IndieCommerce

BookSense.com is scheduled to be down for about an hour very early Sunday morning to allow staff to upgrade software. From 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time on September 23, connectivity to BookSense.com, templated sites, e-mail, and all other services will be sporadic.

Questions about Sunday's work should be addressed to [email protected] or (800) 637-0037, option 2.

At the meeting of the BookSense.com Users Group on Friday, June 1, at BookExpo America, BookSense.com Director Len Vlahos and other members of the BookSense.com team discussed some of the e-commerce site's newest features, as well as several planned enhancements.

The "Next Big Thing," said Vlahos, is the site's eventual migration to Plone, an open source software that will allow for a much more nimble and dynamic BookSense.com.

On Tuesday, May 22, BookSense.com officially launched a functionality that provides consumers with the option of purchasing eBooks through participating stores' websites. The eBooks, which are downloaded to the consumer's computer and/or handheld device, are accessible through all BookSense.com templated websites. Ingram Digital Ventures will fulfill eBook orders in three formats -- Palm OS, Adobe, and Microsoft Reader.

Award-winning author Ann S. Martin recently chatted online with dozens of her fans in a web event hosted by BookSense.com. In an hour-long, casual back-and-forth format, Martin answered questions about Welcome to Camden Falls (Scholastic), the first title in her new Main Street series, as well as about previous titles and her life as an author.

The American Booksellers Association's schedule of educational offerings at BookExpo America doesn't end with Thursday's "Day of Education." Informational sessions continue on Friday and Saturday, June 1 - 2. Among the programs on Friday at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center are two Users Group Meetings: a BookSense.com Users Group Meeting and a Book Sense Gift Cards Users Group Meeting.

BookSense.com Users Group Meeting

BookSense.com, the American Booksellers Association's turnkey e-commerce product for member bookstores, has launched functionality to allow consumers to view book content from two leading publishers.

In this first On the Move of the New Year, BookSense.com presents a report on website sales during the holiday season, improvements to inventory upload features, ISBN-13 compatibility, digital content, a new content management system, and more.

Holiday Sales

BookSense.com announced that participants saw a double-digit increase in orders placed during the 2006 holiday selling season and that aggregate sales are up once again.

The American Booksellers Association has signed an agreement with Ingram Digital Ventures that will enable bookstores participating in the BookSense.com program to sell ebooks in three formats -- Palm, Adobe, and Microsoft -- beginning sometime in 2007.

"While sleigh bells will be ringing and your cash register jingling this weekend, expect traffic to your store website and online sales to peak each Monday between Thanksgiving and Christmas," said BookSense.com Director Len Vlahos.

On Friday, September 8, the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) held its Annual Meeting of Members at the McGraw-Hill Auditorium in New York City. At the meeting, six Board members and committee Chairs presented both highlights from the past 12 months and goals for the coming year. Among the topics discussed, the most notable was the book industry's transition to ISBN-13.

This week, BookSense.com Director Len Vlahos announced that the first phase of work to make BookSense.com websites ISBN-13 compatible has been completed. "Booksellers and consumers can now search for and find books with both 10- and 13-digit ISBNs," Vlahos said.

BookSense.com has scheduled down time on Monday, August 14, from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. EST to enable staff to push new code that will make the database compliant with the 13-digit ISBN standard, which goes into effect on January 1, 2007.

During the down time, store websites and administrative pages will be replaced by a "Down for Maintenance" holding page that directs users to return later in the day.

As suburban sprawl threatens to overcome more and more communities, independent booksellers are facing battles on many fronts, from fighting proposed chain store developments in their communities to competing with online giants. It is a market landscape that is very familiar to Tom Campbell of Durham, North Carolina's The Regulator Bookshop.