BTW News Briefs

Story Prize Finalists Announced

On December 6, the Story Prize, an annual award for books of short fiction, announced the finalists for this year's prize: Jim Harrison (The Summer He Didn't Die, Atlantic Monthly Press); Maureen F. McHugh (Mothers & Other Monsters, Small Beer Press); and Patrick O'Keeffe (The Hill Road, Viking).

The winner of The Story Prize will receive $20,000, and the two runners-up will each receive $5,000. The Story Prize will be announced and presented at an awards ceremony at the New School's Tishman Auditorium in New York City at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 25, 2006. For more information, visit www.thestoryprize.org/.

Baker & Taylor Reportedly for Sale

The Book Standard has reported that Baker & Taylor is up for sale. Willis Stein & Partners, an investment firm, bought the wholesaler in June 2003 and recently hired Goldman Sachs to put it back on the market. B&T is said to have about $1.5 billion in revenues, according to the Book Standard. Willis Stein paid $255 million for Baker & Taylor, buying it from another financial firm, the Carlyle Group, which had bought the company from W.R. Grace & Co. in 1992. The Book Standard had access to some of B&T's 2003 financials, which show that it generated $1.2 billion in revenues that year, indicating that the company has since grown by 25 percent.

Online Retailers See Significant Holiday Gains

According to the 2005 Shop.org/BizRate Research eHoliday Mood Study, conducted by BizRate Research, a division of Shopzilla, Inc., nearly six in 10 online retailers reaped gains of 30 percent or more through the Thanksgiving weekend as a result of aggressive, early promotions. The study revealed that retailers are using a variety of marketing, promotions and site-specific tools to drive holiday sales. The most popular marketing initiatives have been direct e-mail promotions (92.4 percent), paid search engine marketing (71.4 percent), natural search engine marketing (53.3 percent), and affiliate/loyalty programs (40.1 percent). Free shipping with conditions is the most successful promotion with 62.0 percent of retailers citing it the best way to drive holiday sales.

The eHoliday Mood Study is based on data provided directly from online retailers in addition to consumer data. The poll of 3,730 online buyers (defined as anyone who has made an online purchase in the last 12 months) and 113 online retailers, all members of Shop.org, was conducted November 29 - 30, 2005.

NRF Offers Holiday Survival Kit

The National Retail Federation has produced a 2005 Holiday Survival Kit for retailers. It includes the "Holiday 2005 Fast Facts," which includes information on holiday hiring; "Percentage of Holiday Sales by Sector"; "Consumers' Primary Payment Method for Last Holiday Season"; and "Sources of Retail Inventory Shrinkage," which includes percentages lost to employee theft, shoplifting, and administrative and paperwork error. NRF's Survival Kit is online in PDF format.