Booksellers interested in discount tickets for Joan Didion's play, The Year of Magical Thinking, mentioned here yesterday, should use the following link for information about the offer, especially if they plan to buy tickets at the box office: magicalthinkingonbroadway.com/offers. 

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Barnes & Noble has awarded bonuses to top executives based on results for the fiscal year ended February 3. Under the company's 2004 Executive Performance Plan CEO Stephen Riggio earns a bonus of $1.2 million; COO Mitchell S. Klipper, $1.2 million; B&N.com CEO Marie J. Toulantis, $975,000; chairman Leonard Riggio, $750,000; CFO Joseph J. Lombardi, $360,000; and B&N Publishing president J. Alan Kahn, $330,000.

Half of the bonuses paid to the Riggios, Mitchell S. Klipper and Marie J. Toulantis will be in the form of restricted shares of the company's stock vesting in equal annual installments on the first, second and third anniversaries of this past March 13.

As a result of meeting certain targets, Stephen Riggio, Mitchell S. Klipper and Marie J. Toulantis were also awarded bonuses of $849,206, $826,088 and $334,603, respectively. The amounts are equal to the annual dividend they would have received from the shares of B&N stock on which they haven't yet exercised stock options. 

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The New England Independent Booksellers Association moved yesterday. Its new address is 297 Broadway, Arlington, Mass. 02474. News about phone numbers to follow. 

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[Here's another gauge of January sales, which doesn't jibe with the Census Bureau's 1% drop in sales. But as we've noted, the Census Bureau excludes significant categories of book sales while the AAP represents figures supplied by member publsihers.] 

Net book sales by publishers reporting to the Association of American Publishers rose 6.4% in January. The biggest gainers were in hardcover: adult hardcovers rose 32.2% to $92.5 million and children's/YA hardcovers rose 18.4% to $39.9 million. University press hardcover sales rose 4% to $6.1 million.

Paperback sales were soft in the new year. Adult paperbacks dropped 11.7% to $97.7 million, mass market dropped 3.1% to $54.9 million and children's/YA fell 18.1% to $23.9 million. University press paperbacks were the one exception, rising 8.6% to $9.7 million.

Audiobook sales rose 21.2% to $11 million, and e-books rose 18.7% to $1.8 million. Religious book sales rose 28.2% to $34.6 million.

Professional and scholarly sales rose 3.9% to $46 million while the net el-hi basal and supplemental K-12 dropped 18.7% to $69.3 million.
 

Morningside Bookshop in New York City has several monthly birthday deals for customers.

On any day of the month, customers can receive a 15% "literary birthday discount" on any title by 10 authors whose birthdays fall during the month. This month's birthday boys and girls are John Irving, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Vita Sackville-West, Edward Albee, John Updike, Philip Roth (a belated happy birthday, by one day!), Flannery O'Connor, Erica Jong, Maxim Gorky and Sean O'Casey.

Customers who have a birthday during the month receive a 15% "literary birthday discount" on all purchases on their birthday and the day before and after.

Owner Peter Soter bought the store, formerly known as Papyrus Book Store, four years ago.

Ward Tefft is hitting the road. The Richmond, Va., bookseller is one of the driving forces behind a new non-profit venture, Books on Wheels, which gives away books and offers bike repair services free of charge.

The owner of used bookstores Chop Suey Books and the recently-opened Chop Suey Tuey, Tefft had sought an effective way to distribute merchandise he couldn't sell. A bookshelf outside the entrance of the flagship store (which marks its fifth anniversary in April) resulted in soggy tomes from inclement weather--and even provided some passersby objects to throw during fights. Tefft considered renting a separate space solely for the purpose of giving away free books, but it "wasn't feasible," he said, as it would mean "a lot of overhead with no income."

Tefft has since found the perfect storefront--a minibus painted sky blue and emblazoned with the vehicle's moniker in graffiti-style type: Mo'Book Mo'Bike Mobile.

During a conversation in January with friend and fellow philanthropist Shelley Briggs, the co-founder of Spokes, a non-profit bicycle repair operation, the duo decided to combine their respective interests and within 48 hours had purchased the bus. A mobile operation "is nicer because we can go to people instead of having them come to us," said Tefft, speaking last week from New Orleans, La., one of the stops on the Mo'Book Mo'Bike Mobile's inaugural road trip.

Tefft and Briggs plan to hold bi-monthly events in Richmond with occasional forays to other cities. Along with New Orleans, last week they visited Greensboro, N.C., Pensacola, Fla., and Nashville, Tenn. They partnered with a local business or organization in each city, including a New Orleans school where children's shouts of "there's the book mobile" greeted their arrival.

Books on Wheels was part of an after-school program for the Crescent City students, who received Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket adventures as well as books by Richard Scarry and others. Neighborhood residents had their bikes repaired and browsed the book offerings while they waited.

Combining efforts with established programs and events is preferable "because there is a built-in audience," said Tefft, who noted that for the out-of-town trips it's sometimes difficult to garner publicity coverage. A second road trip is planned for June, when the Mo'Book Mo'Bike Mobile will be heading to Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City.

Books on Wheels' free books and bicycle repair services (bikes are also given away gratis) are available to anyone regardless of age or economic status, although Tefft and Briggs are making a special effort to reach out to underprivileged children and adolescents. "We want to encourage reading across the board," said Tefft. "Really this is for everyone."--Shannon McKenna


Books on Wheels accepts donations of gently used books, particularly children and young adult titles, as well as bicycles and bike parts. Visit bookonwheels.com for more information.

This morning on the Early Show, Jerome Groopman, M.D., the New Yorker staff writer and author of How Doctors Think (Houghton Mifflin, $26, 9780618610037/0618610030).

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Today on Live with Regis and Kelly: Hollywood star Kirk Douglas spotlights his memoir Let's Face It: 90 Years of Living, Loving, and Learning (Wiley, $22.95, 9780470084694/0470084693).

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Today the Martha Stewart Show receives beauty tips from Bobbi Brown, cosmetics guru and author of Bobbi Brown Living Beauty (Springboard Press, $29.99, 9780821258347/0821258346).

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Today on the Diane Rehm Show, historian Michael Wallis discusses Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride (Norton, $25.95, 9780393060683/0393060683). Wallis is host of the PBS series American Roads and is the voice of the sheriff in the animated film Cars.

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Tonight Hallmark Channel's New Morning features Jeff Alt, author of A Walk For Sunshine (Dreams Shared, $15.95, 9780967948201/0967948207) and A Hike For Mike (Dreams Shared, $14.95, 9780967948218/0967948215), both distributed by NBN's Biblio.

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Tonight on Late Night with Conan O'Brian: Chris Hansen, author of To Catch a Predator: Protecting Your Kids from Online Enemies Already in Your Home (Dutton, $24.95, 9780525950097/0525950095).

WrestleMania 23--the Super Bowl or World Series of professional wrestling that is sponsored by World Wrestling Entertainment--begins Sunday, April 1, and already several publishers are grappling for attention for their wrestling titles. The event draws tens of thousands of fans in person as well as millions on pay-per-view TV.

Published in January, Four Days to Glory: Wrestling with the Soul of the American Heartland by Mark Kreidler (HarperCollins, $24.95, 9780060823184/0060823186) follows two high school wrestlers who compete in the Iowa state championship. Kreidler is a columnist and writer for the San Diego Union-Tribune and the Sacramento Bee and a regular contributor to ESPN.com and ESPN the Magazine.

And in the other corner, Wrestling Babylon: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death, and Scandal by Irvin Muchnick (ECW Press, $17.95, 9781550227611/1550227610) is distributed by Independent Publishers Group, whose official pub date is the first day of WrestleMania23. By the nephew of the late wrestling promoter Sam Muchnick, Wrestling Babylon traces the many changes in pro wrestling, particularly with the rise of a national marketing base because of cable TV. As the publisher put it, "Naturally, the figure of WWE's Vince McMahon lurks throughout, but equally evident is the public's late-empire lust for bread, circuses, and blood. As this book demonstrates, the more cartoonishly unreal wrestling got, the more chillingly real it became."

ECW is a heavyweight in the field: it calls itself "the leading independent publisher of wrestling-related titles." ECW has three other new wrestling titles out this spring.

At the Borders bookstore on Park Avenue in New York City last week, Elisa Zied signed copies of her new book, Feed Your Family Right!: How to Make Smart Food and Fitness Choices for a Healthy Lifestyle (Wiley, $16.95, 9780471778943/047177894X).

 

 

Selected titles with a pub date of next Tuesday, March 27:

Absolute Fear by Lisa Jackson (Kensington, $19.95 9780758211828/0758211821). In this follow-up to Shiver, a young woman returns to New Orleans to escape a haunting incident and finds herself the possible target of a murderer.

The Alibi Man by Tami Hoag (Bantam, $26, 9780553802016/0553802011). A murder draws former undercover cop turned horse trainer Elena Estes, seen in Hoag's thriller Dark Horse, back into the world of the Palm Beach elite she abandoned year ago.

Hunter's Moon by Randy Wayne White (Putnam, $24.95, 9780399153709/0399153705). In the 14th Doc Ford thriller, an ex-U.S. President goes to Florida, where he compels the marine biologist and sometime spy to take on an unusual task.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (DAW, $24.95, 9780756404079/075640407X). This debut fantasy tale (the first in a trilogy) tells the story of Kvothe, a seemingly ordinary man with an intriguing past as a notorious magician and assassin.

Obsession by Jonathan Kellerman (Ballantine, $26.95, 9780345452634/0345452631). A deathbed confession triggers criminal psychologist Alex Delaware's involvement in a murder investigation in his 21st outing.

Simply Magic by Mary Balogh (Delacorte, $22, 9780385338233/0385338236). The third Regency romance in Balogh's Simply series.

The New American Story by Bill Bradley (Random House, $25.95, 9781400065073/1400065070). The bestselling author, former Knicks star, former Democratic senator and onetime presidential candidate offers an assessment of America's political landscape.

Spiritual Connections: How to Find Spirituality Throughout All the Relationships in Your Life by Sylvia Browne (Hay House, $24.95, 9781401908812/1401908810). The renowned psychic (a frequent guest on the Montel Williams Show and Larry King Live) offers insight on why we form relationships with certain individuals.

Walking on Eggshells: Navigating the Delicate Relationship Between Adult Children and Parents by Jane Isay (Flying Dolphin Press, $23.95, 9780767920841/0767920848). Advice on how parents and their adult children can maintain a close, happy relationship.

On sale in paperback March 27:

Danse Macabre by Laurell K. Hamilton (Jove, $7.99, 9780515142815/0515142816).