.

Elsewhere in the Times soap opera:

• Jack McGrath, the Studio City PR man who bought an anti-Sam Zell ad, is scheduled to be on Which Way, L.A.? with Warren Olney this evening at 7 pm on KCRW (89.9 FM.)
• Jon Regardie of the Downtown News takes a satirical tour of Mr. Zell's neighborhood.