Author Jamie Ford asks readers to support bricks-and-mortar bookstores; National Book Awards longlist to be announced September 12; Facebook algorithm change increases engagement; BISG releases study on teacher preferences for course materials

The community of Excelsior, Minnesota, is united in the hunt for green beans of the dastardly kind in a fun promotion created by Excelsior Bay Books. The focus of the event is How Martha Saved Her Parents From Green Beans, by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Mark Fearing (Dial).

Since President Obama’s jobs speech at an Amazon warehouse on July 30, there has been an outpouring of disappointment from independent booksellers across the country about the president’s choice of venue.

Next month, a national campaign that will put more than a quarter-million cotton bags and other promotional materials with the brand message “Books Are My Bag” in U.K. and Irish bookshops will launch.

To gauge the event’s success, Candlewick is requesting that participating booksellers complete a short Find Waldo Local 2013 survey.

As Find Waldo Local 2013 –– sponsored by Candlewick Press and the American Booksellers Association –– came to a close in communities across the country, participating booksellers took note of the event’s success and eagerly look forward to next year’s festivities.

The strong reaction of independent booksellers and other Main Street advocates to President Obama’s visit to an Amazon warehouse in Tennessee to deliver an address on job creation was reported in media outlets across the country.

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance has compiled five facts about Amazon’s true economic impact on communities across the country that Main Street businesses can use when talking to the media.

On the heels of press reports that Amazon has drastically lowered the price on many hardcover titles, on Monday, July 29, the Board of Directors of the American Booksellers Association and CEO Oren Teicher criticized President Obama’s decision to hold his jobs speech this week at an Amazon facility in Tennessee.

Planning is under way for the first-ever California Bookstore Day, a celebration of the written word and the culture of independent bookstores across the state, set for May 3, 2014. Last week, organizers launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds to support publicity and marketing efforts for the event.