BTW News Briefs

U.K. Indies Report Book Sales Up 30 Percent During “Books Are My Bag” Campaign

Sales were up by an average of 30 percent during the Booksellers Association of the United Kingdom and Ireland’s (BA) third annual Books Are My Bag celebration, making 2015 the “most successful” year yet for the campaign that celebrates independent bookstores, The Bookseller reported.

The BA surveyed its members following the campaign, which ran from October 8 – 10. Sixty percent of members reported an increase in foot traffic, with the average increase at 22.5 percent. Sixty-three percent of members said their sales were up during this year’s campaign, with an average increase of 30 percent.

In 2013, bookstores reported sales increased by 18.5 percent and foot traffic by 17.5 percent; in 2014, those numbers were 20 percent and 22.5 percent, respectively.

The Books Are My Bag campaign was timed, for the second year running, to coincide with Super Thursday on October 8, which is when U.K. publishers release most hardback books onto the market for Christmas. On Saturday, October 10, many U.K. bookshops also held “Big Bookshop Parties,” featuring author events and free refreshments for customers.

Authors Share #BooksThatHooked in Twitter Campaign

On Wednesday, October 28, authors shared the books that inspired them to become writers using the hashtag #BooksThatHooked via a Twitter campaign organized by the National Book Foundation (NBF) in partnership with YA literature website Teenreads.com.

According to Sherrie Young, director of marketing and special projects at NBF, “The Twitter takeover [highlighted] unfamiliar books that young readers and the next generation of writers may not have considered reading.”

NBF asked authors such as Daniel José Older, Deborah Wiles, and Rita Williams-Garcia to participate in the daylong social media conversation.

“We know that so many teens want to be authors one day,” said Teenreads.com/Kidsreads.com Editorial Manager Shara Zaval. ”This is a great way to call attention to the fact that reading — something that Teenreads.com and NBF greatly believe in — is an essential part of becoming a great writer.”

Booksellers can search for the #BooksThatHooked hashtag on Twitter to check out authors’ book suggestions for young readers and aspiring writers.

HarperCollins Acquires E-Book Deals Newsletter The Midlist

HarperCollins has acquired The Midlist, a daily e-mail newsletter featuring e-book deals for consumers. The publisher announced on Wednesday, October 28, that it had purchased the newsletter from Libboo, a company that facilitates e-Book giveaways for authors looking to grow their readership.

The service will be merged into HarperCollins’ Bookperk platform, which delivers deals and other offers to subscribers in the U.S. and the U.K. via e-mail newsletters and an app for iOS and Android.