Industry News

Booksellers who have participated in the previous two Lord of the Rings (LOTR) promotions, or who have asked to be included in the third promotion, should have received their LOTR display materials.

The Upper Midwest Booksellers Association (UMBA) held its 2003 fall trade show from Friday, October 10, to Sunday, October 12, at the RiverCentre in St. Paul, Minneapolis. All education programming was free, and the number of bookstores represented was the highest in years.

The results of ABA's semi-annual revenue survey of stores with Book Sense indicate that 59 percent of reporting stores experienced an increase in sales for the first half of 2003, compared to the same period in 2002. Thirty-six percent reported a decline in sales, and 6 percent reported no change in sales from the previous year.

A third of responding stores reported sales increases of 6 percent or more, and 21 percent reported increases of more than 10 percent.

This year's Concord Festival of Authors will mark the 11th time that hundreds of booklovers have convened in the town that inspired Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne. The festival, held from October 23 to November 8, in the Massachusetts towns of Concord and Lowell, brings together some of the most prominent names in fiction and nonfiction.

In this op-ed piece, which appeared in the October 8 edition of the Boston Globe, Frank Kramer, owner of the Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge, Massachusetts, discusses the inherent dangers in the broad powers granted the FBI under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act.

Why the Patriot Act worries booksellers

The 2003 Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) Trade Show was held at the Oakland Convention Center/City Center Marriott in Oakland, California, from October 3 - 5. Hut Landon, executive director of NCIBA, told BTW, "We were very pleased with the workshops and events at this year's show, which many booksellers called the best overall program we'd ever offered.

It's not a mystery why these titles were chosen by independent booksellers as their top ten picks for the fall.

Thanks to all who contributed to the wealth of enthusiastic nominations.

Pads of the Mystery 76 are being sent in the October White Box mailing, and a downloadable PDF file is available by clicking here.

Dearborn, Michigan, was once again the venue for the Great Lakes Booksellers Association (GLBA) Trade Show, which was held on October 3 - 5 at the Dearborn Hyatt Regency. All indicators were up this year, as were the spirits of booksellers and vendors. The Dearborn location, just outside Detroit, has become a favorite for booksellers, authors, and exhibitors.

The Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association (MPBA) 2003 Trade Show was held at the Marriott Denver Tech Center in Denver, from October 2 - 5. This year's show was a hit with many booksellers and included new author events and a great selection of educational seminars. "It was the best trade show in years," said Lisa Knudsen, executive director of MPBA. Overall, the show was "great, great, great."

On Saturday, October 4, a blustery day more suited to mid-November than the first week of October, more than 70,000 booklovers gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the third National Book Festival, sponsored by the Library of Congress and hosted by First Lady Laura Bush.

Governor Davis Signs Landmark Health Insurance Bill

It was in July and August 2002 when plainclothes inspectors sent by the L.A. County Department of Weights and Measures (DWM) cited managers at each of the three Vroman's Bookstores in Pasadena, California, with violating the California Business and Professions Code for overcharging. Over a year later, the issue was finally resolved when a judge ruled to drop two of the three charges. Good news, right?

According to a recent study conducted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), a national nonprofit organization providing policy solutions for building strong local economies and sustainable communities, and Friends of Midcoast Maine, a regional grassroots organization supporting smart growth, three times as much money stays in the local economy when consumers buy goods and services from locally owned businesses compared to chain stores.

On Thursday, September 25, Representatives Ernest Istook (R-OK) and William Delahunt (D-MA) introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would allow states to simplify sales tax, with equal tax treatment between local merchants and remote sellers.

Many states, cities, and counties are watching their sales tax revenues decrease and their budget shortfalls grow as more and more consumers buy via the Internet, where many national retailers do not collect sales tax. Some politicians in Washington are looking to address this issue by introducing legislation that would give states the power to enforce simplified rules for collecting sales tax across state lines.