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World Book Night titles sales jump; Goodreads alternative Riffle now open to public; American Express study looks at small business owners’ purchasing; O’Reilly cancels Tools of Change conference; Memorial service planned for Bryan Pearce of University Bookstore

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Our Boston to benefit The One Fund; Preliminary World Book Night statistics revealed; Publishing Triangle’s annual awards presented; AAUP lists “Books for Understanding: Chechnya”; MacAdam Cage founder David Poindexter dies; HarperCollins launches digital mystery line Witness; Down East Books sold to Rowman & Littlefield; Hachette makes e-book catalog available to libraries

The results of balloting by the bookstore members of the American Booksellers Association to choose a new president, vice president, and three Board directors are now official.

Anthony Marra, author of A Constellation of Vital Phenomena (Hogarth), talks about his inspirations, research process, and what lies at the heart of his debut novel, which Anderson McKean of Alabama’s Page & Palettte said “expertly balances the pain and suffering inflicted during the Chechen conflict with exquisite moments of loyalty, sacrifice, humility, and enduring love.”

Fifty-six prizes of free hotel nights at Hotel ABA — the Grand Hyatt New York — have been awarded to ABA member booksellers in a random drawing sponsored by BookExpo America.

On Wednesday afternoon, May 29, at BEA, a group of lucky booksellers will tour the studios of children’s book illustrators for a behind-the-scenes peek into the creative lives of some of today’s top talent. The tour is open to ABC Group bookstore members only. There is no fee to participate, but space is limited. Registration for the tours will close on May 10.

BEA’s Global Market Forum to focus on Mexico; IBPA appoints new executive director; Andrew Carnegie Medals shortlist announced; Lambda Literary Foundation to honor authors at 25^th Anniversary Awards; Unbridled Books donates to the Afghan Women’s Writing Project; Egmont USA staff changes 

Peter Workman, the founder of Workman Publishing Company, died on April 7 in his New York City home at the age of 74.

Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi, has been selected by Publishers Weekly as the PW Bookstore of the Year. This is the 20^th anniversary of the award.

John Sargent, Macmillan CEO, will be the featured speaker at the opening plenary session, kicking off Bookselling Today & ABA Education at BEA on Wednesday, May 29. He will be joined by ABA President Becky Anderson for a discussion about the challenges facing the book industry.

ABFFE has hired two consultants to manage its major fundraising projects — the auction of original children’s book art and an affiliate program for sideline producers who contribute to ABFFE a portion of their sales to independent bookstores.

To kick off a new monthly feature on #1 Indie Next List Great Reads, BTW recently spoke to Kent Haruf, author of Benediction (Knopf), the top pick on the March 2013 Indie Next List, about his writing process, the worlds he creates, and the way readers react to his writing.

The names of three director candidates approved by the ABA Board will appear on the ballot to be sent to main store members at the end of March. Under ABA’s Bylaws, bookstore members may submit petitions to have additional director candidates placed on the ballot.

The American Booksellers Association’s Board of Directors, which met this week in Kansas City just prior to the Winter Institute, has named three director candidates to stand for election to the Board.

Bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell will share insights from his forthcoming book, David and Goliath (Little, Brown, October 2013), with booksellers at Wi8’s Sunday morning plenary session. Here, Gladwell talks about what drew him to the theme of David and Goliath and some of the opportunities for bookselling “Davids.”