Shelf Awareness for Tuesday, May 8, 2007


Quarry Books: Yes, Boys Can!: Inspiring Stories of Men Who Changed the World - He Can H.E.A.L. by Richard V Reeves and Jonathan Juravich, illustrated by Chris King

Simon & Schuster: Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

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

G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers: The Meadowbrook Murders by Jessica Goodman

Overlook Press: Hotel Lucky Seven (Assassins) by Kotaro Isaka, translated by Brian Bergstrom

News

Notes: S&S to Launch Video 'Channel'; Sarkozy, le Livre

Simon & Schuster is fast forwarding its author video program by creating an Internet book channel called Bookvideos.tv that will be hosted on YouTube.com and other video-sharing sites and will be available for booksellers and others to use on their sites or to link to, today's Wall Street Journal reported.

The videos will be about two minutes long and focus on new titles by the authors; the first 40 feature Mary Higgins Clark, Zane and Sandra Brown, among others.

S&S, which has made some author videos already, made the move to help consumers find content they like. Sue Fleming, v-p, online and consumer marketing, said, "The idea here is to create a bigger sliver where they can find many authors in one place." S&S may eventually add other publishers' videos to the stable.

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The New England Independent Booksellers Association will provide grants of up to $2,500 to help member stores establish independent business alliances. The first grants will be awarded before the end of NEIBA's current fiscal year, June 30; the application deadline for the first grants is May 31. Grants will be awarded twice a year and are judged by the board of directors, which aims to be "as flexible as possible."

The board will ask those receiving grants to report on how the grant was used and results, with tips for other members seeking to form IBAs. For more information, contact NEIBA executive director Steve Fischer at steve@neba.org.

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Following the presidential elections in France on Sunday, Pantheon Books plans an encore for the memoir of winner Nicolas Sarkozy, Testimony: France in the Twenty-First Century ($24.95, 9780375425059), originally published here in March. Philip H. Gordon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, edited and translated the book.

In Testimony, Pantheon says, Sarkozy "analyzes the difficulties facing France--social tensions, inadequate education, high unemployment. But far from drawing fatalistic conclusions, he demonstrates that France does not suffer from an identity crisis but from a crisis of political debate. He accuses French political figures, sometimes harshly, of having deprived the public of their own say in government, leading to pervasive suspicion of elites, the state, and proper governance."

Plus ca change . . . ou non?

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Everything old is new again. Random House owner Bertelsmann is finding a profitable niche in former Soviet bloc countries with a new twist on a traditional bookselling model, the book club, "a category that's a slow- or no-growth proposition in the U.S. and Europe," Business Week reported.

Oleg Shpilman, CEO of the Ukrainian Family Leisure Book Club unit, said that a new distribution facility being built "will be able to ship 20 millions books a year."Already Family Leisure "moved 12 million books last year--everything from cookbooks to local potboilers to Stephen King thrillers--while sales grew 55%, to $50 million. Today, Bertelsmann is Ukraine's biggest bookseller, with 12% of the market. And the operation enjoys profit margins that are triple the 4% global average for similar Bertelsmann units, which include the Book-of-the-Month Club and Literary Guild in the U.S."

Former Soviet bloc countries like Russia, the Czech Republic and Poland have "well-educated populations hungry for a good read but relatively few bookstores where they can indulge their passion." Contrary to the prevailing opinion that book clubs appeal primarily to older customers, "nearly half the Family Leisure Club's 2 million members (in a nation of 47 million) are under 30. The secret: The Bertelsmann club recruits hot young Ukrainian authors and serves as their exclusive distributor, a smart strategy in a country with only about 300 bookstores."

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The Minnesota Women's Press profiled Carol Erdahl, co-owner with Michele Cromer-Poiré of the Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul since 1984. Erdahl said that, in the beginning, "It probably was better that we weren't friends. We were a 50-50 partnership instead. So many people say that you can't make a 50-50 partnership work. It always turns out to be 70-30 or 60-40. I think the people that say this are probably men. Women have a better way of relating to one another and doing business together. A business partnership is like a marriage. You're never going to agree on everything, but you compromise. You manage your commitment."

On surviving the challenges of running an independent bookstore, she said, "We manage. We're not losing money. We're probably not making as much as the big stores, but we do make a profit. But really, we do this because it feels like a mission--to get young children interested in reading."

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Billing the confrontation as a "battle for Banff's retail soul," the National Post reported that more than 400 people signed a letter on the front counter of the Banff Book and Art Den "imploring somebody to do something about 'box-style and national chain stores' in the community."

Plans to open IndigoSpirit, a scaled down--1,900 square feet--version of an Indigo Books & Music store, in Banff spurred Neil and Gabi Wedin, owners of Banff Book and Art Den, to ask the town council what they planned "to do to protect business owners from large, chain store competitors." Although Neil Wedin said he is concerned about the competition, he added that "at no point have we asked for (Indigo) to be banned or barred, or (their) licences refused. The whole issue has come up with this maybe being the example to start trying to find a balance."

The article implied that the battle for Banff 's retail soul might already have been compromised, if not lost: "Strolling the streets, among local fudge makers, souvenir stores and snowboard outfitters, you'll pass dozens of chain operations: The Gap, the Body Shop, McDonald's, Subway, lululemon, Roots, Starbucks and many more."

 


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Borders: Links with Above the Treeline and Source Interlink

Above the Treeline, the five-year-old company that collects sales and inventory data from nearly 400 general independent and Christian bookstores and analyzes and compares the information for the stores and many publishers, is expanding the service to Borders. Under the Borders program, Above the Treeline will collect inventory and sales data for all Borders superstores in the U.S. Borders had tested Above the Treeline for four months with its bargain books.

In a prepared statement, Bill Nasshan, Borders senior v-p of trade books, said that the bargain book collaboration "yielded strong results, and we appreciate Above the Treeline's responsiveness and breadth of services. It is exciting to roll the business intelligence service out to other categories of our business."

John Rubin, founder and president of Above the Treeline, said that adding Borders as a client will help all bookseller clients because it "will allow us to continue to build and improve the best suite of services for all of our customers. . . . We continually adapt our tools so that all of our retailer subscribers derive value from the service."

Rubin emphasized to Shelf Awareness that the data and analysis of information from independent stores would be kept separate from Borders.

Strategically the move was necessary, Rubin said in a letter to independent booksellers sent last week. "We risk being marginalized in the industry if we don't work with other channels besides the independent channel," he stated. "Many of our publisher partners have requested the ability to view their chain customer data through Above the Treeline and, in fact, a number of companies have seen what we've done over the last few years and are attempting to imitate it. We welcome competition, but we're acutely aware that one of the strategies these companies are taking is to provide the kind of tools we have to the chains and provide the chain data to the publishers as we have."

In the letter, he said that the expanded business will help provide "valuable support programs such as Treeline University and the upcoming Treeline Learning Center." Above the Treeline is also incorporating "the best practices of these additional channels into the core Above the Treeline product. For example, the idea for the new Merchandising Opportunity Inbox Express report came from a category manager at a chain."

Reaction from most independent booksellers has been positive, judging from listserv comments. One bookseller took it as a positive competitive sign that Borders needed this kind of information analysis, too.

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Borders has chosen Source Interlink Companies to be exclusive nationwide magazine distributor for Borders and Walden, excluding Puerto Rico. In a prepared statement, Source Interlink chairman commented, "We look forward to working with the company and our publisher partners to enhance the customer experience at newsstands."

Linda Jones, senior v-p, merchandising, for Borders Group, said, "We recognize the opportunity to drive sales and improve efficiencies through the benefits that come from a single-vendor magazine program."

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In October, Borders will open two new stores:

  • A 22,239-sq.-ft. location in Stroudsburg, Pa., at the intersection of Route 611 and Heller Drive.
  • A 22,140-sq.-ft. store in Mansfield, Mass., south of Boston, at Mansfield Crossing at Routes 495 and 140.

 



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


Media and Movies

Media Heat: Preparing for Mother's Day

This morning on the Today Show: Jara Negrin and Amy Nebens, authors of Living the Posh Mom Life (Sourcebooks, $14.95, 9781402208997/1402208995), will talk about what they think moms really want for Mother's Day.

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Today the Martha Stewart Show cooks with Mario Batali, whose culinary companions include Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home (Ecco, $34.95, 9780060734923/0060734922) and Mario Tailgates NASCAR Style (Sporting News, $19.95, 9780892048465/0892048468).

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Today on the Diane Rehm Show: Bloom County's Berkeley Breathed whose new book is a children's book called Mars Needs Moms (Philomel, $16.99, 9780399247361/039924736X).

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Today on Hannity & Colmes, Keith Ablow, author of Living the Truth: Transform Your Life Through the Power of Insight and Honesty (Little, Brown, $25.99, 9780316017817/0316017817).

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Tonight on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart: former CIA director George Tenet, whose new book is At the Center of the Storm (HarperCollins, $30, 9780061147784/0061147788).

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Tonight on the Late Show with David Letterman: Tom Ruprecht, author of George W. Bush: An Unauthorized Oral History (Andrews McMeel, $12.95, 9780740767579/0740767577).

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Most likely on the Colbert Report tonight: Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable (Random House, $26.95, 9781400063512/1400063515).

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Late Night with Conan O'Brien checks in with Morgan Spurlock, author of Don't Eat This Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America (Berkley, $14, 9780425210239/0425210235).


Books & Authors

Image of the Day: Brunch and Bullets

Brunch and Bullets, last Saturday's International Thriller Writers fundraiser in Greenwich, Conn., drew, among others: (standing, from l.) Peter Blauner; Larry Light; publisher and Silver Bullet Award winner Tom Doherty; Silver Bullet Award recipient for the Greenwich Rotary Club Jeff Webber; Silver Bullet Award recipient for Scholastic Books Evan St. Lifer; Jim Fusilly; Steve Coonts; Doug Preston; Joe Finder; F. Paul Wilson; Linc Child; Silver Bullet Award winner R.L. Stine; and Michael Palmer (seated, from l.) Greenwich Title 1 program coordinator Lorraine Gaito; Chris Grabenstein; Jon Land; Wendy Corsi Staub (with an audience member and program participant); M.J. Rose; and Silver Bullet Award winner Heather Graham.

 


Awards: Publishing Triangle, Ferro-Grumley, Chesley

The Publishing Triangle's awards, the Ferro-Grumley Literary Awards and the Robert Chesley Foundation awards were presented last night:
  • Andrew Holleran won the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement. His most recent book is Grief
  • Justin Chin, author of Gutted (Manic D Press), won the Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry
  • Jennifer Rose, author of Hometown for an Hour (Ohio University Press), won the Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry
  • Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home (Houghton Mifflin), won the Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction
  • Kenji Yoshino, author Covering (Random House), won the Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction
  • Martin Hyatt, author of A Scarecrow's Bible (Suspect Thoughts Press), won the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction
  • Nancy Bereano won a special Leadership award in recognition of her long and distinguished service to GLBT literature, especially while the head of Firebrand Books
  • Lisa Carey, author of Every Visible Thing (Morrow), won the Ferro-Grumley Award for Lesbian Fiction
  • Christopher Bram, author of Exiles in America (Morrow), won the Ferro-Grumley Award for Gay Fiction
  • The Robert Chesley Foundation Award for playwriting was shared by Eric Bentley (Lifetime Achievement Award) and Chris Weikel (Emerging Artist)

Attainment: New Books Out Next Week

Selected titles with a pub date of next Tuesday, May 15:

Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child (Delacorte, $26, 9780385340557/0385340559). In his 11th outing, Jack Reacher connects the dots in a mystery that grows darker by the day.

Falling Man by Don DeLillo (Scribner, $26, 9781416546023/1416546022). DeLillo's novel traces the effects of the September 11 attacks on the lives of a lawyer who worked in the World Trade Center, his ex-wife and their son.

Invisible Prey by John Sandford (Putman, $26.95, 9780399154218/0399154213). The 17th novel featuring Minneapolis detective Lucas Davenport.

The Unquiet by John Connolly (Atria, $25.95, 9780743298933/0743298934). Private detective Charlie Parker untangles a horrific case involving betrayal, murder and the dark side of human nature.

The Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coelho (HarperCollins, $24.95, 9780061338809/006133880X). A mystical new novel from the author of The Alchemist and The Devil and Miss Prym.

Crashing Through: A True Story of Risk, Adventure, and the Man Who Dared to See by Robert Kurson (Random House, $25.95, 9781400063352/1400063353). The author of Shadow Divers recounts the story of one man's odyssey from blindness into sight after experimental surgery.

Jesus of Nazareth by Joseph Ratzinger (Doubleday, $24.95, 9780385523417/0385523416). Pope Benedict XVI seeks to salvage the person of Jesus from recent "popular" depictions and to restore Jesus's true identity as discovered in the Gospels.

Last Flag Down: The Epic Journey of the Last Confederate Warship by John Baldwin and Ron Powers (Crown, $25.95, 9780307236555/0307236552). Cut off from their command and unaware of the surrender of the Confederate army, the crew of the Shenandoah continues their daring sea raids on Union ships--and are then sought as pirates.


On sale in paperback May 15:

Baby Proof by Emily Giffin (St. Martin's Griffin, $13.95, 9780312348656/0312348657).

Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons by Tim Russert (Random House, $13.95, 9780812975437/081297543X).



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