Making Information Pay 2010
Date: Thursday, May 6, 2010
Time: 8:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. ET
Location: McGraw-Hill Auditorium, NYC

URL: http://www.bisg.org/mip

Publishing Business Conference and Expo
Date: March 8–10, 2010
Location: Marriott Marquis Times Square, NYC
URL: http://publishingbusiness.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?e=1af1c1c1-b104-4d22-9da1-3f27bb48a3e9

BISG & NISO at ALA Annual Conference
Date: June 25, 2010
Time: 12:30 p.m.–4:00 p.m. ET
Location: American Library Association Annual Conference, Washington, DC
URL: http://www.bisg.org/events-0-511-bisg-niso-at-ala-annual-conference-2010.php

If you live in the New York City Area - I urge you to go to the Hyatt Regency Grand Ballroom at Grand Central Station on Friday Feb. 12th.

Every dollar raised will be donated to UNICEF, directly helping rescue and relief efforts in Haiti.
And we get to enjoy masssage,yoga, acupuncture and a 75% off sample sale of beauty products.

Friday, February 12th, 2010
Noon - 8pm

The Board of Directors of The New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association has written an open letter to Publishers and asked them not to cut Reps
It does seem to be a self-fulling prophesy. Publishers are cutting field reps because of dwindling sales with independent bookstores. However sales are likely to fall even further if you don’t have a person helping the buyer make sensible decisions for their store. It baffles me that publishers are cutting their sales staff now when a sale is even harder to come by. Until the day everyone is set up for web presentations there is nothing that replaces the face to face, deeply personal relationship that the sales rep has with the buyer.
The letter from NAIBA describes the situation perfectly:

We are alarmed with what appears to be a trend in the sales division of publishers–the removal of field sales reps to independent bookstores. This draconian move against our bookselling segment will be responsible for the disappearance of book culture.

Field sales reps are a crucial part of our business. Each regional independent booksellers association and Publishers Weekly honors an outstanding field rep each year. We can’t think of another publisher position that gets this recognition. We devote countless hours at conferences refining the sales rep/bookseller relationship. They are that crucial to us.

Restricting field reps to large stores will give publishers a skewed view of what is a very diverse world–independent bookselling. Sales reps take the time to know our stores, what our customers like, and what is on our shelves. They are the industry worker-bees, travelling the region, taking ideas and trends and pollinating other stores. We learn about other stores from them, what others are reading and loving; what is selling; marketing tips; event ideas; what the publisher is doing; and what authors have books coming out in the next season. They make fans for authors out of our frontline booksellers. They cut through the catalogs to make sure we carry what we’ll be able to sell, and their endorsements are why we buy what we might have ignored.

These reasons are why cuts in field sales reps devastate us. Have you really thought about what this stricture will mean to you? Fewer book sales. Without a doubt, we are not ordering as much through telemarketing. We are definitely not focusing on your backlist through tele-sales, and we definitely miss titles from the frontlist. We also don’t buy as much direct, which makes independent bookselling a less profitable business. The vicious cycle is that we buy less because we don’t have sales reps, and then you devalue our business because we aren’t buying as much as we used to.

We understand the corporate need to save money. There are more efficacious and less exclusionary ways to cut your budgets. You know what they are because independent bookstores have been telling you what they are for years. Cut multiple ARC mailings. Do away with promotional gimmicks that go from mailbox to garbage can. Consider publishing fewer titles, fewer hard covers, fewer copies. Take a hard look at celebrity advances.

We exist to sell your books, those unique and hard to place titles, not just the established authors. Field sales reps are the tools we need to do that for you. As much as you would like to think a tele-salesperson is doing the same job, you are sadly mistaken. A field sales rep is far more than a person filling in an order form.

Don’t cut our lifeline to your books.

http://www.apple.com/ipad/

Personally I liked the name Islate better but who am I to quibble with Microsoft.
iBooks
Here’s the books component:

“The iBooks app is a great, new way to read and buy books. Just download the app for free from the App Store, and you’ll be able to buy everything from classics to bestsellers from the built-in iBookstore. Once you’ve bought a book, it’s displayed on your Bookshelf. To read it, all you have to do is tap on it and it opens up. The high-resolution, LED-backlit screen displays everything in sharp, rich, color, so it’s very easy to read, even in low light.”
I’d love to know what people think of it.

Things are so intense in the world today that I decided to do something fun. I created a video at Animoto It was easy. I uploaded my pictures from my vacation with my dog Izzy and my cousin and her dog in Vermont and then I uploaded a song. I could not upload from my Itunes library as you can only upload MP3’s so I used their collection. I will keep working on it.
But in the meantime it was incredibly easy. They give you a free 30 second video and then charge for anything beyond that. I can start embedding this in promotions and marketing plans now. Very cool, Animoto!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

I had the opportunity to spend some time this weekend with Rev. Becca Stevens. She is an Episcopal Priest who  founded Magdalene House, a two-year resident community and safe haven for women from the streets who are drug addicted, into prostitution, live in dire poverty and have criminal records. She is currently on an 8-city Prison Tour to visit women behind bars to share with them the message of hope and love as a  powerful force for change.It coincides with a book she wrote for Abingdon Press, called Find Your Way Home

Then, there’s Thistle Farms, the nonprofit business operated by Magdalene House residents. Thistle Farms products are handmade, natural bath and beauty products, and the women are involved in every step from their making to their marketing and selling. I attended a house party in New York City and when two women from Magdalene told their stories - there was not a dry eye in the house. When she spoke at Christ Church on Sunday I began to believe that this woman is descended from the angels. She is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met.

I hope you will check out Thistle Farms - www.thistlefarms.org and buy lots of products. Its okay to buy hers books too You will be contributing to an organization that really helps women and saves lives. As for me - I hope she starts a New York Branch because I will be the first in line to volunteer.

“On the first birthday of Barnes & Noble Studio, B&N.com has introduced Blogging Booksellers, which features B&N booksellers from stores around the country who post video blogs made with Flip cameras about books and authors they recommend as well as events and news about their stores. Their material will be updated weekly. There are currently 11 vloggers; more will be added. The booksellers will give “a friendly face to their local stores,” the company said.”    -http://www.shelf-awareness.com/index.html

This is an interesting concept, and I think that people like getting book recommendations from a real person.  There are a few kinks to work out, and once the booksellers get more comfortable in front of the camera it will probably be a more interesting watch.  Although I did enjoy the bookseller from Arizona who had the good idea of including two cute kids into her vlog.

Reviews for Vanita Oelschlager’s Ivy in Bloom and Birds of a Feather:

Birds of a Feather

The Children’s Book Review

 http://tinyurl.com/pbtmc5

Ivy in Bloom

 The Children’s Book Review

http://tiny.cc/uamtT

Heartland Reviews

 http://tiny.cc/DHR02

Poetry for Children

http://tiny.cc/JPVUp

With Borders set to declare fourth-quarter results next week, expectations are grim: more multi-million dollar losses, store closures, payroll slashings and, with shares currently trading at 64 cents per share, potential de-listing from the NYSE. Shareholders will hear more about the company’s strategy, including plans for a reverse stock split to satisfy NYSE conditions, next Wednesday when CEO Ron Marshall hosts a conference call with analysts and investors.

One turnaround expert tells the Detroit Free Press that Borders seems to be one of buying time and hoping economic recovery is just around the corner. “They are figuring their brand name is going to carry them,” said Ken Dalto .”Brand names mean less with the inroads of technology. The brand name is Amazon.” Managing partner of Bingham Farms-based McTevia Associations Jim McTevia points to a possible Chapter 11 filing, but says even that wouldn’t solve Borders’ problems. “Depending on their ability to get debtor-in-possession financing, they could easily file for Chapter 11,” he said. “It is much easier to facilitate the sale of a troubled company under bankruptcy protection.”

Detroit Free Press

Join us for the book premiere of Loukoumi’s Good Deeds, with special guest readers:  John Aniston, Gloria Gaynor, Alexis Christoforous, Frank Dicopoulos, Constantine Maroulis, and author Nick Katsoris.

This event takes place Saturday, April 4th, 11am at the Barnes & Noble at 1972 Broadway in NYC.  $2 from the sale of each book will be donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.