News - Regional

USPS offers new direct mail service for retailers; BAM to buy 14 Borders leases; MBA to add “independent” to name; SIBA upgrades Circle of Sites; Thurber Prize finalists and Dayton Literary Peace Prize shortlist announced

The fall regional trade show season begins a month from now with members of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance convening in Charleston, South Carolina, followed by the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Business owners call on Amazon to drop sales tax fight; The Daily Show pokes fun at bookstores; Sony rumored in deal for Potter e-books; NAIBA announces books of the year

ABA staff will be at the regional trade shows this fall to present educational programming and to meet with booksellers at the ABA booth on the trade show floor, where non-members can sign up for a Show Special: free trial ABA membership until January 31, 2012.

Lawsuit filed against Apple and five agency model publishers; Borders given okay to auction name, website, leases; Amazon unveils Kindle Cloud Reader; Philip Levine named poet laureate; Sally Dedecker to direct BEA conference program; Sales rep Ann Wachur honored by NEIBA; PEN 2011 literary award winners announced

New Atlantic booksellers name sales rep of the year; Children’s books exempt from CPSIA testing requirements; Shelf Awareness widget promotes consumer publication and giveaway

The California Attorney General’s office has ruled that Amazon.com is legally permitted to seek a voter referendum to overturn sales tax fairness legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in late June.

In a slew of recent editorials, columns, and op-eds, Amazon.com is being skewered for its attempts to avoid collecting and remitting California sales tax.

NECBA publishes kids’ spring list and reviews; BA opposes Amazon acquisition of U.K. online bookseller; SIBA and Romance Writers of America announce award winners

In a hard-fought and significant legislative victory, on Wednesday, June 29, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a sales tax fairness provision into law. The e-fairness win for independent bookstores and Main Street retailers follows more than a decade of advocacy efforts, which saw sustained opposition and many near-victories.

The New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association and the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance have partnered to create Club Read, a “booklovers retreat,” featuring 12 authors who will interact with 200 attendees.

On Thursday, California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a proposed budget that contained a sales tax fairness provision. However, the sales tax fairness campaign in the state is not over. In vetoing the budget, Gov. Brown did not single out the sales tax fairness provision as a contibuting factor.

NAIBA & SIBA partner for Club Read; O, The Oprah Magazine unveils summer reading list; Ingram opens Lightning Source Australia; Consortium begins distributing five new clients

The campaign for sales tax fairness has heated up in key states where Amazon.com has or is planning to open warehouse or distribution facilities.

Several weeks after the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association ran a half-page ad in the San Francisco Chronicle to let readers know that the area’s indie booksellers were alive and well, a group of San Francisco booksellers has pooled resources for a second ad, this time in the Bay Guardian.