Lawsuit filed against Apple and five agency model publishers; Borders given okay to auction name, website, leases; Amazon unveils Kindle Cloud Reader; Philip Levine named poet laureate; Sally Dedecker to direct BEA conference program; Sales rep Ann Wachur honored by NEIBA; PEN 2011 literary award winners announced

Scott Nafz, the senior customer service rep for ABA’s IndieCommerce program, assists bookstore members in all matters related to their e-commerce websites.

World Book Night is launching in the U.S. with the goal of giving away one million books across the country on April 23, 2012. Carl Lennertz, currently vice president for independent retailing at HarperCollins, has been hired as chief executive of the U.S. division of WBN and will start on September 1.

Elizabeth Nichols, ABA’s member relationship manager for bookstores in the GLIBA, MPIBA, MBA, PNBA, and SIBA regions, is happy to be a part of ABA, and to be able to work directly with the people that continue to shape the organization — its members.

Emily St. John Mandel talks about The Singer’s Gun, Unbridled Books’ recent 25-cent e-book promotion, and her cautiously optimistic forecast for indie bookstores.

ABFFE President Chris Finan will receive the 2011 Freedom to Read Foundation Roll of Honor Award at the American Library Association’s national conference in New Orleans on Friday, June 25.

Award-winning author Ann Patchett returns with a spellbinding new novel, State of Wonder (Harper), featured on June's Indie Next List. Patchett has given IndieBound an exclusive interview on her new work, her writing style, and independent bookstores -- for indie booksellers to link to or cut and paste on their websites and in their newsletters.

Michael Tucker, the co-owner of San Francisco’s Books Inc., talks about his experience during two terms as ABA president and some of the accomplishments, challenges, and surprises of working on behalf of indie booksellers across the country.

Christopher J. Zane, the founder of Zane’s Cycles and a nationally noted entrepreneur and speaker, is the opening plenary speaker at ABA’s Day of Education, sponsored by the Ingram Content Group. Zane recently spoke to BTW about the customer experience, the recovering economy, and why half-off coupons are not the answer.

ABA has announced that Mark Nichols’ title has changed from Industry Relations Officer to Development Officer. The change was made to better reflect Nichols’ role in the association.