Regional Associations to Offer New Spring Catalog

Eight regional booksellers associations are joining to create a new national spring catalog for consumers that will help their member stores sell more books and that "will assist publishers in selling more books through the independent channel," said Southeast Booksellers Association (SEBA) Executive Director Wanda Jewell. As an added benefit, revenue generated from publisher advertising in the catalog will be used to support the expansion of The Spoken Word from a weekly, public radio program focusing on literature, culture, and the arts in the Southeast to a nationally syndicated program featuring events in different regions of the country. Participating in the catalog are the Southeast, Great Lakes, Midwest, Mountains & Plains, New Atlantic Independent, Northern California Independent, Pacific Northwest, and Southern California booksellers associations.

The new catalog will provide a much-needed promotional tool for booksellers during the important springtime selling season. "Many regional associations have tried to create a spring regional catalog," said Jewell. "I thought if we all went in on it together, we'd be able to create the catalog and offer our members that benefit, as well as pay for The Spoken Word."

The 8-3/8" by 10-7/8" catalog will be called "Spring Into Reading" and will be shipping to bookstores in mid-March. The front and back pages can be customized to highlight individual association's regional titles. The goal, said Jewell, "is not to be perceived as a gift catalog only." Although it will feature titles for "moms, dad, brides, and grads," the catalog will also include ideas for book clubs and summer reads, among other suggestions.

Jewell speculated that the catalog's advertising revenue would more than cover the cost of the The Spoken Word program. "I shopped the idea around to nearly every publisher," she said. "I got a very positive response. I think it's all going to work."

For more information about the spring catalog and The Spoken Word, contact Jewell at [email protected]. -- Karen Schechner