Industry News

The list of newspapers, magazines, and Web sites carrying regional, national, and category Book Sense Bestseller Lists grows each month. Recently, these newspapers began featuring a regional list: Scranton, Pennsylvania's Scranton Times-Tribune (New England list); Fernandina Beach, Florida's News Leader (Southeast list); Ogden, Utah's Standard-Examiner (Mountains & Plains list); and Bandera, Texas' Bandera Bulletin (Mid-South list). The Scranton newspaper will also be featuring a category list, the Book Sense Business Bestseller List.

For all those amateur bakers who have wondered why their efforts to produce perfect results succeed only about 20 percent of the time, Baking Illustrated: The Practical Kitchen Companion for the Home Baker With 350 Recipes You Can Trust (America's Test Kitchen) provides welcome reassurance.

Patrons of a former Waldenbooks in Norcross, a part of metro-Atlanta, are extremely happy that the shuttered store has turned Chapter 11. This Chapter 11 is hardly a financial calamity, though. It's a family-owned, Atlanta-based chain of 14 neighborhood bookstores. As of March 1, make that 15 with the Norcross store, which was one of the few freestanding Borders-owned Waldenbooks.

You won't hear many booksellers saying "put down that book," except maybe in the case of the print version of the ABA Book Buyer's Handbook. Since the ABA Book Buyer's Handbook database was made available online at http://handbook.bookweb.org in April 2002, activity on the site has steadily increased. To date, the online Handbook has been accessed more than a million times.

Booksellers in the Pacific Northwest and Mountains & Plains regions were recently invited to attend ABA Booksellers Forums to be held in Seattle and Denver, respectively. The Seattle forum will be held on Thursday, March 18, in conjunction with the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) Spring Show, which runs from March 18 - 20, at the Hilton Hotel/Seattle Airport.

The small, unique shops and galleries of Santa Fe, New Mexico, are losing ground to the national chains, according to a recent study of independent businesses conducted by the consulting firm of Angelou Economics. Commissioned by the Santa Fe Independent Business & Community Alliance (SFIBCA), among others, the study found that "independent businesses comprise a higher share of Santa Fe's economy than the national average." To read the study click here: www.santafealliance.com.

Since the official launch of the Campaign for Reader Privacy (CRP) on February 17, the efforts of booksellers and librarians who are gathering signatures on petitions urging Congress to restore safeguards for reader privacy that were eliminated by Section 215 of the Patriot Act have garnered press coverage, ranging from New England to Seattle. Now, ABA has created a press release template that bookstores can use to bring the campaign to the attention of their local media. To access the sample release, click here.

This week, the American Booksellers Association issued a warning to its members and to subscribers to Bookselling This Week to beware of e-mails with attachments that appear to have come from ABA, BookSense.com, or BookWeb.org. These e-mails did not come from ABA and may contain computer viruses that can create technological problems if the attachment is opened.

On Wednesday, February 25, in conjunction with the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA), ABA held a Bookseller Forum in the The Lansburgh Building, next door to Olsson's Books & Records in downtown Washington, D.C. Among the key topics of the forum were the Book Sense Gift Card Program, the Book Sense 76, and the Campaign for Reader Privacy (CRP). The forum was led by ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz and COO Oren Teicher, with ABA Vice President Mitchell Kaplan of Books & Books in Coral Gables and Miami Beach.

Landmark Dartmouth Bookstore Seeks New Owners

Owners of the Dartmouth Bookstore, a 132-year-old Hanover, New Hampshire, business, are negotiating with several parties interested in purchasing the landmark store. The store discontinued its original practice of selling textbooks to Dartmouth College students about a year ago, and has been striving to rework its layout and product mix in light of increased competition from Internet sales and nearby chain bookstores.

As part of its continuing series of Booksellers Forums, ABA recently sent invitations to booksellers in the New England and Mid-South regions asking them come together to share in discussions of matters of concern to all booksellers and to get an update on ABA programs and services. Among the topics open for discussion are sales tax initiatives, efforts to amend the USA Patriot Act, net-pricing proposals, programming for BookExpo America, Book Sense and plans for its fifth birthday celebration, the 2004 ABACUS study, and more.

Last week, the number of bookstores with Book Sense reporting to the Book Sense Bestseller Lists was nearly 500 -- the highest number of bookstores reporting to date -- giving booklovers an in-depth look at the uniqueness, timeliness, and quality of the bestselling titles in local, independent bookstores.

John Hickenlooper, a successful, popular restaurant owner and developer, has become the successful and popular mayor of Denver. With no previous political experience, "not school treasurer, not dog catcher," Hickenlooper took office in July 2003, succeeding Mayor Wellington Webb.

On Friday, February 20, and Saturday, February 21, ABA Booksellers Forums were held in conjunction with the Southern California Booksellers Association (SCBA) in Pasadena and San Diego, respectively. At both forums, ABA COO Oren Teicher provided attendees with updates on a number of ABA programs and initiatives, including the Book Sense Gift Card Program, the Campaign for Reader Privacy (www.readerprivacy.com/), and plans to celebrate the fifth birthday of Book Sense.

Pasadena Forum

The eighth annual celebration of Small Press Month this March gives independent booksellers the chance to highlight the values they share with independent publishers -- promoting individual and original expression. "Let Every Voice Be Heard!" is the theme of this year's festivities organized by the Small Press Center (SPC) and the Publishers Marketing Association (PMA).