Industry News

By Carl Lennertz

Plea: I'm waiting to hear from you what subject categories you'd like to see the four-week bestseller list cover before I crank up the way-back machine!

Sleepers:

Hardcover fiction:

• #39 0316895245, In the Hand of Dante, Nick Tosches, Little Brown, $24.95
  

Hardcover nonfiction:

Shirley Muller, the prominent Southern California bookseller, died of cancer on September 18. She was 65.

On Thursday, September 12, the California Board of Equalization (BOE) issued a Memorandum Opinion stating that Barnesandnoble.com was obligated to pay California back use taxes for a period of four-plus months -- from November 15, 1999, to March 31, 2000. BOE ruled that, because the bricks-and-mortar Barnes & Noble stores were offering customers coupons that discounted purchases made at its online store, Barnesandnoble.com had established a physical presence, or nexus, in the state of California.

Authors Pat Conroy, Dave Barry, Connie May Fowler, and Cassandra King will speak at a Banned Books Week fundraiser at Books & Books, Coral Gables, on Saturday, September 21 at 8:00 p.m. The event is being held on the first day of Banned Books Week (September 21-28), the only national celebration of the freedom to read.

Throughout the U.S. this month and next, the importance of reading is taking center stage as 22 State Centers for the Book help to promote the upcoming National Book Festival, to be held in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, October 12, 2002. In Arkansas and Minnesota, state Centers for the Book are doing this with help from independent booksellers.

The Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) held its fall trade show from September 13 - 15 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon. Booksellers who spoke to BTW said that this year's show was very upbeat. Said Thom Chambliss, executive director for PNBA, "The show was well received. From a management standpoint, this year's show went smoothly."

A Treasure Trove of Knowledge and Publicity

By Carl Lennertz

We are archiving the rich data coming from 350 stores each week, so we can go back at any time and run reports by BISAC code covering one, two, four, or more weeks. The hope here is you might discover a book or two selling around the country that your POS system may have let slip out, or maybe it's a book you never tried. If you end up selling five to10 copies, all the better for you, the author, and the publisher.

By Carl Lennertz

Reminder: Bring photos of your 76 display to the Regional Shows!

This is so you can have a chance to win a color printer ... AND ... have your photo considered for a portfolio to be shown to publishers over the next year. So, spiff up your display, take a snapshot (or several), and bring it to the ABA booth at each show.

We're up over 350 reporting stores for several weeks now, and another regional list is imminent ... maybe? Hopefully!

Nationally, booksellers are continuing to promote the special Book Sense/History Channel fundraiser -- "The Fire on the Mountain, Campaign for Communities: Firefighter Fundraiser" promotion, which began on September 9.

July bookstore sales managed to scratch out a slight increase over July 2001, coming back into positive territory after June’s slight decrease. July 2002 sales were 1.4 percent ahead of the previous July.

Overall retail sales of $308 billion for July 2002 came in 6.6 percent over the $289 billion realized in July of 2001.

July is the sixth month in a row in which bookstore sales failed to keep pace with overall retail.

The September 30 issue of The New Yorker -- on newsstands September 23 -- will feature the latest Book Sense section, "Just Kidding -- Books for Children and Young Adults." The 10-page special feature will present the handselling favorites of 13 independent booksellers, and the titles are drawn from the fall 2002 Children's Book Sense 76. (The full 76 can be reviewed here.)

The Book Sense/History Channel fundraiser -- "The Fire on the Mountain, Campaign for Communities: Firefighter Fundraiser" promotion -- officially kicked off on September 9. Nationally, hundreds of booksellers have set up special displays using materials that tie in with the October 28 History Channel documentary based on Fire on the Mountain: The True Story of the South Canyon Fire by John N. Maclean (Washington Square Press).

ABA has begun work to reintroduce the ABACUS industry study with the launch of a new, streamlined Web interface for reporting financial data. A popular ABA product in past years, ABACUS has proven to be a vital research tool for booksellers of every size, offering extensive industry-specific financial breakdowns and analyses that enable independent booksellers to compare their own store's performance and financial health to detailed industry composites.

By Carl Lennertz and Mark Nichols

In addition to our ongoing and successful advertising in The New Yorker and Atlantic Monthly, spearheaded by ABA Marketing Officer Michael Hoynes, we are expanding the Book Sense presence in some notable book-only magazines and reviews.