Shelf Awareness for Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Quotation of the Day
Letters
Reminding Oprah and Authors
I've been on an e-mail writing campaign to Oprah and the authors she interviews to mention to purchase their books at a local independent bookstore.
One Sunday I was listening to Oprah and Friends, an XM radio show. In the span of an hour, I heard one author mention that her book could be pre-ordered through Amazon.com and another host suggest buying school textbooks online instead of in local bookstores. Infuriated, I began my campaign. I wrote to Oprah's magazine, TV show and radio show. With the help of the ABA, I was able to direct the offending author to its author program. The author apologized and said although she has her signings at independents, she was not aware that we could pre-order!
I continue to write to authors on a weekly basis, applauding the ones who mention small independent bookstores and informing the others that we could all use their help in the future.
In the future, I will zero in on other TV and radio shows and authors as my quest for equality continues. But I am only one person and can do only so much on my own. If you know of any other way to pass the word along to have others do the same as me and toot our own horns loud and clear please let me know.
[Editors' note: Done.]
News
PGW Auction Set for Thursday; B&T Wants to Buy AMS
The AMS bankruptcy court judge has postponed until Thursday a determination on whether Perseus's or NBN's plans for PGW will be approved. Perseus objected to the delay, but the judge insisted on a Thursday auction and will require NBN to provide "a definitive agreement." RadioFreePGW happily wrote: "Good news, PGW publishers! If Perseus is serious, they'll come to the table ready to play. So will NBN. The ultimate winners will be the publishers of PGW! And we'll have our answer by Thursday."
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AMS and Baker & Taylor have signed a letter of intent for AMS to sell "the majority of its assets," excluding PGW, to B&T. A definitive agreement hasn't yet been worked out, and the agreement must be approved by the bankruptcy court. AMS will file motions with the court and hopes to close by March 15.
In a letter to employees, Gary Rautenstrauch, president and CEO of AMS and a B&T alumnus, said that a B&T purchase "will impact a number of our facilities both domestically and internationally and it will involve the closing of some and the curtailing of operations in others. While any agreement will likely impact some of our current operations and you may read or hear specific references to your facility under this agreement, I want to caution you that it is still early in the process and we are still a ways from court approval."
Notes: ESPN Books; An Hour of Reading; Evolutionary Event
Today's Wall Street Journal
tunes into ESPN Books, which aims for the kind of media company synergy
touted--but not always achieved--over the years by many media giants.
For example, the Disney imprint's new book Man in the Middle by
former basketball player John Amaechi, who disclosed recently that he
is gay, has been mentioned "prominently" on ESPN.com and ESPN's cable
channels, the author will be on the cover of ESPN The Magazine,
a book excerpt will be published on ESPN.com's Page 2 and Amaechi will
be interviewed on other ESPN media. Another upcoming title is being
made into a movie that will air on Disney's ABC-TV and then on ESPN and
ESPN2.
Editor Chris Raymond told the paper that he looks for books that will work "for the magazine and for television."
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Cool ideas of the day. Through Saturday, Chapter One Bookstore,
Hamilton, Mont., is celebrating "I love to read month" by encouraging
customers to sit in the store's front window and read for two hours.
"We'll have a comfy chair, you can bring whatever reading material
you'd like, or choose something from our shelves," the store said. "In
return, we'll buy you a drink from JitterZ Espresso, and make a
donation to the Literacy Volunteers--Bitterroot."
Chapter One is also holding its second annual spelling bee on February
20. Co-owner Russ Lawrence, president of the ABA, called last year's "a
huge hit." The $10 entry fee also goes to Literacy
Volunteers--Bitterroot. The
store noted, "We'll have prizes for winners, losers, and those who melt
down most spectacularly."
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Lilly Ambrose has sold Golden Bough Vintage Books, Macon, Ga., to the
used and rare bookstore's manager, Eric Wakefield, according to the Macon Telegraph.
Ambrose, who owned the store for 17 years, is working on a master's
degree in library science and will be looking for a job. Wakefield has
worked at the store for 10 years.
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A great occasion for a fit bookstore: last Saturday, in
conjunction with the Center for Inquiry, BookPeople, Austin, Tex.,
celebrated Charles Darwin's 198th birthday, according to the Daily Texan.
Activities included a birthday cake for Darwin, fossil-making and
storytelling events as well as lectures by University of Texas
professors. "We are really trying to get two audiences: the children
who are just now getting interested in science and learning and adults
who are still learning," Jennifer Brown of the Center of Inquiry told
the paper.
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Media and Movies
Media Heat: Oz on Oprah
Today on Oprah: Dr. Mehmet Oz, co-author of You on a Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management (Free Press, $25, 9780743292542).
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Today the Martha Stewart Show creates confections with Gale Gand,
author of Chocolate and Vanilla (Clarkson Potter, $22.50,
9780307238528/0307238520).
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Today the Rachael Ray Show stirs things up with Mario Batali, author of
Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home (Ecco,
9780060734923/0060734922) and Mario Tailgates NASCAR Style (Sporting
News, $19.95, 9780892048465/0892048468).
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Tonight on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Christopher Horner, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming (and Environmentalism) (Regnery, $19.95, 9781596985018/1596985011).
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Tonight on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: Harry Shearer,
actor, director and author of the novel Not Enough Indians (Justin,
Charles & Co., $19.95, 9781932112467/1932112464).
Books & Authors
Awards: Lincoln Prize; Children's Grammy
Douglas L. Wilson, co-director of the Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College, has won the Lincoln Prize for Lincoln's Sword: The Presidency and the Power of Words
(Knopf, $26.95, 9781400040391/1400040396). The $50,000 prize is granted
by the Lincoln & Soldiers Institute at Gettysburg College. Richard
Gilder and Lewis Lehrman, the prize's founders, praised Lincoln's Sword as "the definitive analysis of the 16th President's steady and dazzling growth as a writer."
Wilson is first person to win the prize twice. He won in 1999 for Honor's Voice.
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Besides the adult spoken word category (which we covered yesterday),
the Grammys include a children's spoken word category. The winner was Blah, Blah, Blah: Stories About Clams, Swamp Monsters, Pirates and Dogs by Bill Harley (Empyrean Records).
The nominees were:
- Little Einsteins: Musical Missions (Disney)
- Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie read by Jim Dale (Listening Library)
- Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon (Peachtree)
- The Witches by Roald Dahl read by Lynn Redgrave (HarperChildren'sAudio)
Attainment: New Books Out Next Week
Innocent in Death by Nora Roberts (writing as J.D. Robb) (Putnam, $25.95, 9780399154010/ 0399154019). The prolific author continues the series set in a future New York City, where Lt. Eve Dallas hunts for the killer of a seemingly ordinary history teacher.
The Edge of Winter by Luanne Rice (Bantam, $24, 9780553805277/0553805274). A Rhode Island mother and daughter encounter struggles and secrets in a small seaside community in the latest tale from the author of Sandcastles.
The Fifth Vial by Michael Palmer (St. Martin's, $25.95, 9780312343514/ 0312343515). Palmer's thriller takes readers from Chicago to Cameroon as a doctor, a detective and a disgraced Harvard med student each investigate the trafficking of illegal donor organs.
Finn by Jon Clinch (Random House, $23.95, 9781400065912/1400065917). In his debut novel, Clinch imagines the life of one American literature's most brutal and mysterious figures: Huckleberry Finn's father.
The Edge of Disaster: Rebuilding a Resilient Nation by Stephen Flynn (Random House, $25.95, 9781400065516/1400065518). Security expert Flynn argues that Americans are vulnerable to man-made and natural perils (largely through our own negligence) and outlines what needs to be done to prepare for a safer future.
Deeper Understanding
Winter Institute 5: Customer Loyalty
Nearly half of customers who shop at independent bookstores do so because they are locally owned businesses. It is important, Domnitz continued, to "leverage" that feeling into loyalty.
Loyal customers have many attractive qualities, Domnitz noted. They are less likely to switch to other stores and are less price sensitive than the average customer. They tend to stay customers unless given a reason not to. They are much less expensive to maintain than a new customer is to acquire. Booksellers need to recognize, however, that "you earn loyalty. You don't get it." It's important to "meet customers' needs as well as provide good service and programs and pricing."
Another quality of longterm, loyal customers is that they "tend to use the bookstore for more than just book needs," Domnitz went on. "They go there because of the way they feel, the way they're treated, the ambiance, the staff." He quoted Starbucks head Howard Schultz, who has said, "If we greet customers, exchange a few words with them and then make a drink exactly to their taste, they will be eager to come back."
Domnitz recommended that rather than focus on price, loyalty programs should focus on value. "If an independent thinks he is gaining loyalty simply by giving money back to the consumer, it's a slippery slope. In the end, you need your margin," which allows stores to create the values that customers want.
Domnitz made some very specific recommendations to help build and keep loyal customers, noting that stores "have to have some device to create customer loyalty, whether it's a loyalty program or not. It generally involves something psychic or physical":
- Develop some kind of "catch program" to identify loyal customers. "We need to turn potentially loyal customers into loyal customers."
- Because people live in a 24-hour-a-day world, stores need to sell online and need to market their Web sites. "I'm shocked at the number of you who don't market your Web site."
- Pay attention to changes in marketing: "E-mail [as a marketing tool] has started to decline and texting is going up, especially among young people."
- If there is something newsy about a store's loyalty program, promote it to local papers.
- Train staff to be evangelists for the loyalty program and be able to explain it in "a sound bite."
Nicole Magistro, co-owner of the Bookworm of Edwards, Edwards, Colo.,
outlined her store's loyalty programs--a 10% individual discount to
members of book clubs on their clubs' choices and a $10 store credit
for every $200 spent. Some 72% of gross sales are affected, and the
store redeems 2.7% of gross sales. "Sometimes the line item stands out
as a lot of money but it's absolutely worth it," Magistro said. "It
helps me get through the shoulder season, and it brings in customers'
relatives at Christmas. Sales have increased plenty enough to justify
it."
She added that emembering customers' names and their last purchases help to make a loyalty program "authentic."
Daniel Goldin of Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops, which has five stores in
and around Milwaukee, Wis., discussed the store's two Schwartz Gives
Back programs. For the older of the two, Schwartz donates 1% of
purchases made by participants to local or local chapters of arts and
science organizations. The other, introduced four years ago in response
to customer requests, is "virtually the same program" that the Bookworm
of Edwards has; a customer receives a $10 coupon for every $200 of
purchases.
Since its founding 13 years ago, the donation program has contributed a
total of $380,000 to local groups. (The organizations change a little
from year to year and usually include about 30 at a time. They're
required to do some marketing involving Schwartz and participate in
occasional shopping night events at Schwartz.)
Goldin noted that in the past because of competitive pressures,
Schwartz had been "a little more aggressive discounting" than it should
have been, but has phased out a lot of discounting.
Other suggestions from the floor for "loyalty gestures" included making
deliveries of purchases and selling tickets for other organizations'
events. One bookseller observed that "a smile and
warmth is probably the cheapest and most authentic way of building
customer loyalty."--John Mutter