Industry News

With the threat of Hurricane Isabel lurking behind the scenes, the Southeast Booksellers Association (SEBA) Annual Fall Trade Show was held on Jekyll Island in Georgia from September 19 - 21. Not only was the weather "perfect," said SEBA Executive Director Wanda Jewell, "I can't think of anything that didn't go well." Jewell renamed the spot "SEBA Island" and spoke of polling members to make Jekyll Island the show's permanent venue.

This year's Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) trade show, held from Thursday, September 18, through Saturday, September 20, offered up terrific educational sessions and a vibrant trade show floor, according to attending booksellers who spoke to BTW.

This year, the educational events and banquets took place at the Doubletree Columbia River Hotel in Portland. The trade show and all exhibits were located at Portland's Metro Expo Center.

Over the last few weeks as ABA staff has spoken with booksellers about the new Book Sense electronic gift card program, a number of booksellers have asked the question: "In purely financial terms, how many more gift cards will I have to sell to achieve the same number of gross profit dollars as I would have selling paper gift certificates?"

To provide an answer to this question, ABA has prepared a three-year analysis of potential returns comparing paper gift certificate and electronic gift card sales.

The assumptions are:

The Children's Booksellers and Publishers Committee met on Monday, September 15, in New York City, to develop events for BookExpo America 2004, to be held from June 2 - 6 in Chicago. At the meeting, the group, a joint committee of ABA, the Association of Booksellers for Children, and the Children's Book Council, considered speakers for the show's Friday morning Children's Book and Author Breakfast and also planned the Thursday afternoon children's booksellers' educational sessions.

Last week's BTW article on July retail sales for bookstores was based on outdated information. The Bureau of the Census periodically updates retail sales data, and its most recent revision of 2002 retail sales figures occurred on September 12, 2003. As a result, BTW is issuing this updated report on July bookstore sales.

July sales of $1,130 million were 6.7 percent ahead of last July's $1,059 million.

Overall retail sales of $325 billion for July 2003 were 6.2 percent ahead of the $306 billion in July of the previous year.

An economics study regarding online price elasticity released last spring seems to bear out what many Internet experts have thought all along regarding book pricing: the higher the price, the fewer the sales.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Isabel, which first hit North Carolina on Thursday, September 18, flooding neighborhoods dozens of miles inland, and then moved north through Virginia and Washington, D.C., booksellers are assessing damage and working towards getting business back to normal as quickly as possible. Though it lost strength as it came inland, the hurricane was still the strongest to hit the Atlantic Coast since Hurricane Floyd in 1999. As of Tuesday, September 23, many areas were still without power.

Since June 2002, ABC News' Good Morning America has been promoting the fun of reading to adults through its "Read This!" book club segment, which airs monthly. Now, the popular morning show has taken aim at children's literacy with the launch of Book Drive America, an effort to bring books to children, schools, libraries, and community centers in need across the country.

In response to strong criticism from the American Library Association (ALA) for derisive remarks he made about ALA and other critics of the USA Patriot Act during a September 15 speech to restaurateurs, Attorney General John Ashcroft informed ALA President Carla Hayden by phone on Wednesday, September 17, that he would declassify data showing how often the Justice Department has sought the records of libraries, bookstores, and other businesses under Section 215 of the Patriot Act.

In a week where librarians and Attorney General John Ashcroft battled over the controversial USA Patriot Act, and a Baldwin, Kansas, school district superintendent made news by pulling an award-winning book from a ninth-grade class, it seems only fitting that Banned Books Week kicks off this Saturday, September 20. Running through September 27, Banned Books Week is the national celebration of the First Amendment, and independent bookstores and others are doing their part to help commemorate the event.

Tuesday, September 30, is the last day for stores participating in the Bacardi Mixers/Book Sense Book Club Sweepstakes to accept entries deposited in their store displays. At the end of the business day, stores must take down the ballot box.

Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2003 Shortlist Taps Two 76 Picks

Monica Ali, Margaret Atwood, Damon Galgut, Zoe Heller, Clare Morrall, and D.B.C. Pierre are the six authors shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2003, the UK's best known literary award. Two of the six books chosen were also Book Sense 76 picks. The shortlist was announced in London on Tuesday, September 16. The winner will be announced on Tuesday 14 October at an awards ceremony in the Great Court of the British Museum, London.

Last May, Margie Ghiz, owner of the Santa Monica, California's Midnight Special, told BTW that, after finally securing a new location for her bookstore less than a half-mile from her previous location, she hoped to reopen by the end of June. However, four months later, Midnight Special's new location remains closed, with Ghiz citing financial woes and unexpected delays. On September 12, Ghiz sent out an e-mail to her mailing list, appealing to her customers for help. "The response to our e-mail has been great," she said.

If advance hotel reservations are any indication, this year's New England Booksellers Association Annual Meeting & Trade Show will boast very robust attendance. The show, NEBA's 30th, will be held in Providence, Rhode Island, at the Rhode Island Convention Center from October 24 - 26. The trade show floor will be open from 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.

The Royal Albert Hall may have featured J.K. Rowling at one of the most heavily attended author readings in history, but booksellers stateside can have an all-star lineup of Gertrude Stein, Charlotte Brontë, Langston Hughes, and Edgar Allan Poe, without a Ouija board and for less than a latté. Literary Luminaries, a new sidelines series celebrating great authors, playwrights, and poets, has become a quick favorite of booksellers.