BTW News Briefs

Oprah Chooses A Million Little Pieces

The latest selection to be read by the Oprah Book Club, announced this week, is James Frey's A Million Little Pieces (Anchor), the true story of Frey's battle with addiction and his journey to recovery.

Cody's to Open New Bookstore

Cody's Books, which was founded in 1956, announced this week that it will open its third store in downtown San Francisco on Thursday, September 29. The 22,000-square-foot store, in the heart of downtown Union Square, "is a labor of passion for the written and printed word, and the hope of its owner, Andy Ross, is to bring a Cody's style of bookselling to San Francisco," a Cody's press released stated. Cody's has two bookstores in Berkeley.

Library of Congress Joins With First Book to Create "Book Relief"

The Library of Congress and First Book are joining together to place millions of books into the hands of children and families displaced by Hurricane Katrina. "Book Relief" will be officially launched at the National Book Festival on the National Mall on Saturday, September 24. A celebration of the joys of reading, the National Book Festival is organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress. First Book has resolved to send five million books to people in the affected regions over the next 12 months.

First Book is one of 85 organizational members in the national reading promotion partnership network of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to give new books to children in need across the country.

First Book's Chief Financial Officer, Jane Robinson, spoke to BTW prior to the formal announcement of Book Relief, a program that, she said, "has been moving at a breathtaking pace." The announcement will be a "call to action to raise the necessary funds -- we want to get books into the hands of the right people at the right time."

Further details about Book Relief will be available on the First Book website, www.FirstBook.org.

National Book Awards to Honor Norman Mailer

On Wednesday, November 16, at the 56th National Book Awards, the National Book Foundation will bestow its 2005 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters on Norman Mailer in recognition of his five decades of work. In a release the Foundation noted, "Mailer has long been considered a major figure in post-war American literature whose innovative works of fiction and nonfiction have changed the landscape of American writing." Author and radio host Garrison Keillor will host the National Book Awards again this year and Toni Morrison will present Mr. Mailer with his Award.

This year, the announcement of the 20 National Book Award Finalists will take place on October 12 in Oxford, Mississippi, where John Grisham will announce the finalists from the steps of Rowan Oak, the newly restored home of William Faulkner, who was a two-time winner of the National Book Award.

Academy of American Poets Announces Prize Winners

The Academy of American Poets recently announced the recipients of three major awards for poetry, with a total of $130,000 bestowed upon the poets. The winners are Gerald Stern (Wallace Stevens Award for proven mastery in the art of poetry, $100,000), Claudia Rankine (Academy Fellowship for distinguished poetic achievement at mid-career, $25,000), and Barbara Jane Reyes (James Laughlin Award for a second book, $5,000).

These three awards are among the Academy of American Poets' seven major annual book awards. The recipients will be honored at the Academy's awards ceremony on Thursday, November 3, 2005, at Lang Auditorium, New School, 55 West 13th Street, New York City, at 7:00 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

NRF Forecasts Five Percent Holiday Sales Growth

On the heels of the strongest holiday season in five years, retailers can expect moderate holiday sales growth this year. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), total holiday retail sales (NRF defines "holiday retail sales" as retail industry sales that occur in the months of November and December) are expected to increase 5.0 percent over last year, bringing holiday spending to $435.3 billion. In comparison, holiday sales in 2004 rose 6.7 percent to $414.7 billion.

"A combination of many factors, including energy prices, the job market, disposable income, and consumer confidence, will ultimately affect retailers' sales this holiday season," said NRF Chief Economist Rosalind Wells. "Though it might be easy to label gas prices as the make-or-break factor for the holidays, it is crucial for analysts to look at the big picture instead of isolating one economic indicator to project sales." 

One-fifth of retail industry sales (19.9 percent) occur during the holiday season, making it the most important time period of the year for the industry. This year, retailers will struggle with tough comparisons over 2004, which will make significant gains more difficult to achieve. In addition, the effects of Hurricane Katrina and high prices at the pump play a role in the tempered outlook. However, NRF maintains that steady consumer spending and strong second and third quarter gains indicate potential for a solid holiday season.

Ingram Names New Field Sales Rep for Northeast

Ingram Book Group Inc. has named Eileen Golinski as field sales representative serving Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Golinski will join Ingram as part of an expanded trade sales team dedicated to growing sales on behalf of Ingram Publisher Services Inc. client publishers and providing Ingram wholesale services to current and prospective customers. She will be responsible for establishing and maintaining strong, long-term relationships with booksellers and will promote the new-title releases and backlists of Ingram's client publishers, as well as Ingram wholesale services.