Industry News

As yet another category five hurricane bears down on the Gulf Coast -- this time in the Houston/Galveston area -- it is clear that most residents of coastal Texas towns have heeded the lessons of Hurricane Katrina. On Wednesday, hundreds of thousands of people began a mass exodus from the area, which is expected to bear the brunt of 350-mile wide Hurricane Rita. The storm is expected to come ashore late Friday or early Saturday causing widespread damage along the Texas coastline and further inland.

On Tuesday, September 20, the Bookseller Relief Fund (BRF) Board convened via conference call to establish administrative guidelines and a process for distribution of monies from the fund, which was established by ABA in response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

By Tova Beiser of Brown University Bookstore in Providence, Rhode Island

By Kelly Justice of The Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia

The mood at this year's Southeastern Booksellers Association Trade Show was decidedly sober compared to the last few years. I felt the distressing echo of the show that had immediately followed September 11, 2001. The same haunted "there but for the grace of God go I" gratitude was evident in the faces of many of my colleagues, as well as in the mirror in my hotel room.

Last week, Susan and Dean Avery announced plans to close 34-year-old Ariel Booksellers in New Paltz, New York, by late fall. "We've had a really great run," Susan Avery recently told BTW. "We are very valued by our community, and I hope when our customers look at all the wonderful books they got from Ariel, they'll think of us."

Oprah Chooses A Million Little Pieces

The latest selection to be read by the Oprah Book Club, announced this week, is James Frey's A Million Little Pieces (Anchor), the true story of Frey's battle with addiction and his journey to recovery.

Cody's to Open New Bookstore

As the Gulf Coast works toward reconstruction in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the book industry is building initiatives to assist those affected by the storm.

The New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) Annual Fall Trade Show and Convention, titled "Sea-change by the Seashore," will be held Sunday, October 16, and Monday, October 17, at the Tropicana Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The sponsors of the Campaign for Reader Privacy (CRP) are encouraging booksellers, librarians, and other First Amendment supporters to sign a petition asking the Justice Department to voluntarily lift a gag order that is preventing a Connecticut library from revealing that the FBI is trying to obtain the records of one of its customers.

Wal-Mart Watch (WMW), which bills itself as the nation's premier Wal-Mart reform online presence, recently announced the launch of "Higher Expectations Week: A National Week of Action," an initiative to be held from November 13 to November 19, 2005. The week kicks off a nationwide WMW campaign to make Wal-Mart "a more responsible corporate citizen all year-round."

Here's a reminder about upcoming Book Sense Picks deadlines -- and a look at deadlines for the 2006 lists. A nomination must be received at ABA by the due date in order for it to be considered for a given list.

Nominations may be sent through a convenient online form at www.bookweb.org/read/6305 or by sending an e-mail to Book Sense Picks Editor-in-Chief Dan Cullen at [email protected].

In a move to increase the geographic reach and scope of The Spoken Word, a weekly, hour-long public radio program focusing on literature, culture, and the arts, the Public Radio Partnership (PRP) has become the show's owner, producer, and distributor. Underwritten by the Southeast Booksellers Association (SEBA), the regionally syndicated program was previously produced by The Camberley Collection, parent company to The Brown Hotel.

On September 19, the law firm of Constantine Cannon, the lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the Visa Check/MasterMoney antitrust class action lawsuit, which became final on May 31, 2005, issued an advisory to merchants involved in the suit.

In the advisory, the law firm noted:

Kepler's, the popular Menlo Park, California, institution that shut its doors suddenly on August 31, has one, albeit large, obstacle to overcome in order to reopen, according to Anne Banta, Kepler's chief marketing officer: renegotiating its lease with landlord The Tan Group of Palo Alto.

Last week, HarperCollins Publishers announced the launch of HarperCollins Essential Backlist, a new program that will reward bookstores for keeping a designated level of HarperCollins bestselling backlist titles in stock at all times.