Industry News

11 Mar

BTW News Briefs


Cold Spring May Not Lose Its Independent After All

It looks as if Cold Spring, the historic New York town named by George Washington during America's fight for Independence, will keep its own independent bookstore. The town's Salmagundi Bookstore is closing, but plans are in the works for Scott Meyer, owner of Merritt Bookstores Vol. I and II in nearby Dutchess County, to take over the space. The store will most likely be called Merritt Bookstore Vol. III.

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11 Mar

AAP Report Posits a Future With More Direct-to-Consumer Sales

"It's 2004. Do you know where your book business is?" was the theme of a presentation by Kosmo Kalliarekos of the Parthenon Group to the 2004 Association of American Publishers (AAP) General Annual Meeting in February.

The report examined "two core dimensions" fueling the evolution of the publishing market -- proximity to the customer and use of content -- for the education, professional, and trade publishing segments.

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11 Mar

ABACUS - Year 2: Data Gathering Begins

Building on the success of last year's ABACUS study -- which fashioned a standard that independent booksellers have found extremely useful in gauging their financial performance and in identifying those areas that need to be addressed to move towards greater profitability -- ABA has begun collecting data from member booksellers for the 2004 study.

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11 Mar

Upper Midwest Booksellers Gather for a Lively Forum

The American Booksellers Association continued its 2004 Booksellers Forum schedule on Saturday, March 6, in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, where ABA staff met with upper Midwest booksellers. The ABA Booksellers Forum, co-sponsored by the Upper Midwest Booksellers Association (UMBA), was held at the Comfort Inn-Airport.

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11 Mar

With Booksellers' Help, CRP Looks to Resuscitate Reader Privacy

In mid-February, the American Booksellers Association, the American Library Association, and PEN American Center launched the Campaign for Reader Privacy (CRP), a petition drive that calls for Congress to amend Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. And booksellers participating in the campaign who spoke to BTW say it is vital that all independent booksellers join the cause -- and now, before it's too late. "I think it's a critical time to do this [petition campaign]," said Neal Coonerty of Bookshop Santa Cruz in California.

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10 Mar

Good Housekeeping Now Featuring Book Sense

A special three-page travel insert in the April issue of Good Housekeeping, which went on sale March 5, directs readers to find featured titles at independent bookstores with Book Sense.

The insert, featuring 11 titles selected by Good Housekeeping Marketing Manager Heidi Sacko and Book Sense staff members, ties classic to contemporary literature to travel destinations within the U.S.

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09 Mar

The 13-Digit ISBN and 2005 Sunrise and GTIN Initiatives

It may not be as sexy as Y2K, but it has the same potential to cause chaos for booksellers, publishers, and vendors if their inventory management and POS systems are not ready for the major evolution that will take place in the unique identifiers for books as well as other products sold in the North American market in the next few years. Most notable among the changes, the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) will expand to 13 digits from 10 digits, effective January 1, 2007.

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09 Mar

ABA to Hold Second Forum in Great Lakes Region

ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz, COO Oren Teicher, and ABA Board member Karl Pohrt of Shaman Drum in Ann Arbor, Michigan, will be conducting an ABA Booksellers Forum, in conjunction with the Great Lakes Booksellers Association (GLBA) on Tuesday, March 30, at Emmis Books in Cincinnati, Ohio. The second forum in the Great Lakes region this season (the first was on January 15 in Chicago) offers booksellers the opportunity to ask questions, express opinions, and hear about ABA's activities and plans for the future.

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08 Mar

GLBA Photo Contest Catches People Reading

The Great Lakes Booksellers Association (GLBA) recently announced its second annual Get Caught Reading Photo Contest. A variation of the Get Caught Reading campaign sponsored by the Association of American Publishers and the Magazine Publishers of America, which features posters and magazine ads of famous people reading, the GLBA contest calls for regular (non-famous) people to shoot pictures of other regular people reading.

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08 Mar

Millions of Tax Cheats

In this column, which originally appeared in the March 3, 2004, edition of San Jose, California's The Mercury News, editorial writer Miguel Helft explains how calls for "no new Internet taxes" are "nothing more than an attempt to rob states and local governments of billions from an old tax they count on to provide essential services."

You Didn't Pay Sales Tax on That Amazon Book, Did You?

By Miguel Helft

You're probably a tax cheat.

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04 Mar

Jon Stewart, David Sedaris, and Tom Wolfe on BEA Special Events Program

On March 4, BookExpo America (BEA) announced the speakers for its special events program at this year's convention to be held at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, from June 3 - June 6. Three Book & Author breakfasts, a lunch, and an audiobook tea are among the events planned, and the hosts include NPR's Terry Gross, Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter, and C-SPAN's Brian Lamb.

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04 Mar

Minnesota Forum Convenes on Saturday, Massachusetts on Wednesday

ABA hopes to see booksellers in the upper Midwest and New England regions at Booksellers Forums to be held on Saturday, March 6, at the Comfort Inn Airport in Bloomington, Minnesota, and on Wednesday, March 10, at Brookline Booksmith in Brookline, Massachusetts, respectively.

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04 Mar

BookSense.com Co-Op a Win-Win for Booksellers and Publishers

With one year in the books, so to speak, recently released BookSense.com Co-op Reimbursement Program figures indicate that the program has done well to help publishers increase book sales, while giving booksellers access to co-op to help offset the cost of their BookSense.com Web sites. "We're delighted at the early success of this program," BookSense.com Director Len Vlahos told BTW.

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04 Mar

BTW News Briefs


HarperCollins' Lennertz to Once Again Focus on Independents

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04 Mar

Coming Soon: PoMo (aka National Poetry Month)

April is National Poetry Month, but the Academy of American Poets (AAP), organizers of the annual event, are hoping that booksellers will be inspired to extend their celebrations of verse throughout the year. In addition to sponsoring numerous readings and poetry-related events in April, AAP is launching a Web-based Poetry Almanac on April 1 that will provide 365 days' worth of poetry highlights, activities, and ideas for individual or classroom use.

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About ABA

The American Booksellers Association, a national not-for-profit trade organization, works with booksellers and industry partners to ensure the success and profitability of independently owned book retailers, and to assist in expanding the community of the book.

Independent bookstores act as community anchors; they serve a unique role in promoting the open exchange of ideas, enriching the cultural life of communities, and creating economically vibrant neighborhoods.

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