Industry News

On March 9, Book Passage, www.bookpassage.com, in Corte Madera, California turned 25. This general-interest bookstore, noted for its author events, classes, conferences, and extensive travel books section, hosted a day of free, festive activities. The theme was "A Day of Storytelling" and top Bay Area writers participated in the celebration.

These days, the screech and hiss of an espresso machine is as common a sound in a bookstore as the beep of a cash register or the introduction to an author reading. An increasing number of bookstore owners are now required to know almost as much about paninis and half-caf-two-percent cappuccinos as they do about Michael Chabon and Margaret Atwood.

So, if your bookstore doesn't have a café, should it? And if it already does, how do you go about improving it?

Today’s literary publishers are keepers of the written word, Dan Simon, publisher of Seven Stories Press (Noam Chomsky’s 9-11), told a crowd of more than 45 potential and present-day literary publishers and writers at the New York Public Library’s Berger Forum on Wednesday, March 20. And, he added, it’s unfortunate that today’s publishing environment dictates that something so normal as publishing quality books and stories is considered "radical."

On March 20, at Transitions Learning Center -- the event space for Transitions Bookplace -- in Chicago, 37 booksellers attended an ABA Booksellers Forum from noon – 2:00 p.m. and, later, 27 attended a financial seminar presented by ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz, from 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Regarding the forum, ABA’s Domnitz said that booksellers attending were "deeply engaged … It was one of the best discussions of strategic planning we have had at any of the forums."

On March 14, Perseus Books Group (PBG) and Running Press announced an agreement to merge the two houses. The result will be one of the largest independent trade book publishing companies in North America. "This merger will bring together two entrepreneurial success stories in the world of publishing," Jack McKeown, CEO of PBG, said in a press release.

The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) has announced the nominees for the 37th Annual National Magazine Awards, which will be awarded in a ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria on May 1. The New Yorker again took away the most nominations -- with nine nominations in eight categories -- and 19 print magazines were nominated for more than one award, including The Atlantic Monthly and Time, with five nominations in five categories. The awards were established to honor "editorial excellence and encourage editorial vitality."

On April 1, Small Press Distribution (SPD) and Poets & Writers, Inc. (P&W) will be launching the second annual "Underground California." Funded by the California Arts Council (CAC), the week-long event has two goals: to strengthen the bond between independent California bookstores, California writers, and California independent publishers; and "to get the message out there that California has its own literary identity," said Brent Cunningham, sales and Web manager for SPD.

There will be a number of ABA Booksellers Forums in the upcoming weeks. The forums are open meetings where ABA members can meet and talk with representatives of the ABA Board and association senior staff to discuss pertinent ABA- or industry-related issues.

At press time, forums were scheduled for:

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Harvard Book Store has won the prestigious 2002 Bookseller of the Year Award from Publisher’s Weekly. "We are overjoyed," said Frank Kramer, owner of the Harvard Book Store. "We work very hard. To get this recognition is very gratifying."

On March 6, the Audio Publishers Association (APA) released the names of the 69 finalists for the Seventh Annual Audie Awards. This year, the Audie Awards, which honor excellence in audio publishing, will be presented in 23 categories.

The finalists were selected by a panel of over 100 judges who were responsible for reviewing 522 audiobooks, which were released between November 1, 2000, and October 31, 2001.

In the Abridged Fiction category, the finalists are:

Bookstore sales surged in January, continuing the strong performance of the previous month. The preliminary January sales figure of $2,252 million eclipsed the $1,771 million performance of January 2001 by a whopping 27.2 percent. This bookstore gain was particularly impressive when compared with the insignificant sales increase for overall retail in January. Overall retail sales of $266 billion for the month were just three percent more than the $258 billion in sales recorded in January 2001.

Baker & Taylor [B&T], one of the country's largest wholesalers, is moving into the publishing distribution business. And, if all goes according to plan, that should be good news for small publishers and independent booksellers, according to Arnie Wight, senior vice president of distribution for Baker & Taylor. "As we get to a critical mass of publishers, it will result in greater efficiencies," he said. "Greater efficiencies should mean price competitiveness."

Ohio Governor Bob Taft will sign House Bill 8 [H.B. 8], according to a number of sources close to the situation. The proposed legislation amends Ohio's sex offence law to include computer-based material that is deemed harmful to minors. This could include such things as sexually explicit content or movie violence. There is concern among booksellers that this could be construed to include material with sexual content sold on their Web sites. (For earlier coverage, click here).

Move over Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. The latest reunion news in rock ‘n’ roll is that BookExpo America’s house band is returning.

Olsson’s Books and Records recently delivered approximately 2,000 books and $1,200 in gift certificates to three Washington, D.C., schools directly affected by the terrorist strikes of September 11. The donations were the result of a book drive held by Olsson’s between October and December.