About Bookselling

By Ed Avis

Writers buy books. According to a survey in 2000, nearly all readers of The Writer magazine purchased books in the last year, and 60 percent of them bought at least one book each month.

How do you get those folks into your store? Starting a writers' group is one way.

When making travel plans for this year's BookExpo America in Los Angeles, booksellers are encouraged to keep in mind that on Thursday, May 29, from 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., ABA will once again be sponsoring a full day of bookseller educational programming.

The special educational programming, taking place the day before the BEA trade show floor opens, will include in-depth sessions on:

By Carl Lennertz

Three books to watch, thanks to the almost 400 stores who reported last week! Are YOU one of the stores contributing to this wealth of knowledge?

As it turns out, all of these are also on at least one Regional Bestseller List:

One key element to successful bookstore succession planning is to know your ideal buyer and terms. Experts attest that the process of selling a store is complicated enough without having to negotiate with a buyer who is, at best, an unknown quantity.

In our ongoing coverage of the public debate regarding the retail makeup of a proposed government-subsidized development in Austin, Texas, BTW has cited an economic study commissioned by Liveable City and The Austin Independent Business Alliance (AIBA), local nonprofit groups. The study documents how local merchants contribute significantly more to the local economy than do retail chains.

The bookstore training and consulting group of Paz & Associates, in conjunction with the American Booksellers Association, is offering a spring workshop for those interested in, or already involved in, the process of opening or buying a bookstore. "Opening a Bookstore: The Business Essentials" will be held on March 23 - 28 in Fernandina Beach, Florida.

Participants will learn:

Bookseller response to the new online ABACUS reporting system continues to grow -- and has been extremely positive.

Recently, booksellers touted the new ABACUS on BookWeb.org's Booksellers General Forum and on the e-mail listserve of the New England Booksellers Association (NEBA).

By Jennifer Anglin of The Enchanted Forest

The noted children's bookstore The Enchanted Forest in Dallas is closing. Here, owner Jennifer Anglin shares a letter about how she reached her decision, and what bookselling has meant to her.

Twice a year since July 1999, Paz & Associates Bookstore Training & Consulting Group, in conjunction with the American Booksellers Association, has been conducting weeklong intensive workshops designed to teach potential booksellers the ins and outs of the bookstore business. The next program, "Opening a Bookstore: The Business Essentials," will take place in Portland, Oregon, on September 9 - 15, in conjunction with the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association convention and trade show, held September 13 - 15.

This past May, the American Bookseller Association's insurance program, LIBRIS, launched its new publisher's liability insurance program at BookExpo America in New York City. According to Publishers Program Manager Patrick Haller, LIBRIS offers a competitively priced and comprehensive policy that is underwritten by Philadelphia Insurance Companies. "Just as we did for independent booksellers, we have created a package of coverage based on the specific needs of independent publishers," said Haller.

By Neal Coonerty

When my Irish-born grandfather got really mad -- I mean really, really mad -- he would curse the object of his ire by muttering in his Irish brogue, "The curse of the seven Protestant gods on ye, and may ye have the dribblin' shits for all eternity." Well, I never have figured out who the "seven Protestant gods" were, but one thing I know is that my grandfather's curse expresses precisely the way I feel about shoplifters at Bookshop Santa Cruz.

Booksellers Help Reading Groups Connect With Authors via Speakerphone

Speakerphone conversations with authors are taking root as a new dimension for book clubs and booksellers. According to authors Donna Woolfolk Cross (Pope Joan) and Julia Older (The Island Queen) and booksellers Kiez Shultz (Prince & Pauper Bookshop in Rapid City, South Dakota) and Ruth Blake (Dickens-Reed Bookstore in Mount Dora, Florida), this kind of tele-networking is fruitful for everyone involved.

Any experienced e-mail user knows the drill: Log on, check mark the spam, and click delete. Then, if you have any relevant e-mail, you open and read it. For those e-mails you’re not sure of, you may open them -- but if you don’t see the point within two seconds, click! Deleted.