Industry News

Bookstore sales softened in October, coming in at $1,107 million, or 2.9 percent lower than for October of the previous year.

While bookstore sales suffered this modest decline, overall retail sales also dipped. Overall retail of $300 billion for October 2002 was 0.7 percent lower than the $302 billion realized in October of 2001.

October is the ninth month in a row in which bookstore sales failed to keep up with overall retail.

On December 10, Austin-based Liveable City, a local nonprofit group, released an economic study claiming that local merchants contribute significantly more money to the local economy than do retail chains. Steve Bercu, owner of Austin's BookPeople, told BTW that the study proves what local retailers have known all along through anecdotal evidence. "We knew that chain stores impacted the local economy in a negative way," he said.

As listeners of National Public Radio's Morning Edition finished breakfast, drove to work, or settled into the first tasks of the day on December 12, they heard the voice of independent bookseller Nancy Olson of Quail Ridge Books and Music in Raleigh, North Carolina, telling them that "there are so many good books this season….

Farley Kern, an owner and founder of Elm Street Books in New Canaan, Connecticut, must not waste much time sleeping or eating. Otherwise, she and her staff could not possibly have started up a brand new bookstore, directly across from the town's train station, in a mere seven weeks.

Though BookSense.com ended its free trial at the end of September, a large percentage of trial participants are continuing with the BookSense.com program. Since October 31, when BTW reported that BookSense.com had welcomed 20 new member bookstores to the fold, another 19 bookstores that participated in the BookSense.com free trial officially joined the BookSense.com program.

On Monday, December 16, the U.S. Supreme Court will announce whether it will hear a case that a group of prominent media and free expression organizations, including the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE), believe has serious First Amendment implications.

Here is an outline of the most recent changes to the ABA Book Buyer's Handbook online.

Publishers with questions about access to the editing features of the Handbook online should send an e-mail to [email protected] or call (800) 637-0037, ext. 1263 or 1261.

On Thursday, December 5, a mix of media professionals, software developers, and book, magazine, and periodical publishers braved a snowstorm to attend Open eBook Forum's "Tablet PC Digital Publishing Conference," held at the McGraw-Hill Auditorium in New York City. The wintry weather did nothing to cool participating speakers' enthusiasm for the future of digital newspapers, magazines, and books.

As the retail analysts tussled over whether this year's holiday sales would be robust or merely routine, shoppers nationwide headed off to superstores, malls, main streets, and shopping centers, giving the shopping season a very positive start. Overall, retail sales for Black Friday were estimated at $7.4 billion, a 12.3 percent jump over 2001, according to ShopperTrak RCT.

During the month of November, the following media outlets joined the ranks of those running one of the Book Sense Bestseller lists.

Newspapers:

Greenwood, MS - Greenwood Commonwealth (National list)

St. Croix Valley, MN - St. Croix Valley Press (Midwest list)

Web Sites:

www.madison.com (National list)

Newsletters:

The 2003 American Booksellers Association Booksellers Forum schedule kicks off with two forums and ABACUS Sneak Preview sessions to be held in California prior to ABA's January Board meeting. The first forum and ABACUS session will be held in cooperation with the Southern California Booksellers Association on Tuesday, January 14, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the DoubleTree Guest Suites -- Santa Monica, 1707 Fourth Street, Santa Monica.

Here is an outline of the most recent changes to the ABA Book Buyer's Handbook online.

Publishers with questions about access to the editing features of the Handbook online should send an e-mail to [email protected] or call (800) 637-0037, ext. 1263 or 1261.

When the director of the Piqua, Ohio, public library called his colleagues together to demonstrate the library's new public Web site, things did not go quite as planned. When he entered the new URL -- www.fleshpublic.lib.oh.us -- the library's computer refused access. Puzzled, he tried again and was denied again, before he realized the problem: The library's software filtered the site because the word "flesh" was included with the word "public."

The latest Miami literary happening was a far cry from the theme of the community's city reads program of "One Book, One Community," launched in July. This month, from November 17 - 24, the city was flooded with 1 million books for sale, almost 300 well-known authors speaking and autographing, and representatives from scores of communities from South and Central America, the Caribbean Islands, North America, and Europe.