Advocacy

Though the reported number of book challenges has fallen, statistics do not give a full picture, says ABFE Director Chris Finan. “The reality is that censorship is still a problem in this country, and most of the victims are kids. Sometimes books are literally taken out of their hands.”

For every trade copy of Leanne Brown’s cookbook Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day sold, Workman Publishing will donate a second copy to a person or family experiencing food insecurity.

In a Q&A with Bookselling This Week, author Douglas Preston, talks about the reasons behind Authors United’s call this week for the Department of Justice to investigate the business practices of Amazon and the support the group has received to date from others in the book industry.

On Friday, July 10, a federal judge in Phoenix permanently blocked Arizona officials from enforcing a 2014 law restricting the display of nude pictures in books, newspapers, magazines, and on the Internet.

In an unprecedented joint action, U.S. booksellers, authors, and literary agents have called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the business practices of Amazon.com. The action comes as similar efforts are underway in the European Union.

On June 19, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal vetoed a bill that would have leveled the playing field for the state’s Main Street retailers. H.B. 555 required remote retailers with a broad network of affiliates in the state to collect and remit sales tax in the state.

BISG seeks nominations for Industry Champion and Innovation Awards; WNDB scholarship winners to receive free membership in children’s literary society; PEN posts summary of Emerging Writers Prize-winning work

On June 27, in his weekly address, President Obama said the Supreme Court decision to uphold a crucial provision in the Affordable Care Act, which allows individuals in states with federally run health insurance exchanges to receive a tax credit, means the law is “here to stay.”

2015 Andrew Carnegie fiction, nonfiction medal winners to be announced on Saturday; ReadingGroupGuides.com launches 2015 Book Group Survey; Inkshares allows stores to create their own imprints; We Need Diverse Books welcomes new members to Advisory Board, Executive Committee; 2015 New England Society in the City of New York Book Award winners announced

In a letter to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, ABA CEO Oren Teicher called on the nation’s mayors to include indie retailers in any discussions on increasing the minimum wage in their cities.

On Monday, June 29, at 6:30 p.m. ET, the Alliance for Main Street Fairness, a coalition of small business owners, local retailers, and Main Street supporters, will be hosting a conference call to discuss the Remote Transaction Parity Act.

“Home Sweet Home,” a new study from Civic Economics for Independent We Stand and the North American Retail Hardware Association, shows that purchasing through locally owned home improvement stores generates twice as much local economic activity than shopping at a chain store.

[words] Bookstore in Maplewood, New Jersey, was one of just 10 businesses in the U.S. to receive the Ruderman Best in Business Award, which spotlights businesses and employers who hire and support people with disabilities.

ABA’s updated E-Fairness Map provides visual proof that more states than not are taking strides to level the playing field for Main Street retailers.

On Monday, June 15, Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Steve Womack (R-AR) joined with a bipartisan group of legislators to introduce the Remote Transactions Parity Act, a bill that gives states the authority to require remote sellers doing $10 million or more in gross annual receipts to collect and remit sales tax to the states.