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

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.

On Sept. 25 at 6:30pm the African American Literary Awards Show (AALAS) will be held at the Harlem Gatehouse. This show celebrates and promotes the outstanding achievements of African American authors and writers in the worlds of publishing, the arts and entertainment.

Harlem Gatehouse
150 Convent Avenue at West 135th Street
New York, NY  10031

On June 28, at 3:30pm Vanita Oelschlager will be interviewed by Ingram Library Services for their Author Interview series at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference booth number 800. The podcast of this interview will be available on IngramLibrary.com and iPage. Vanita will speak about VanitaBooks and their title Made in China, a story of foreign adoption and childhood transitions.

The American Library Association (ALA) will be holding its 2008 Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA, from June 26–July 2, at the Anaheim Convention Center. Committee and business meetings take place June 28-July 1, Council Meetings run to July 2, and education programs take place primarily from June 28-30 during the exhibition.

If you’re around Akron, Ohio on June 19th stop in for the Made in China author reading at Barnes and Noble Fairlawn store. Author Vanita Oelschlager will be at “Story Time” from 10-11am reading and signing 3 books including Made in China published by Vanita Books, an illustrated children’s book for ages 4-8 about adopted Chinese children and getting adjusted. The illustrator Kristin Blackwood will also draw inside of each book sold. The family that inspired this tale of international adoption will also be on hand so children can meet the real life characters. The Oak Adoptive Center in Akron has been supportive of this book and getting the word out about this event. This event is for all families, and can be enjoyed by not only adoptive parents and their children, but everyone. Enjoy!

B&N Store Location: 4015 Medina Road, Akron, OH 44333 Phone: 330-665-5199