Canadian booksellers who met with the finance minister yesterday have
suggested removing GST from books in Canada as a way of dealing with
customer dissatisfaction about book pricing, the Victoria Times Colonist reported.
As noted here recently, a few stores have tried to appease customers
wanting prices that reflect the current par exchange rate by selling at
U.S. prices, even if at a loss. Some publishers are already discounting
prices to retailers, and more will adjust prices on future new titles.
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A trailer for the Out of the Book/Powell's Books film about The Coldest Winter by David Halberstam, the second such production following On Chesil Beach, is available now on outofthebookfilms.com as well as on YouTube. The film will be shown at events hosted by more than 60 bookstores across the country November 11-December 15.
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Among highlights of a recent meeting of the board of the New England Independent Booksellers Association:
- The NEIBA newsletter will be delivered electronically beginning with the March 2008 issue.
- NEIBA is planning on Spring 2008 educational seminars and forums likely May 1-2 in the Portsmouth, N.H., and Portland, Me., area.
- NEIBA is working with NPR affiliates in New England to add "discover your local bookstore" links on their websites.
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The 2007 edition of BISAC's Subject Headings, which
includes revisions to the comics and graphic novels section and the
addition of a Bibles section separate from the religion section, has been released.
The code lists are available online in Excel and Word formats and are
available under license to BISG members; non-members can purchase a
license. For more information, go to BISG's website.
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Borders has published another exclusive book, And the Grammy Goes to . . . The Official Story of Music's Most Coveted Award
by David Wild, a Rolling Stone contributing editor, Emmy-nominated TV
writer and lead writer for the Grammy Awards, with a foreword by Quincy
Jones. The book includes a Grammy trivia game on DVD.
In addition, Borders is selling an exclusive two-disk compilation CD, the Ultimate Grammy Collection: Classical Pop and Classical R&B, as well as the official 50th Grammy Awards art poster.
George Jones, Borders Group CEO and a newly elected director of the
Grammy Foundation, said that the Grammys' "history is a fascinating
walk through the history of modern music in America. We expect this
book to be in high demand as a holiday gift, and are pleased to team
exclusively with the Recording Academy to bring it to life, especially
for Borders customers. It is just a part of our ongoing efforts to
provide our customers with compelling titles they cannot find anywhere
else."
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Boris Wertz, COO of AbeBooks.com, has left the company but will continue as a member of the board and an advisor on key projects. He is creating a venture capital business with Burda Digital Ventures, the German media company that is the majority shareholder in AbeBooks.com, that will be located in Vancouver, B.C. Wertz joined AbeBooks.com in 2002, when the company bought JustBooks, an online marketplace he had co-founded in Germany.
In related changes at AbeBooks.com:
- Laura-Lea Berna, most recently director of customer support and operations, has been promoted to v-p of operations.
- Shaun Jamieson has been promoted to director of sales and account management and president of Fillz.com, one of AbeBooks.com's subsidiaries. He joined the company in 2004 and was manager of sales and account management and director of business development for Fillz.
- Thomas Nicol, director of marketing since April, takes on additional responsibilities, including a spot on the board of BookFinder.com, another subsidiary company.
Do you hear the books crying? In the Huffington Post,
Brenda Scott Royce chronicles her lifelong affection for libraries and
recalls her first visit to one, where the librarian told her "while
some books were always in demand, others had never been checked out at
all. She said that if you listened closely, you could actually hear
these overlooked books crying."
The memory returned recently
with news that her current local library is in danger of closing
because of city budget cuts. "Do you know the fiscal health of your
public library?" she asks. "The next time you visit, listen closely.
You may hear the books crying."
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Never underestimate
the power of a book. Last week, New York state legislative leaders
announced the creation of the Saratoga-Washington on the Hudson
Partnership, a commission that will work to protect the integrity of
the Saratoga battlefield federal park--the historic ground where the
Battles of Saratoga were fought, campaigns that dramatically altered
the course of the American Revolution.
The Albany Times-Union
reported on the passionate and unlikely collaborative effort by Roy
McDonald, a "very conservative" assemblyman from Saratoga County; and
Steve Englebright, a liberal Democrat from Suffolk County, that led to
the establishment of the commission.
McDonald had given a copy of Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War
by Richard Ketchum to Englebright, who was inspired to begin "making
trips up to the Saratoga battlefield historic site to orient himself.
That's when he saw how development was getting close. That's also when
Steve found out that a small private farm where the British general
John Burgoyne actually surrendered to our Horatio Gates was up for
sale. Asking price was $290,000."
Motivation enough to compel
McDonald and Englebright to join forces and try to prevent the farm
from falling into developers' hands. "All this," as the Times Union put it, "from the gift of one book--to the right reader."