By Neal Coonerty

When my Irish-born grandfather got really mad -- I mean really, really mad -- he would curse the object of his ire by muttering in his Irish brogue, "The curse of the seven Protestant gods on ye, and may ye have the dribblin' shits for all eternity." Well, I never have figured out who the "seven Protestant gods" were, but one thing I know is that my grandfather's curse expresses precisely the way I feel about shoplifters at Bookshop Santa Cruz.

Booksellers Help Reading Groups Connect With Authors via Speakerphone

Speakerphone conversations with authors are taking root as a new dimension for book clubs and booksellers. According to authors Donna Woolfolk Cross (Pope Joan) and Julia Older (The Island Queen) and booksellers Kiez Shultz (Prince & Pauper Bookshop in Rapid City, South Dakota) and Ruth Blake (Dickens-Reed Bookstore in Mount Dora, Florida), this kind of tele-networking is fruitful for everyone involved.

Any experienced e-mail user knows the drill: Log on, check mark the spam, and click delete. Then, if you have any relevant e-mail, you open and read it. For those e-mails you’re not sure of, you may open them -- but if you don’t see the point within two seconds, click! Deleted.

Or, Get the New Gold Gift Certificates!

By Carl Lennertz

Bear with me; this is a "5!" plea from me. It’s that important.

By Kenneth Corrigan

So … you’ve already gone and started a café in your bookstore? And you didn’t wait for our advice? Well, no matter. In this final of three articles on bookstores and coffee, BTW talks with booksellers about strategies for improving existing bookstore cafés. [To read the previous articles in our series, click here.

On Thursday, May 2, ABA will be kicking off its annual convention, held in conjunction with BookExpo America (BEA), with a full day of special educational programming for booksellers. The day’s sessions will include an in-depth workshop on bookstore finances, inventory management, and a special "Marketing Strategy Session," designed to provide the latest in marketing insights and recommendations, as well as key updates on current consumer trends in book purchasing.

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on April 8 that Denver's Tattered Cover Book Store does not have to turn over customer records that had been sought by local law enforcement officials, who had argued that the information would assist in a case involving the manufacture of methamphetamines.

By Robin F. Whitten

April is National Poetry Month, and two audio titles stand out for special mention.