Book Sense Regional Bestseller Lists To Change Names In Order To Increase Publisher And Media Awareness

By Carl Lennertz

When we first announced our initiative to branch out and have Regional Bestseller Lists as well as the National one, it just seemed logical to call them the Book Sense/NEBA Bestseller List or Book Sense/SEBA list, as the first two were known.

But, upon further reflection, maybe it’s best to change that around and to expand a bit on the concept, to make it more relevant to the media and, therefore, the reading public in each part of the country. It’s obviously important to have the national list known by the name of our national marketing campaign -- Book Sense -- but on a local level, maybe it’s more important to be, well, local.

I’ve talked to all the Regional Association executive directors about this, and they are as excited by this change as we are. We all believe this gives the Book Sense Bestseller effort a fresh look to go along with the new, easy reporting system.

So, effective immediately, the regional lists will have this as the new format. For example: "The Southeastern Independent Bestseller List, as brought to you by Book Sense and SEBA." Likewise: "The New England Independent Bestseller List, as brought to you by Book Sense and NEBA." And so on. (We’ll clear the exact wording of each new regional list with the regional exec beforehand.)

Now, of course, this begs the question of the other regions. Y’all are all so, so close to the required 50-store minimum to have a statistically valid list! We are hearing from many of you that the new ABA reporting system is EASY EASY EASY!! The last remaining obstacle to reporting -- time -- is gone!

We need all stores in Book Sense to: a) have their voice heard by, in essence, voting; b) help get Regional lists available to all local media; c) have a list more reflective of regional tastes… and one the publishers will look to even more closely! This will translate into even more discussion of indie bookstores and indie bestsellers in the halls of publishing! It’s already happening with the SEBA and NEBA lists.

It is easy to report now!! Start next week by going to http://bestsellers.bookweb.org

Please "vote." Please help your local bestsellers to be noticed by the media, the publishers, and the authors themselves.

And yes, this is all important enough to Book Sense going to the next level that I am regressing in my use of !!, but this is very, very important!

Carl