Book Sense

For many booksellers, publisher co-operative promotions are an essential and cost-effective tool. As Dave Kaverman, co-owner of the Little Professor Book Company in Fort Wayne, Indiana, explained in a previous BTW piece last fall, utilizing publisher co-op allowances can help a store fulfill several goals at once: increasing a store's marketing exposure while also adding money to the bottom line.

We've been able to put together, due to the number of nominations, another wonderful Mystery 76 Top Ten. The pad is in the January white box mailing. Thank you for all the great picks … and click here for the full schedule for all full and specialty 76s for 2002.

There's one pad per white box; if you'd like extras, please e-mail [email protected].

1. A PLACE OF EXECUTION, by Val McDermid (St. Martin's, $6.99 paper, 0312979533)

Book Sense is pleased to welcome its newest Publisher Partner, Charlesbridge Publishing of Watertown, Massachusetts.

Founded in 1980 as an educational publisher, Charlesbridge began publishing children's books in 1989 with the release of five nature titles, including the bestselling The Icky Bug Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta and illustrated by Ralph Masiello.

January 11 -- Teen Readers 76 'Top Ten' 76
January 25 -- March/April Book Sense 76

February 8 -- Poetry Book Sense 'Top Ten' 76
February 8 -- SF/Fantasy Book Sense 'Top Ten' 76
February 8 -- Art/Design/Photo Book Sense 'Top Ten' 76

March 22 -- May/June Book Sense 76
March 29 -- Children's Spring Book Sense 76
March 29 -- Teen Book Sense 'Top Ten' 76

April 12 -- Audiobooks Book Sense 'Top Ten' 76
April 12 -- Juneteenth/African-American Book Sense 'Top Ten' 76

The January white box is being mailed to stores with Book Sense beginning next week. Among the goodies, booksellers will find inside:

In 2002, reporting to the Book Sense Bestseller List will be easier and less time-consuming, thanks to two new electronic procedures and an improved online Bestseller data entry form. Booksellers who report their sales to the Bestseller List can now choose which method works best for them.

ABA UPLOAD

The 2002 Book Sense Book of the Year Awards will recognize the books that booksellers most enjoyed handselling in the past year. Nominations for Adult Fiction, Adult Nonfiction, Children's Literature, and Illustrated Children's Book will be drawn from the Top Ten Book Sense 76 picks of 2001. Only books published in the preceding year are eligible. Lines for write-ins are provided on the nomination form.

Bookselling This Week online launches on January 10, and to help accommodate the conversion to an online format, the Book Sense Bestseller List has been redesigned and expanded--offering more coverage for children's books, mass-market titles, and highlighted titles of interest.

Importantly, the Bestseller List will be available to booksellers in an easily downloadable PDF file at BookWeb.org.

Syndicated Columnist Sharon Randall's Essays on Life and Family Find Book Sense Fans

Birdbaths and Paper Cranes, a collection of personal essays by syndicated columnist Sharon Randall, is making friends among booksellers. The Sleeping Bear Press title is a January/February Book Sense 76 selection, nominated by Bob Spear of The Book Barn in Leavenworth, Kansas.

Last week 27 of the 75 titles on the Book Sense Bestseller List were Book Sense 76 picks, illuminating the connection between marketing and sales; the 76 displays and distribution of the 76 fliers.

In the January 7, 2002, issue of BTW, you'll find a ballot for the first round of voting for the 2002 Book Sense Book of the Year awards. You'll see a long list of nominees drawn from the Book Sense 76s of 2002 in the categories of Adult Fiction, Adult Nonfiction, Children's Literature, Children's Illustrated, and, for the first time, a Rediscovery Award. This new fifth award will be drawn from a mix of adult and children's backlist or recently reissued books that made the 76 in 2001.

Here's a holiday update for stores that are reporting to the Book Sense Bestseller List. There will be no reporting on Sunday, December 23, or Monday, December 24. However, reporting bookstores are asked to report on two weeks of sales the following weekend. There will be an extra day to report for that period-bookstores can report from Saturday, December 29, to Tuesday, January 1, at midnight. For more information, contact Sascha Alper at [email protected].

Baltimore has a new independent bookstore serving some of the northern suburbs of Baltimore County--Cross Keys, Roland Park, and Ruxton. The Ivy Bookshop, owned by Baltimore area native, Darielle Linehan, has been open since November 28, when eager customers were waiting for her to unlock the doors.

Best holiday wishes to our wonderful publisher partners. Thank you for all you've done in 2001, and we look forward to working with you in the New Year.

(Distributors in Italics; a full list of all Distributees is available)

The January issue of The Atlantic will feature four Book Sense ads. Titles to be featured are: The Jazz Bird by Craig Holden (Simon & Schuster, 0743212967); Mrs. Kennedy: The Missing History of the Kennedy Years by Barbara Leaming (Free Press, 0684862093); Death at the Priory: Sex, Love, and Murder in Victorian England by James Ruddick (Atlantic Monthly Press, 0871138328); and Looking for Alaska by Peter Jenkins (St. Martin's Press, 0312261780). One of the ads will specifically promote BookSense. com to consumers.