BTW News Briefs

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UPS Survey Shows Support for Shopping Local

Results of a recent survey conducted by UPS indicate that 94 percent of consumers recognize that doing business with small businesses in their communities is important, and 90 percent said that small businesses are important to the U.S. economy.

Additionally, the number of people who paid more for a product or service in order to support a small business increased 41 percent from 2013 to 2014; the number of people traveling out of their way to support a small business increased 36 percent from 2013 to 2014.

BookExpo America Reveals Preliminary Attendance

BookExpo America has released its preliminary attendance figures for the 2014 show, held May 28 – 31, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Total professional attendance at this year’s BookExpo America was down by one percent, with preliminary numbers showing 10,965 attendees compared to 11,094 in 2013. The total number of industry professionals was down three percent, to 19,860 from 20,479 in 2013. BookCon sold out of its 10,000 tickets entirely.

Children’s Book Council Offers Summer Reading Lists

In an effort to beat back the summer slide that kids experience when school’s out, the Children’s Book Council, the American Library Association, and the Association for Library Service to Children are offering reading lists to help parents and guardians create a home library. “Building a Home Library” offers lists of hand-picked recommendations grouped by age range; see the 2014 suggestions here.

Lambda Literary Awards Winners Announced

The winners of the 26th Annual Lambda Literary Awards (the “Lammys”) were announced this week at a gala in New York City, welcoming more than 500 attendees, sponsors, and celebrities to celebrate excellence in LGBT literature. Of note, Alison Bechdel, who won her first Lammy in 1991, accepted the Board of Trustees Award for Excellence in Literature. See the full list of winners here.

Jack Covert Retires From 800-CEO-READ

800-CEO-READ, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, announced on Monday that company founder and president Jack Covert retired at the end of May.

Covert is the co-author of 100 Best Business Books of All Time: What They Say, Why They Matter, and How They Can Help You, which sold more than 40,000 copies and has been translated into more than 10 languages. He has also penned 600-plus monthly Jack Covert Selects business book recommendations and been featured on CNN and NPR and in Inc. Magazine, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, Washington Post, New York Post, BusinessWeek, and other publications.

Penguin Random House Reveals New Branding

Penguin Random House debuted its newly designed corporate wordmark this week, which going forward will be paired with the logos of each of PRH’s divisions or imprints.

“Presenting our new Penguin Random House wordmark side by side with each of our publishing imprint and brand symbols powerfully communicates what makes our company so special: our collective expertise and global scale coupled with our local publishing teams giving diverse and important voices a platform and audience,” said Markus Dohle, CEO of Penguin Random House.

De Gruyter to Distribute Princeton University Press

Princeton University Press (PUP) will be partnering with independent academic publisher De Gruyter for non-exclusive global distribution rights to its e-books, beginning this summer. PUP will add nearly 1,400 current and backlist titles to De Gruyter’s online catalog, as well as 1,200 titles from The Princeton Legacy Library. Previously out-of-print titles will also be brought back into print.

Bookmasters to Distribute h.f.ullmann

Bookmasters will begin distributing h.f.ullmann’s illustrated print titles beginning July 1, along with 15 to 20 new publications each year. Founded in 1994, h.f.ullmann’s titles cover topics including architecture, cars, design, food and drink, music, science, and more.