Barnes & Noble is deepening its embrace of Book magazine:

Book, a magazine filled with book reviews, author interviews and effusive features like "Anita Shreve's Secret Passions" and "Hype! Hype! Hype! Wild Publicity Stunts," grew so fast under Barnes & Noble's patronage that production costs soon overwhelmed any added revenues...

Now, Book and Barnes & Noble have restructured their partnership to cut costs and more closely integrate the magazine with the chain. Starting with the May/June issue, the magazine will be called Barnes & Noble Presents Book.

This diversification, like most moves by retailers to branch out into non-core businesses, is a questionable move. It's hard to see how the magazine can thrive if it is so closely tied to one book seller:

But Book's more public connection to Barnes & Noble is already having some unpleasant repercussions. Borders, the nation's second-largest chain bookseller, has decided not to carry Book after the current issue, and Mr. Gleason expects that independent booksellers will follow suit.

You can't have it both ways. If the magazine is little more than a mouthpiece for Barnes & Noble, its growth will be limited.