BTW News Briefs

BEA Sets Sights on International Growth

On October 28, officials at BookExpo America announced several new programs and initiatives, including hiring a European-based consultant who is a former executive at the Frankfurt Book Fear, to help define and develop BEA's presence in the international publishing community. With the international sales and rights communities viewed as especially important areas of growth, BEA officials note that they are eager to set useful, achievable goals that will have an immediate impact.

Foremost among the initiatives undertaken by BEA is the announcement that Rudiger Wischenbart, the former chief press officer and director of communication of the Frankfurt Book Fair will be retained as a consultant to advise on how to effectively market BEA to the European community, as well as explore ways in which BEA might further enhance its value to all international constituents, in Europe as well as beyond.

Ruminator Books Selling Itself to Customers

Want to own a bookstore? Ruminator Books in St. Paul, Minnesota, is giving its customers that chance. On October 28, the store sent out an e-mail that stated: "Ruminator Books is becoming a community-owned bookstore, and we are now offering shares of common stock for public sale." Ruminator Books intends to conduct a public offering of its shares of common stock, the e-mail noted. The store is currently more than $1 million in debt and, in a disclosure document, the store noted that the plan is to raise a minimum of $450,000 and a maximum of $1 million, as reported by the Star Tribune. The statement also noted, "[Ruminator Books has] a history of losses, expect[s] future losses, and may not achieve or maintain profitability."

The cash-strapped bookstore is also seeking to raise money through an online auction of author artifacts. (For more on this story, click here.)

Rowling Wants Publishers to Print Books on Forest-Friendly Paper

According to the Associated Press, author J.K. Rowling is urging her British publisher, Bloomsbury, to print her next book on paper that is friendly to ancient forests. Rowling and 13 other British writers are supporting a campaign by environmental group Greenpeace U.K., the article noted, that calls on books to be printed on either recycled paper or paper that has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, a non-governmental organization with headquarters in Germany that certifies paper whose production is respectful of wildlife and indigenous communities.

Study Indicates TV Watching Has Negative Impact on Reading

A recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Children's Digital Media Centers indicates that children who have a TV in their bedroom or who live in a household where the TV is an "ever-present companion" (a "heavy" TV household) spend significantly more time watching than other children do, and less time reading or playing outside. Children living in a "heavy" TV household are more likely to watch every day (77 percent versus 56 percent) and to watch for longer periods of time when they do watch; they are less likely to read every day (59 percent v. 68 percent) and spend less time reading when they do read. In fact, the study reports, they are less likely than other children to be able to read at all (34 percent of children aged 4 - 6 from "heavy" TV households can read, compared to 56 percent of other children that age).

However, there is good news. Despite the plethora of new media available, reading continues to be a regular part of young children's lives, the study noted. In any given day, nearly eight in 10 children six and under will read or be read to, and those who do spend an average of 49 minutes reading.