Question 1: Are there any books that discuss Avid Cinema and/or the authoring process in more detail? If not, does Avid know of any other books that discuss their higher-end products?
Answer: Besides the user's manual, there aren't any books that specifically discuss Avid Cinema. There is a book on non-linear editing written by one of the people who designed Media Composer, but it's not specifically on Media Composer. It is titled "Digital Non-Linear Editing" by Tom Ohanian.
Question 2: Is there any way to change the title background color?
Answer: In Avid Cinema there is no background color for titles. There is a foreground color, but the background is always transparent.
Question 3: Is there any way to perform special effects in a title sequence?
Answer: The only "effect" available for titles is scrolling.