About Bookselling

For Tattered Cover Book Store and indie record store Twist & Shout, neighbors in Denver's Lowenstein "CulturePlex," cross promotions have become a regular, and successful, way of doing business.

Next month, Russ Lawrence and Jean Matthews, soon-to-be former owners of Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, Montana, are leaving the States and starting a two-year Peace Corps assignment in Peru.

Sunday, March 29, was moving day for two indie bookstores -- nearly 40-year-old Rakestraw Books in Danville, California, and three-year-old Nightbird Books in Fayetteville, Arkansas. With a big assist from customers and friends, both stores were able to reopen quickly in their new digs.

Rakestraw Books

By Carla Cohen of Politics and Prose Bookstore and Coffeehouse

Politics and Prose is very lucky. We are located in an affluent section of an affluent metropolitan area, a place where most people have graduate degrees. That doesn't mean we are immune from economic downturns or unaffected by the changing technology, which competes for attention. Of course, we are.

Booksellers from coast to coast are taking IndieBound's holiday marketing materials and are making them their own. Here's a look at some of the things they're doing to impress upon customers the value of the book as a holiday gift and the importance of shopping locally.

A larger version can be obtained by clicking on many of the images below.

Booksellers who think loss control is not a store's top priority, especially when times are tough and profits are harder to come by, should talk to David Bolduc of Boulder Book Store in Colorado. If it weren't for the steps he started taking some 25 years ago to secure his bookstore, Bolduc's store could be losing around $80,000 per year in shrinkage.

In case you missed any of Bookselling This Week's previous coverage of Bookselling in Tough Times, here's a look at the resources available to help ABA member stores weather this season's economic challenges.

Hiring and retaining smart, well-read, personable booksellers is one key to staying competitive in the marketplace. While the ability to pay high salaries and offer bonuses and perks can go a long way toward attracting and keeping qualified employees, that's not the only solution to the compensation conundrum. By thinking creatively, and strategically, about the intangible benefits of working in a bookstore, store owners and managers can find ways to show employees they are valued, and that the bookstore is a great place to work, now and for years to come.

The American Booksellers Association has posted online the video vignettes featured in its popular education session "Handselling: Customer Service With Results." The video shorts dramatize 10 potential customer service scenarios to show the best and worst practices in five key areas.

The city council of Madison, Wisconsin's state capital and home to well over 50,000 University of Wisconsin students, has passed new legislation, to take effect in mid July, aimed at combating the problem of textbook theft and resale. Opponents of the legislation, including local independent bookseller Sandra Torkildson, fear that provisions of the new ordinance, which force booksellers to record data about individuals offering textbooks for resale, will inhibit customers' right to privacy.

Kurt Vonnegut Dies at 84

Kurt Vonnegut, considered a key figure in 20th-century American literature, died April 11 at 84. He had suffered brain injuries resulting from a recent fall at his Manhattan home, said his wife, photographer Jill Krementz. Vonnegut's more than a dozen books, short stories, essays, and plays, including Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat's Cradle, and most recently A Man Without a Country -- offered elements of social commentary, science fiction, and autobiography via dark humor and satire.

ABA member booksellers have recently notified the association about a check fraud scam that appears to be growing. The scam involves a check to a vendor that is stolen prior to reaching its destination. The perpetrator alters either the check amount and/or payee information and then finds someone who will cash the check and send part of the payment back to the scammer.

Due to the "warm welcome the book community gave to its 50th anniversary calendar," the International Booksellers Federation (IBF), a non-governmental organization of booksellers associations and booksellers from around the world, announced this week that the IBF calendar for 2008 is in preparation.

In celebration of its 50th anniversary, the International Booksellers Federation (IBF), a non-governmental organization of booksellers associations and booksellers from around the world, has announced plans for the publication of a calendar featuring photographs of 50 bookshops in all IBF member countries.

A new, 22,000-square-foot Cody's Books is officially set to open on Thursday, September 29.