Industry News

Here, BookSense.com Director Len Vlahos provides an update on the latest improvements and enhancements to BookSense.com.

Greetings BookSense.com Booksellers!

So many improvements are being made to BookSense.com this month that it called for a second installment of my On the Move… column.

In many communities across America, the onslaught of corporate retailers and large chains is a pressing issue for local businesses trying to remain competitive. That's certainly the case in the Phoenix metro area (which includes Glendale, Scottsdale, and Tempe), where a coalition of local businesses is seeking to change the market landscape by educating consumers and local politicians about the economic value of supporting independent businesses.

A number of booksellers have contacted ABA to report that they recently received phony orders via telephone relay systems developed for use by the hearing impaired. The orders are generally for large numbers of medical books, textbooks, or bibles and usually originate in Nigeria or another African nation.

Recently released Census Bureau estimates for August 2003 show a 15.5 percent increase in retail sales at bookstores over August 2002. August was the third month in a row that bookstore sales showed improvement over the previous year.

August 2003 retail sales for bookstores are estimated at $2,108 million, compared to the $1,825 million figure of a year ago.

Overall retail sales of $332 billion for August 2003 were 4.1 percent ahead of the $319 billion in August of the previous year.

The American Booksellers Association Board of Directors held its fall meeting in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, from October 9 - 12. In addition to ABA-related discussions, the board also had the opportunity to meet with the Upper Midwest Booksellers Association Board in an informal setting to discuss a number of bookselling issues.

On Wednesday, October 15, Senator Michael Enzi (R-WY) introduced legislation (S. 1736) in the Senate that would allow states to simplify sales tax, with equal tax treatment between local merchants and remote sellers. The bill, the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Act (SSUTA), would help states begin to recover from years of budgetary shortfalls by collecting revenue lost through catalog and Internet purchases. The bill is co-sponsored by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND).

On Wednesday, October 15, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) endorsed the Security and Freedom Ensured Act (SAFE) of 2003, which was introduced in the Senate on October 2 by Senators Larry Craig (R-ID) and Richard Durbin (D-IL). The legislation (S. 1709) would amend parts of the USA Patriot Act, including Section 215, which gives law enforcement officials broad authority to demand that libraries or bookstores turn over books, records, papers, and documents.

"I always said I'd never open a second store," said Book Passage's Elaine Petrocelli, who will be celebrating the grand opening of her second store on October 18. "Never say never," she added. The new Book Passage is located in the historic San Francisco Ferry Building.

On Tuesday, October 14, the Supreme Court agreed to again hear a case to determine whether a law that looks to protect children from online pornography is constitutional. The bill, the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), signed into law in 1998, makes it a crime for any commercial Web site to distribute to a minor material considered to be "harmful to minors." It will be the second time in two years that the Supreme Court will hear the case.

The next special Book Sense feature in The New Yorker, "Booked for the Holidays," will appear in the December 8 issue, on sale December 1. To complement the story, the magazine is once again seeking photographs of bookstores with Book Sense. All Book Sense stores are encouraged to send photographs of their stores, especially good exterior shots, by October 23.

Booksellers who have participated in the previous two Lord of the Rings (LOTR) promotions, or who have asked to be included in the third promotion, should have received their LOTR display materials.

The Upper Midwest Booksellers Association (UMBA) held its 2003 fall trade show from Friday, October 10, to Sunday, October 12, at the RiverCentre in St. Paul, Minneapolis. All education programming was free, and the number of bookstores represented was the highest in years.

The results of ABA's semi-annual revenue survey of stores with Book Sense indicate that 59 percent of reporting stores experienced an increase in sales for the first half of 2003, compared to the same period in 2002. Thirty-six percent reported a decline in sales, and 6 percent reported no change in sales from the previous year.

A third of responding stores reported sales increases of 6 percent or more, and 21 percent reported increases of more than 10 percent.

This year's Concord Festival of Authors will mark the 11th time that hundreds of booklovers have convened in the town that inspired Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne. The festival, held from October 23 to November 8, in the Massachusetts towns of Concord and Lowell, brings together some of the most prominent names in fiction and nonfiction.