Main Street/Shop Local

Noelle Santos’s Indiegogo campaign has surpassed its $100,000 fundraising goal to open The Lit. Bar, a bookstore/wine bar in the South Bronx.

Noelle Santos, an HR professional with a love of literature, is just a few steps away from signing a lease for The Lit. Bar, a bookstore/wine bar, in her native South Bronx. 

Jack Lynch named HMH CEO; Consortium adds five publishers; Amazon to open store in San Francisco; Grammy, Lincoln Prize, Little Free Library winners and Audie finalists announced

The Independent Bookstore Day Marketing-in-a-Mailer contains signage, stickers, teasers, shelf-talkers, and balloons to help bookstores promote the event. The kit costs $19 and orders are due March 1.

Stores are encouraged to sign up now for the July 2017 celebration of Find Waldo Local, which will feature special swag in honor of the iconic character’s 30th anniversary this year.

Author Emma Straub is serving as the ambassador for Independent Bookstore Day, which takes place April 29. Orders for special merchandise for the event are due February 1.

At the Digital Book World panel “Will Bars Save Bookstores?” representatives of the bookselling and publishing industries discussed strategies that are helping bookstores not only survive but also thrive.

ABA CEO Oren Teicher has written an op-ed for The Hill that underscores the full cost of Amazon’s growing consolidation of retail sales on communities nationwide.

The current issue of Martha Stewart Living includes a six-page feature on reading and independent bookstores, titled “Hit the Books! Our Reading List for 2017.”

Chicago Review Press acquires Parenting Press; Ingram opens NYC office; Sourcebooks’ Raccah named PW Person of the Year; GalleyCat ceases publication; Bookigee to shut down; Laura Donnini named managing director, publisher of HarperCollins Italia; New app helps Vermonters buy local; Nominations open for National Small Business Week Awards

How to ensure that the voice of indie businesses is heard on both the national and local levels was the focus at the first Advocates for Independent Business Summit, held last week in Washington, D.C.

Gramercy Books opens in Columbus, Ohio; Byrd’s Books celebrates fifth anniversary; Chapter One invites customers to follow the sheep trail; Anderson’s Bookshop hosts 11 authors for NapervilleREADS; Phoenix Books’ partners with Vermont Foodbank

Requests poured in over Thanksgiving weekend after Porter Square Books sent out a simple tweet: “You there! Yes, you. You need a book. Tell us a little about yourself & we’ll find the right book.”

Nominations sought for Anna Dewdney Read Together Award; Screen-Free Week to partner with Children’s Book Week; LendingTree launches Small Business Grant Competition; New York Public Library and Macmillan partner for new publishing program; Publishers Lunch introduces Monthly Buzz Books; Binc receives $10,000+ holiday donation from Ingram; Chronicle Books announces leadership changes; Andy LeCount to join HarperCollins; 2017 PEN longlists announced

A new ILSR report providing both in-depth details about Amazon’s market dominance and policy recommendations to address its harmful consequences has been featured in newspapers around the country.