Book Sense

Dear Booksellers,

Well, you did it again. Thank you! A record number of submissions … and from a number of new voices. This 76 has more first-time nominators than ever, a very good sign.

Carl
[email protected]

1. BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS, by Sijie Dai (Anchor, $10 paper, 0385722206; Nov. 1)

Both the American Booksellers Association and the Book Sense program, including BookSense.com, receive prominent mention in an article published in the October 21, 2002, and current online issue of Time magazine. The article, "Plucky Little Competitors," by Daren Fonda, details how independent stores in several industries -- including bookstores, the pet business, coffee shops, and hardware stores -- are prospering, "sometimes literally in the shadow of popular national chains."

In 1998, when Stuart Brown finally tired of Jack Daniel's, he and his wife Joanna decided to devote themselves to books. They purchased a slightly dog-eared, 34-year-old bookstore after moving up to Telluride, Colorado (altitude 8,745), from Louisville, Kentucky (altitude 462), where Stuart was a marketing brand manager for the Jack Daniel's brands.

Dear Booksellers,

Well, you did it again. Thank you! A record number of submissions … and from a number of new voices. This 76 has more first-time nominators than ever -- a very good sign.

Other good news: No books due after November 1! Phew.

Watch for the full 76 preview next week.

Carl
[email protected]

Based on the last eight weeks of sales from over 350 independent bookstores across America.

Thanks to all the stores that report, the new expanded electronic reporting options, and the software our team here has built to sort and slice a ton of data according to BISAC categories, this is the latest of many subject category lists to run in BTW each week. These are intended as inventory checking tools for booksellers, alerts to publishers as to what's selling, and lists that the media can run.

It would be an understatement to say that Books at Stonehenge has competition. The 2,500-square-foot independent bookstore, which is located in the Stonehenge Market shopping plaza in Raleigh, North Carolina, is two miles north of a Barnes & Noble, two miles west of a Borders, and about five miles away from a brand new mall, where a two-story Barnes & Noble's recently opened its doors.

Independent booksellers to benefit from data swap

As Bookselling This Week went to press, ABA and Ingram Customer Systems announced an agreement through which the two entities will exchange data for use in their respective trade and consumer products.

The national in-store fundraising campaign to benefit local firefighters is gaining momentum in bookstores, as the October 28 air date of the History Channel documentary based on the book, Fire on the Mountain: The True Story of the South Canyon Fire by John N. Maclean (Washington Square Press), grows near.

By Carl Lennertz

Publisher Ad Kudos:
We've always kept you posted by e-mail or at BookWeb.org about upcoming Book Sense ads and the titles involved. I'm going to run reminders here, and I hope that you'll give these 76 picks an extra look stock -- and display-wise. I'll also try and alert you, when I see them, to national ads that mention Book Sense.

Many, many, many thanks to all the publishers who advertise with us in our ad format, and to those who include us in their own ads!!

Based on the last eight weeks of sales from over 300 independent bookstores across America.

Thanks to all the stores that report, the new expanded electronic reporting options, and the software our team here has built to sort and slice a ton of data according to BISAC categories, this is the latest of many subject category lists to run in BTW each week. These are intended as inventory checking tools for booksellers, alerts to publishers as to what's selling, and lists that the media can run.

The number of national and local magazines, newspapers, industry publications, and Web sites carrying Book Sense Bestseller (national, regional, or category) lists continues to grow each month.

In September, the media outlets listed below began running one of ABA's Book Sense Bestseller Lists. To view the complete list, click here.

NATIONAL:
Motorboating Magazine (Nautical List)

Arthur Phillip's debut novel Prague was one of the most critically praised works of 2002. A July/August Book Sense 76 pick, it was also a Book Sense national bestseller and an enthusiastic handsell among independent booksellers nationwide.