BTW News Briefs

NRF Holiday Study: Books to Be a Hot Item This Year

Though the majority of consumers have not even put a dent in their shopping list, traditional winter apparel and personal, inexpensive items like DVDs, CDs, and books will be the first things they stock up on as they begin their holiday shopping, according to NRF's 2008 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch.

"Americans may be hesitant to purchase expensive gifts this holiday season, but personal and practical gifts will resonate most with shoppers this year," said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. "Though many companies have already been featuring substantial sales and discounts, retailers may still have a few tricks up their sleeves to attract and entice holiday shoppers."

The survey found that consumers will shop in similar gift categories as last year, with clothing and accessories (57.4 percent) and books, CDs, DVDs, and video games (55.6 percent) topping the list. Furthermore, the study indicates that, though many consumers are struggling, most will not rely on credit for the bulk of this year's holiday purchases. The survey found that 41.5 percent of shoppers will primarily use their debit/check card to pay for holiday items this year, compared to 40.1 percent last year.

Online Retailers to Continue Free Shipping Promotions

Despite a lagging economy causing many online retail marketers to cut marketing budgets and promotional spending, according to a Shop.org holiday survey, online retailers will continue to employ free shipping promotions to entice customers, as reported by AdAge.com. According to the survey, 45 percent of retailers said their budgets for free shipping promotions were higher than last year's, the article noted.

NEIBA Names Grant Recipients

The latest recipients of New England Independent Booksellers Association grants hail from opposite ends of Massachusetts, the NEIBA newsletter recently announced. Pioneer Valley Local First, based in Northampton, Massachusetts, has been awarded a grant of $2,500 to fund a project manager and graphic designer in order to produce a business directory for Pioneer Valley First. NEIBA members involved in the Pioneer Valley alliance are Broadside Bookshop, Food for Thought Books, and Odyssey Bookshop.

Shop Sandwich First, on Cape Cod, also received a grant of $2,500, which will be used towards the design, distribution, and marketing of their Shop Sandwich First booklet and to help defray hotel room costs for one of its members, Vicky Uminowicz of Titcomb's BookShop, to attend the ABA sponsored Winter Institute in January 2009.

The purpose of NEIBA Grants is to help independent booksellers' efforts in their own communities to shift consumer awareness toward supporting locally owned businesses.

Former Olsson's Events Team Launches Offsitebooks

Staff from the former Olsson's Books & Records in Washington, D.C., have formed a new company, Offsitebooks Inc. [http://www.offsitebooks.com], to sell books at events in the D.C. region. Founders Alicia Greene, Olsson's marketing director and events coordinator, and Terence K. McCann, Olsson's former CFO, plan to sell books at a variety of venues, from major institutions and law firms to nonprofits and private parties. The pair also plans to pursue business-to-business sales.

PNBA Announces Book Awards Short List

On November 19, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association announced its first-ever Book Awards Short List. The PNBA Short List was selected by a committee of independent booksellers from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska. The committee chose the following 12 books from more than 100 nominees, all of which were written by Northwest authors and published in 2008. The Book Awards Committee will choose the final list of no more than six titles in mid-December. PNBA will announce the winners to our members and to media in January.

The short list titles are:

• American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon, Steven Rinella (Spiegel & Grau)
• The Art of Racing in the Rain: a Novel, Garth Stein (Harper)
• Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs, Buddy Levy (Bantam Books)
• The Eleventh Man, Ivan Doig (Harcourt)
• The English Major, Jim Harrison (Grove Press)
• Guernica: A Novel, Dave Boling (Bloomsbury)
• The Jewel of Medina: A Novel, Sherry Jones (Beaufort Books)
• Little Hoot, Jen Corace (illus.) (Chronicle Books)
• Selected Poems: 1970 - 2005, Floyd Skloot (Tupelo Press)
• Shopping for Porcupine: A Life in Arctic Alaska, Seth Kantner (Milkweed Editions)
• Wild Beauty: Photographs of the Columbia River Gorge, 1867 - 1957, Terry Toedtemeier and John Laursen (The Northwest Photography Archive & Oregon State University Press)
• The Wink of the Zenith: The Shaping of a Writer's Life, Floyd Skloot (University of Nebraska Press)