About ABA

ABA has announced that David Walker of Washington, D.C., an independent consultant in the book industry, will be working with the association on matters relating to industry relations.

Walker has been an independent consultant for the past five years. During that time, he worked with ABA on a number of projects, including the processing of claims relating to the Penguin lawsuit settlement.

Prior to becoming an industry consultant, Walker was general manager of Olsson's Books in Washington, D.C. He worked at Olsson’s for 11 years.

Beginning today, ABA members can access all the fully updated information in the ABA Book Buyer’s Handbook (BBH) in an online edition. In development for over a year, the online BBH provides access to approximately 5,600 publisher, wholesaler, and distributor listings in a fully interactive format, which can be searched by such criteria as company name, keyword, and ISBN prefix.

Since its online launch in January, Bookselling This Week has gotten high marks for its increased postings of news and features and its ease of use. Since going online, BTW has also seen a 57 percent increase in its subscription base. However, many bookseller readers have noted to ABA that they miss the easy accessibility of a printed version of a weekly BTW.

ABA has announced the results of the 2002 elections for Board officers and directors.

The candidates chosen to serve as ABA Board directors were: Neal Coonerty, owner of Bookshop Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, California; Russ Lawrence, co-owner of Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, Montana; and Karl Pohrt, owner of Shaman Drum Bookshop in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Board members serve three-year terms. Coonerty and Pohrt are currently Board members.

When booksellers from Kansas to Louisiana and all points in between travel hundreds of miles in the middle of the week to meet for three hours in Dallas, they want to accomplish a lot. And they did on April 10 in Dallas -- according to a number of booksellers who attended both an ABA Booksellers Forum and bookseller programming, which was sponsored by the Mid-South Independent Booksellers Association (MSIBA). Both events were hosted by The Enchanted Forest Bookstore.

The Upper Midwest Booksellers Association's (UMBA) Spring Meeting and Seminar was held from April 13 to 14 at the Edgewater Hotel in Madison, Wisconsin. The well-attended event included an ABA Booksellers Forum, a booksellers’ roundtable on co-op advertising, and an author/publisher cocktail party on Saturday; it finished on Sunday with a financial seminar led by ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz from 9:00 a.m to noon.

Over 20 booksellers attended an ABA Booksellers Forum on April 11 from 10:00 a.m. to noon in the Writers and Readers Room at Brookline Booksmith in Brookline, Massachusetts. Held in conjunction with the New England Booksellers Association (NEBA), the forum covered a wide range of issues, including ABA’s future goals, the recent Tattered Cover court victory, and questions regarding music royalties.

On April 9, there was an ABA Booksellers Forum held in conjunction with a day of educational panels organized and sponsored by the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) in Philadelphia. Attending the forum from ABA was association CEO Avin Mark Domnitz, who was joined by ABA Board member John Bennett, co-owner of Bennett Books in Wyckoff, New Jersey, and ABA Bookseller Advisory Council member Beth Puffer of Bank Street Books in New York City.

San Francisco’s Golden Gate Club in the Presidio was the site of the April 7, ABA Booksellers Forum, which was organized in conjunction with the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) Spring Workshops. According to Hut Landon, NCIBA executive director, the confluence of workshops with the forum drew a particularly large audience for both.

On Saturday, April 6, approximately 30 booksellers attended an ABA Booksellers Forum, in conjunction with the Southern California Booksellers Association’s Spring Workshop, held at the U.S. Grant Hotel -- a Wyndham Historic Hotel in San Diego, California, from noon to 2:00 p.m.

From Saturday, April 6, to Saturday, April 13, ABA will be hosting six Booksellers Forums in conjunction with regional booksellers association meetings around the country. The forums provide ABA members an opportunity to meet with representatives of the ABA Board and senior staff to discuss issues relating to ABA and bookselling in general. It’s a chance to ask questions, express opinions, and hear from bookseller-colleagues.

Booksellers on the trade floor at this year’s BookExpo America, which will be open from May 3 to 5, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, will find a wide range of key information at the ABA/Book Sense Booth (#718) -- and a chance to meet the authors of some of their favorite Book Sense picks.

This year, for the first time, there will be 30-minute signings in the ABA/Book Sense Booth, beginning on Friday and continuing through Sunday. Book Sense 76 authors already confirmed include:

Just the Facts … on Making the Most of the BTW Search Engine

The new online version of Bookselling This Week includes a search engine that enables readers to find previously published stories, to research topics, and to quickly access stories within several key categories.

As a special way to welcome booksellers to BookExpo America and the ABA Convention, the association is sponsoring an Open House for booksellers at its headquarters in Tarrytown, New York, on May 1 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The offices are located at 828 South Broadway in Tarrytown, just 20 miles north of New York City, along the historic Hudson River, and just across from Washington Irving's home. ABA Board of Directors and staff will be on hand at the open house, and refreshments will be served.

Last weekend was a busy one for the ABA. On Friday, March 22, booksellers gathered for a Booksellers Forum and financial seminar, held in conjunction with the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association (MPBA) Spring Meeting, at the Marriott Downtown in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and on Saturday, March 23, over 35 booksellers attended a forum and Book Sense seminar, held in conjunction with the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Spring Trade Show, at the Coeur D’Alene Resort in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho.