Industry News

In the time you may spend browsing in a bookstore for the right book, you can now publish one of your own. With advances in Print-On-Demand (POD) technology, the equipment is easy, fast, and small enough to operate in a 5,000-square-foot bookstore.

On Thursday, April 29, BookSense.com announced that bookstore sites could begin taking pre-orders for former President Bill Clinton's memoir, My Life, which will be published at the end of June by Knopf.

BookSense.com joined other online retailers that had already begun pre-selling the highly anticipated book, which has not yet been assigned a price or ISBN by the publisher.

ABA's winter/spring Booksellers Forum tour concludes in Pittsboro, North Carolina, on Wednesday, May 5, with a program that was postponed in January due to inclement weather. ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz and COO Oren Teicher will conduct the forum, held in conjunction with the Southeast Booksellers Association, at McIntyre's Fine Books at Fearrington Village (near Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill).

The May 10 issue of the New Yorker, on sale May 3, will once again include a special insert featuring Book Sense and great gift book recommendations from independent booksellers. "Bound to Please" suggests appropriate titles for Mother's Day, Father's Day, and graduation gifts and notes that books " can both commemorate a special moment and later, offer the pleasure of rediscovery -- something few gifts can do."

With the Book Sense Gift Card program in full swing for about seven months now, statistics compiled by ABA bear out the fact that gift cards are extremely popular with book buyers. Moreover, recently released research is projecting overall gift card sales to increase to over $90 billion by 2007.

Online Contest Allows Listeners to Pick Award-Winning Audiobooks

Book Sense and the A&E Network have announced the formation of a new marketing partnership that both anticipate will extend their brand into the well-known territory of the other.

In response to both bookseller and publisher recommendations, Book Sense has instituted a new monthly mailing -- the "Red Box" -- which begins in May. While actually a white box in color, this mailing will feature a large red sticker announcing "Open Immediately! Your (month) Marketing Action Kit enclosed from Book Sense."

Mark Nichols, director of marketing for Book Sense, notes that confirmation e-mails for the Book Sense Book and Author Luncheon to be held on Friday, June 4, at this year's BookExpo America will be sent out during the week of May 10. Recipients must print out the confirmation and bring it with them to the Luncheon to expedite seating. The event will be held in the Grand Ballroom at Chicago's McCormick Place Convention Center.

The scenic business district of Peninsula, Ohio, will boast an independent bookstore after many years, when Blue Heron Bookstore opens on Saturday, May 1. The store's 4,000-square-foot building, with wood-burning stove, spiral staircase, and courtyard, occupies space that in the past has housed an 1880s saloon, an automotive repair shop, and an antiques store. The village of Peninsula, population 602, 10 miles from Akron and 25 miles south of Cleveland, is also the home of the popular Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Booksellers, having already gathered their financial data for their 2004 tax returns, can easily participate in the 2004 ABACUS study through an online form at http://www.bookweb.org/docs/abacusform/. The deadline for participation has been extended to Wednesday, May 5, allowing more time for booksellers to submit data to the 2004 study, which will provide participants with valuable information that can help improve their bookstore's operations.