BTW News Briefs

Paz Workshop Draws Prospective Booksellers From U.S. and Beyond

Last month, at Paz & Associates’ annual workshop retreat “Owning a Bookstore: The Business Essentials,” 15 book industry professionals shared best practices of bookstore retail management with a group of participating booksellers.

The workshop, which took place on Florida’s Amelia Island from August 23 to 28, was facilitated by The Bookstore Training Group of Paz & Associates and co-sponsored by the American Booksellers Association.

During the five-day event, Paz Group facilitators Mark and Donna Paz Kaufman worked with prospective and existing booksellers from Colorado to Washington, D.C., to Maine and the Dominican Republic. Participants (pictured with the Kaufmans) included Kelly Whitman, Janet Lynn Hardy, Deavours Hall, Deserea Russell, Anne Hughes, Margi Watters, Carla Dominguez, Laurie Gillman, Leslie Huerta, Martha Dumont, Melene Hatcher, Darlene Krogol, Dave Krogol, and Ben Hatcher.

For details about bookstore start-up training and future workshops, booksellers are invited to visit PazBookBiz.com.

Inaugural Blue Willow-Vener Barnes Scholarship Opens to MPIBA Booksellers

In honor of her father, Vener Barnes, who passed away on June 26, Valerie Koehler, the owner of Houston’s Blue Willow Bookshop, and her family have established the Blue Willow-Vener Barnes scholarship for booksellers in the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association (MPIBA) region.

The scholarship is open to any MPIBA member who has never attended the regional’s Fall Discovery Show. Applicants from current MPIBA member stores can apply by submitting a 500-word essay explaining why they would like attend the regional’s October 8 – 10, 2015, trade show in Denver. Essays should be sent to Anne Holman at The King’s English Bookshop in Salt Lake City, Utah, at [email protected] no later than September 11.

MPIBA will notify the winner on September 18. Multiple submissions from one bookstore will be accepted.

BISG Reveals Industry Innovation Award Shortlist

The shortlist of companies for the Book Industry Study Group’s (BISG) Industry Innovation Award, which “recognizes a company or individual who boldly reimagines what publishing is and can be,” was announced on September 3.

The 2015 shortlist includes:

• Atlas, represented by Sanders Kleinfeld, Director of Publishing Technology, O’Reilly Media
• Bibblio, represented by Mads Holmen, Founder and CEO
• Inkshares, represented by Matt Kaye, Vice President of Marketing and Operations
• Trajectory, represented by Jim Bryant, CEO and Co-Founder

The organization’s annual Industry Innovation Award, along with awards in three other categories, will be presented at BISG’s Annual Meeting of Members on September 18 in New York City. The shortlists for the Most Valuable BISG Volunteer Award, Industry Champion Award, and the recipient of the Lifetime BISG Service Award, Tom Clarkson, were previously announced.

Winners of Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Awards Announced

The winners of the 21st annual Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Awards, which are given each year to six women writers “who demonstrate excellence and promise in the early stages of their careers,” were announced on September 1.

The 2015 winners, who will each receive a $30,000 prize, are:

• Meehan Crist (nonfiction)
• Vanessa Hua (fiction)
• Ashley M. Jones (poetry)
• Britteney Black Rose Kapri (poetry)
• Amanda Rea (fiction)
• Natalie Haney Tilghman (fiction)

The awards will be presented on September 17 at a private reception in New York City. Individual biographies for the winning writers can be found here.