People

David Thompson, a lover of crime fiction, a publisher, and a longtime staff member of Murder by the Book in Houston, Texas, died unexpectedly on Monday, September, 13.

Author James Patterson has launched “Book Dollars for Scholars,” a contest that gives high school seniors an opportunity to win one of 56 gift certificates, ranging from $250 to $5,000 apiece, for use at any IndieBound-affiliated bookstore.

Water for Elephants author Sara Gruen talks about her latest novel, Ape House, her research into bonobo culture and inter-primate communication, and the writing process.

Joe Drabyak, a long-time bookseller at Chester County Book & Music Company, immediate past president of the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association, and a friend and mentor to many in the book industry and beyond, died on August 27 of cancer.

ABA's Vlahos profiled by Booksellers NZ; NAIBA to honor Cohen & Meade; Midwest booksellers choose award winners; PNBA introduces new blog; last call for Goldman scholarship applications

Independent booksellers and book bloggers have united to produce the Bookrageous calendar, a fundraising project that promotes the love of books.

At its July meeting, the ABA Board approved appointments to the association's Governance Review and Nominating committees.

ABFFE has announced the election to its Board of Roberta Rubin, owner of The Book Stall at Chestnut Court in Winnetka, Illinois, and Patricia Johnson, executive vice president and editorial director of Alfred A. Knopf, Pantheon, and Schocken Books.

Harper's Magazine  “New Books” columnist Benjamin Moser talks about his new column and why he's making his reviews available to indie booksellers via BookWeb.org.

Kelly Marie Wells, a bookseller at The King's English for several years, passed away on July 5 due to heart failure. She was 29 years old.

Legendary bookseller Virginia Hobson Hicks, of Townsend, Georgia, died on Tuesday, June 22, on St. Simons Island. She was 87.

A year and a half after becoming the owner of Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Jeffrey Mayersohn said the experience has been “wild and fantastic.”

Kate DiCamillo, winner of the 2010 Indies Choice Book Award for "Most Engaging Author," offers a message to booksellers from her acceptance speech at ABA's Celebration of Bookselling Luncheon at BEA. "Booksellers Make the Difference" is presented here and as a downloadable two-page PDF.

The opening session of ABA's Day of Education at BEA featured ABA's Oren Teicher and six other industry leaders debating "the value of the book."

Both the Children's and Adult Book & Author Breakfasts were highlights of BEA, featuring authors who were both funny and moving, often simultaneously.