Industry News

Writer’s Digest Banned Books Week sale to benefit ABFE; Brian O’Leary named new BISG executive director; Reading Without Walls Challenge pilot program begins; Amazon Books to open Boston-area store; Ingram Content Group adds three new associates

Here are some of the literary award winners and finalists announced over the past week.

ABA will present the education session “Understanding and Acting on Your ABACUS-15 Report” and IndieCommerce one-on-one meetings at the upcoming Pacific Northwest and Heartland trade shows.

Wintaye Gebru of Left Bank Books was one of five finalists for this year’s PW Star Watch program; three other indie booksellers were among the program’s 40 honorees.

Amazon will begin collecting and remitting sales tax in Washington, D.C., in October. The decision appears to be related to Amazon’s desire to open a storefront location in the District.

With the 2017 Winter Institute now almost booked to capacity, booksellers who are interested in attending are encouraged to register as soon as possible and then contact ABA Meetings and Planning Officer Jill Perlstein regarding hotel accommodations.

Now is the time for booksellers to start making arrangements to host authors as honorary booksellers for Indies First on Small Business Saturday, which is just nine weeks away.

Booksellers who are planning to participate in the Winter/Spring 2017 Indies Introduce program should sign up now and make a note to stop by ABA’s booth at the regional trade shows to check out the newest crop of titles.

Billie Swift, the new owner of Open Books: A Poem Emporium in Seattle, Washington, officially reopened the poetry-only store with a festive party on Saturday, September 17.

Parnassus Books will launch an auction in-store and online this Sunday on more than 100 author-decorated piggy banks to help offset medical expenses for a store employee with cancer and to benefit the Book Industry Charitable Foundation.

ABA member stores can sign up now to offer their customers a new monthly Indie Next List e-newsletter, powered by Shelf Awareness. The free store-branded newsletter will be available this fall.

Macmillan Publishers will be implementing expedited shipping for independent retailers’ reorders from October 3 through December 23, 2016.

Retail sales at bookstores were down by 0.9 percent in July 2016 compared to July 2015, according to preliminary figures recently released by the Bureau of the Census.

Below are five stories about ABA initiatives that booksellers need to read and take action on: a Winter Institute 12 update; details from ABA’s president on the latest Civic Economics data and other topics; and important announcements about this year’s Indies First initiative, a new Indie Next List e-newsletter for your customers, and the upcoming season’s Indies Introduce titles and signup.

Binc Co-Ambassador Ann Patchett films promotional video; ABFE joins protest over bookstore boycott; AAP CEO Tom Allen to step down; Bloomsbury USA restructures; NBF Director Lisa Lucas talks to NYT Magazine; Books Are My Bag Readers Awards to launch; Amazon to open dozens of pop-up stores in malls; Sharon Olds wins 2016 Wallace Stevens Award; FT & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award short list announced