Shelf Awareness for Thursday, March 1, 2007


Workman Publishing:  Atlas Obscura: Wild Life: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Living Wonders by Cara Giaimo and Joshua Foer

Berkley Books: The Seven O'Clock Club by Amelia Ireland

Simon & Schuster: Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers: Nightweaver by RM Gray

News

Lights, Camera, Action at Powell's Books

Powell's Books, whose podcasts and blogs, among other book and author promotions, have set a high standard, is taking a major, cinematic step forward: using the name Out of the Book, the Portland, Ore., bookseller will soon begin making short movies of up to 23 minutes "about a frontlist title and giving a broad sense of the author who wrote it," Dave Weich, director of marketing and development at Powells.com, told Shelf Awareness.

The films will be "promotional vehicles, entertaining documentaries, not commercials," Weich continued, and will consist of interviews with the author; footage from his or her home town and settings in the book; commentary from critics, peers and fans; and more. The films will be distributed free to other booksellers around the country to be used to build events. The first movie, whose subject Weich can't yet divulge because of ongoing negotiations, will make its debut at the New Yorker's BEA party. He assured us that the author will be well known.

Two weeks later, for five days, the inaugural Out of the Book film will be the centerpiece of events at bookstores, who as of yesterday numbered nearly 40. (The booksellers will have a certain amount of territorial exclusivity, but Powell's wants to be as inclusive as possible, Weich said.) Powell's will supply to the participating bookstores the film, signed bookplates, display materials, e-mail templates and graphics, a variety of marketing and event ideas and marketing and advertising support such as an ad about summer events in the New Yorker. Weich imagines that stores will tailor events to their markets and do something like what Powell's plans to do: at an event at the Bagdad Theater, a brewpub/movie theater across from its main store, the bookseller will, in addition to showing the movie, feature an actor reading a section from the work, several experts talking about the work and answering questions and a musical performance. The price of admission will be a copy of the book or a gift card of the same value. As for the overall finances, Weich said, "We're still working on the business model."

Although it has trouble quantifying the effect, Powell's knows that its author promotions boost sales nationally, Weich said; the filmmaking effort as a "proactive way" of boosting the reach of this effort. The company hasn't yet decided how many films to make--as few as one a quarter to as many as one or two a month.

"The idea is to make these as entertaining as possible," Weich said. "Frankly many readings are dull: a person stands behind a podium, reads, answers a few questions and the customer gets 30 seconds of face time during the signing." Powell's is hiring accomplished directors. ("It's not as if someone in the shipping department will do it.")

"It's a pretty big leap, but it's not a leap out of nowhere," Weich continued. "It's an extension of what we're doing. We're already delivering authors to readers in various forms, and this is a more far-reaching way to do that and create real excitement in the independent community by creating unique events."--John Mutter


Disruption Books: Our Differences Make Us Stronger: How We Heal Together by La June Montgomery Tabron, illustrated by Temika Grooms


Notes: Schlesinger Dies; New Bookstore Collective

Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., the historian who wrote more than 20 books and won the Pulitzer Prize twice and the National Book Award, died last night in New York City. He was 89.

Besides biographies of Andrew Jackson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Schlesinger's best-known works drew on his connections with the Kennedy family (he worked in the Kennedy White House) and included A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House and Robert Kennedy and His Times. His most recent book, War and the American Presidency, which was critical of President Bush's foreign policy, was published in 2004.

Today's New York Times has a long obituary.

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The Wrench in the Works Collective, a new bookstore in Willimantic, Conn., that aims to promote "free expression and positive social change," celebrates its grand opening this weekend with workshops, movies, concerts and games, according to the Norwich Bulletin.

The store is located at 861 Main St., Willimantic, Conn. 06226; the store's Web site is www.wrenchintheworks.org.

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Amazon.com and several other groups have invested in Shelfari, which describes itself as "the leading social media site for people who love to read"--or as one Shelfarist put it, "Think of it as MySpace for the literate set." Proceeds from the financing will be used to fund site development, sales and marketing initiatives, and general administrative costs.

Shelfari also has formed a board of directors, which includes Alex Algard, founder of CarDomain.com and WhitePages.com; Geoff Entress, an entrepreneur and venture investor; Brad Feld, a managing director at Foundry Group; Andy Sack, a co-founder of Judy's Book; Kelly Smith, a partner in Curious Office; and Stefan Pepe, director for Amazon's Books & Magazines stores.

Founded last October, the site encourages readers to talk about books, tag books, start book clubs and discussion groups and "extend their shelf to their blog."

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The Wall Street Journal has an account of the first instant book to be published by Black Dog & Leventhal, Hopes and Dreams: The Story of Barack Obama, which had a somewhat ironic origin. On his way to the Barnes & Noble holiday party in New York City, publisher J.P. Leventhal stopped by a Borders and noticed the senator and presidential candidate's own, wildly popular books but no books about him. At the party, B&N executives responded cheerily to the notion of an Obama book--and the rest is political publishing history.

Stephen Dougherty wrote the 20,000-word text in two weeks for $15,000. He had no cooperation from Obama and relied on Obama's own words, others' observation and many, many press clips.

The book is available as a $9.95 paperback and has a hardcover B&N edition priced at $9.98. "People can't get enough of Barack Obama," Bruce Lubin, B&N's v-p of book development, told the Journal. "We think there's an audience."

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The New York Times profiles a most unlikely-named serious publisher: the Bellevue Literary Press, which has offices at the Bellevue Hospital Center, is sponsored by the New York University School of Medicine and was an offshoot of the Bellevue Literary Review.

The first four titles, fiction and nonfiction, are "all medical or scientific in nature yet written for a general audience," the paper said.

 


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The Queen of Fives
by Alex Hay
GLOW: Graydon House: The Queen of Fives by Alex Hay

Quinn le Blanc, "the Queen of Fives," is the latest in a dynasty of London con artists. In August 1898, she resolves to pose as a debutante and marry a duke for his fortune. According to the dynasty's century-old Rulebook, reeling in a mark takes just five days. But Quinn hasn't reckoned with the duke's equally shrewd stepmother and sister. Like his Caledonia Novel Award-winning debut, The Housekeepers, Alex Hay's second book is a stylish, cheeky historical romp featuring strong female characters. Graydon House senior editor Melanie Fried says his work bears the "twisty intrigue of a mystery" but is "elevated [by] wickedly clever high-concept premises and explorations of class, social status, gender, and power." The Queen of Fives is a treat for fans of Anthony Horowitz, Sarah Penner, and Downton Abbey. --Rebecca Foster

(Graydon House/HarperCollins, $28.99 hardcover, 9781525809859, January 21, 2025)

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Media and Movies

Media Heat: Advice Aplenty on Money, Food and Beauty

Today the View receives no-nonsense advice from Suze Orman, whose latest offering is Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny (Spiegel & Grau, $24.95, 9780385519311/0385519311).

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Today the Martha Stewart Show features skincare expert Susan Ciminelli, author of The Ciminelli Solution: A 7-Day Plan for Radiant Skin (Collins, $24.95, 9780060778378/0060778377).

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Today Oprah hosts Jeff Henderson, author of Cooked: From the Streets to the Stove, from Cocaine to Foie Gras (Morrow, $24.95, 9780061153907/0061153907).

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Today on the Diane Rehm Show: Kathleen Barry, author of Femininity in Flight: A History of Flight Attendants (Duke University Press, $22.95, 9780822339465/0822339463).

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Today on KCRW's Bookworm: Gore Vidal, author of Point to Point Navigation (Doubleday, $26, 9780385517218/ 0385517211). As the show put it, "Using his recent memoir as springboard, Gore Vidal nimbly leaps from the history of prose narrative to the contemporary decline of culture in America. He reveals himself, yet again, as a master of all he surveys."

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Today on NPR's A Chef's Table, Lorna Sass enlightens with Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way (Clarkson Potter, $32.50, 9780307336729/0307336727).

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This evening on Hannity & Colmes, Mike Farrell will talk about his memoirs, Just Call Me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist (RDV Books/Akashic Books, $21.95, 9781933354088/1933354089).

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Tonight Larry King Live hears from Lee and Bob Woodruff about In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing (Random House, $25.95, 9781400066674/1400066670). Bob Woodruff will also make an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman.

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Tonight on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart gently spars with Sam Sheridan, author of A Fighter's Heart: One Man's Journey Through the World of Fighting (Atlantic Monthly, $25, 9780871139504/0871139502).

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Tonight on the Charlie Rose Show: Harold Pinter, playwright and Nobel laureate.

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The Tonight Show with Jay Leno talks with NBC news correspondent Chris Hansen, author of To Catch a Predator: Protecting Your Kids from Online Enemies Already in Your Home (Dutton, $24.95, 9780525950097/0525950095).

 


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This Weekend on Book TV: Barbara Ehrenreich in Depth

Book TV airs on C-Span 2 from 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Monday and focuses on political and historical books as well as the book industry. The following are highlights for this coming weekend. For more information, go to Book TV's Web site.

Saturday, March 3

6 p.m. Encore Booknotes. In a segment first aired in 1999, Winston S. Churchill, retired Conservative Party politician and grandson of the late Prime Minister Winston Churchill, talked about The Great Republic: A History of America (Modern Library, $15.95, 9780375754401/0375754407), a collection of writing by the legendary figure that the grandson edited.

9 p.m. After Words. Columnist and author George Will interviews City University of New York history professor John Patrick Diggins, author of Ronald Reagan: Fate, Freedom, and the Making of History (Norton, $27.95, 9780393060225/0393060225), a sympathetic biography in which Diggins argues that Reagan's beliefs were derived from liberal as well as conservative principles. (Re-airs Sunday at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.)

10 p.m. History on Book TV. In a segment first aired as part of the Meet the Author series at public station WBFO in Buffalo, N.Y., Jeremy Schaap, author of Cinderella Man and ESPN anchor, talked about his new book, Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics (Houghton Mifflin, $24, 9780618688227/0618688226).

11 p.m. General Assignment. Edward Humes talks about his new book, Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America's Soul (Ecco, $25.95, 9780060885489/0060885483), about the recent creationism case in Dover, Pa. Shelf Awareness's Marilyn Dahl reviewed the title here last week.

Sunday, March 4

12 p.m.-3 p.m. In Depth: Barbara Ehrenreich, whose most recent books include Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy (Metropolitan Books, $26, 9780805057232/0805057234) and Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America. Viewers may call in during the live show or e-mail questions for her to booktv@c-span.org. (Re-airs Monday at 12 a.m. and Saturday, March 10, at 9 a.m.)



Books & Authors

Awards: B&N's Discoveries; Books for a Better Life

Brief Encounters with Che Guevara by Ben Fountain (Ecco) and The Last Season by Eric Blehm (HarperCollins) have won Barnes & Noble's 14th annual Discover Great New Writers Awards for fiction and nonfiction, respectively. Each author receives $10,000 and another year of marketing and advertising support in B&N stores.

Second-place winners are Bliss by O.Z. Livaneli (St. Martin's) and The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million by Daniel Mendelsohn (HarperCollins). Each receives $5,000.

Third-place winners are Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife by Sam Savage (Coffee House Press) and The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries by Marilyn Johnson (HarperCollins). Each receives $2,500.


The judges praised Brief Encounters with Che Guevara as "truly ambitious literary fiction" and said that each story involves "well-intentioned Western protagonists abroad caught up in social upheaval and moral quandaries."

The judges called The Last Season a "mesmerizing tale of a seasoned park ranger who goes missing after 28 years of service in the unforgiving backcountry of the Sierra Nevada."

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Sponsored by the New York City Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the 11th annual Books for a Better Life Awards, honoring "the best self-improvement books of the preceding year," were given on Tuesday:

  • Suze Orman First Book: A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown (Crown)
  • Childcare/Parenting: Packaging Girlhood by Sharon Lamb and Lyn Mikel Brown (St. Martin's)
  • Inspirational Memoir: A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas (Harcourt)
  • Motivational: Crazy Busy by Edward M. Hallowell, M.D (Ballantine)
  • Personal Finance: The Number by Lee Eisenberg (Free Press)
  • Psychology: Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman (Bantam Books)
  • Relationships: The Faith Club by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver and Priscilla Warner (Free Press)
  • Spiritual: Yearnings by Irwin Kula with Linda Loewenthal (Hyperion)
  • Wellness: What to Eat by Marion Nestle (North Point)
In addition, the chapter inducted three people for their "revered work in the publishing industry" into the Ardath Rodale Hall of Fame: Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, co-creators of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, and Peter Workman, founder and president of Workman Publishing.



Deeper Understanding

The Devil Wore Yoga Pants: Part 2 in an Accidental Series

Kate Whouley writes:

For better or worse, I'm fully committed to independent bookselling. Yes, my first date was with Waldenbooks--I wrote about that in this journal--but from the day I embraced independence in July of 1983, I've been a faithful partner to independents of all sizes and stripes. In my work as a consultant (since 1988), I've worked hard to help my clients succeed, one indie bookstore at a time. Until Cottage for Sale was published in 2004, all my publication credits were professional, and those books that I wrote or edited--I count eight--were all intended to assist independent bookstore owners and their employees in their quest to improve and to grow their businesses.

In that spirit, I wrote the piece that appeared in Tuesday's Shelf Awareness. You see, I want exactly what ABA and Booksense.com want, the same thing all those smart booksellers on the NEIBA listserve were trying to work out: a way to ensure the healthy and prosperous future of independent bookselling in America.

Deep breath.

I got a lot of response to my exploration of Booksense.com, Amazon.com and the way forward for independent stores in an increasingly online world. For some readers, it was me, not Amazon, who was carrying a fiery trident and offering off-limit temptations for the price of a collective soul. In fact, this devil never made it out of her yoga pants yesterday. I couldn't keep up with the flood of e-mails and phone calls related to the piece, never mind find my way into street clothes.

With my small exploration (just 1,300 words, where 13,000 might have made a good start) I had one intention: to engender a national conversation on the topic of effective online selling for independent booksellers.

Judging from my overstuffed mailbox, the conversation I hoped to trigger appears to be underway. In the clarification published here yesterday, Len Vlahos of Booksense.com said, "We look forward to the dialogue." I think Len is one of the smartest people I know, and I am thrilled he's working on behalf of independent booksellers. Ditto with anyone you can name working for ABA and the regional associations. In fact, one of the reasons I've stayed faithful all these years is that I love all the great minds who work as, for, or in concert with, independent booksellers.

That's why I'm sure we can do better if we put our heads together.

Many years ago, writing in American Bookseller, I did a series of articles deconstructing the results of the Wirthlin Study. This was pre-Amazon, but post-corporate superstore invasion. In that series, I referenced a book called Value Migration. The author, Adrian Slywotsky, gave illustrations to show that as customers' tastes change over time, what they value in a business changes too. He urged business owners to keep up with their customers or risk losing them.

I feel pretty certain that at least a portion of independent bookstore customers are migrating with their values. And I worry too about those potential independent bookstore customers we haven't even reached yet--they're younger, puzzling to a business composed mostly of boomers, and they are used to having their bookstore just one click away. Can we woo and win them? And can we slow down the movement of the loyalists whom--though they feel a twinge of guilt when they do it--still click and buy at least some of the time?  

To say we can't is, in my opinion, to accept the prospect of a slow, painful, agonizing death. Like global warming, indie cooling may not kill us in this generation or even in the next 50 or 70 years. But it will get us sooner or later. I'm reminded of Al Gore's message in An Inconvenient Truth. He was talking about the ill effects of climate change, telling us it is possible to reverse a staggering trend. His beliefs line up what I hope is true about creating an improved online future for independent booksellers. The technology is in place. What we need is the political will to effect positive change.


Editor's note: Though she called her contribution in Tuesday's Shelf Awareness "another of my inadvertent essays," Kate Whouley has agreed to lead an ongoing conversation of the topics first raised on the NEIBA listserve. In future issues of Shelf Awareness, she'll present and comment upon the views of booksellers and others who wish to participate in the discussion.

And, of course, Robert Gray will continue occasionally looking at the issue from his perspective as well.


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