Publisher News

Many bookstores have gone green both in their title selection and store practices, but what about the environmental impact of the books themselves? Paper shipments to U.S. publishers each year are estimated to average 1.6 million tons, equaling about 30 million trees.

Last week's Winter Institute included four Rep Picks sessions, which were repeated three times over the course of the two days. At each, representatives from six of Wi3's 24 Publisher Partners presented titles that independent booksellers can look forward to selling this spring. Here's a look at the lists of titles as provided by the publishers prior to the event. (The list is also available as a downloadable PDF.)

Booksellers attending next month's Winter Institute (Wi3) will have the opportunity to hear presentations about some of the best from publisher partners' upcoming lists at three Rep Picks sessions.

Close to 140 independent bookstores across the country are hosting Main Street Gift-Wrap parties this month, thanks to the generosity of Scholastic, Inc., the publisher of Ann M. Martin's Main Street series. Scholastic partnered with the American Booksellers Association to offer member bookstores 25 books, wrapping materials, and announcement posters for holiday book donation events to benefit charities of the bookseller's choice.

It was probably inevitable. Over the past several months, there have been ongoing reports about recalls of Chinese-made products due to excess levels of lead. In August, Mattel recalled over 10 million Chinese-made toys due to lead paint as well as tiny magnets that could be swallowed by children, as reported by the Associated Press. In October, Antioch Publishing announced the recall of seven non-book products, mostly bookmarks, due to excess lead levels.

Knock Knock, a five-year-old gift and stationery company, has created its own genre of witty, whimsical, and fun products. Founded and headed by Jen Bilik, Knock Knock, a division of Who's There, has earned kudos and an enthusiastic base of retailers who are charmed by the contemporary wit in vintage design. Launched in 2002, with 13 products, Knock Knock now offers several hundred items, including a new line of books.

When the Sarasota, Florida, distributor BookWorld abruptly shut its doors on September 28, it left 104 small publishers looking for distribution arrangements. Now, many of those publishers are migrating over to AtlasBooks, according to David Wurster, AtlasBooks COO and co-owner of BookMasters, both based in Ashland, Ohio.

The American Booksellers Association has welcomed Hyperion Books for Children/Disney Press as its final Publisher Partner for the Third Annual Winter Institute (Wi3), to be held in Louisville, Kentucky, from January 24 - 27, 2008.

This week, Holtzbrinck Publishers announced that it was changing its name in the U.S. to Macmillan, the name of the English and Spanish language publishing operations of the Verlagsgruppe Goerg von Holtzbrinck in more than 70 countries. The publisher said the name change was made to signify a unified worldwide presence.