New Voices New Rooms, the joint conference hosted by the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) and the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA), will be held next year in Atlanta, Ga., with timing and location to be announced, likely by the end of this year.

New Voices New Rooms was founded by NAIBA and SIBA in 2020 and met virtually for three years. Beginning in 2023 and this year, it's been held in person, in Arlington, Va., in August. In the future, the conference will travel within NAIBA and SIBA areas "to make it more accessible and to better showcase different bookselling communities." After Atlanta in 2025, NVNR will be in Baltimore in 2026 and return to Virginia in 2027.

SIBA executive director Linda-Marie Barrett said, "The Atlanta area bookstores are excited to share their spaces and missions.... Atlanta is a vibrant city with a strong and diverse bookselling culture."

NAIBA executive director Eileen Dengler said, "NAIBA booksellers will now have the opportunity to visit an amazing city for bookselling. We'll incorporate bookstore visits and visits to America's Mart to make this a unique opportunity for booksellers. Our team at NVNR continues to create an experience of unparalleled education, networking, and joy."

Some 30 authors and other creative people have joined authors Amor Towles and Ann Patchett in launching the Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation's end-of-year campaign, I Stand with Book and Comic Stores. The campaign starts tomorrow, November 19.

The group includes David Baldacci, Leigh Bardugo, Erica Bauermiester, Judy Blume, Chris Bohjalian, Sandra Boynton, Suzanne Collins, Michael Connelly, Kate DiCamillo, Anthony Doerr, Chris Finan, John Grisham, Lauren Groff, Jenny Hann, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Jeff Kinney, Wally Lamb, Min Jin Lee, Zibby Owens, Ann Patchett, James Patterson, Jodi Picoult, Dav Pilkey, Sherri Duskey Rinker, Rebecca Stead, Garth Stein, Tui Sutherland, Amor Towles, and Mo and Cher Willems.

Binc executive director Pam French said, "Stores need our support more now than ever. We're incredibly grateful to have these authors join us in support of the book and comic people who preserve the right to free speech, the open exchange of ideas, and the freedom to read. The work of independent bookstores matters more than ever. Binc is receiving 60% more calls for help from booksellers and comic retailers than before the pandemic. Please join your favorite author to ensure we can continue our commitment to never turn anyone in need away."

The campaign kicks off with a $15,000 matching gift from Penguin Random House. All gifts will be matched dollar for dollar, doubling the power and impact of donations received, up to a total of $15,000.

"As publishers with a mission to create books for everyone, we couldn't do what we do without our bookstore and comic book shop partners, who help us reach more readers everywhere with our books and stories," said Jaci Updike, chief revenue officer, Penguin Random House US. "We are honored to partner with Binc to support them during the holiday season and year-round."

In addition, Binc supporters will receive an audiobook of their choice from Libro.fm. A donation of $100 results in one audiobook credit; a donation of $500 or more gets three audiobook credits. This offer is available until December 31.

To donate to the I Stand with Book and Comic Stores campaign, click here.

Posman Books, which has five stores in cities along the East Coast, has opened a sixth store, at the Miami World Center in downtown Miami, Fla. The Center is a 27-acre mixed-use development, with retail, hotels, offices, and residences, which is currently opening in phases.

Posman's Robert Fader commented: "The city's vibrant, colorful and modern aesthetic is a great match with the Posman brand, and we love our location next to the Museum of Ice Cream, which as you can imagine is quite popular with families."

The 2,000-square-feet store is in an area with many Spanish-speakers, so Posman is, Fader added, "taking a deep dive into Latin American literature and have come up with some wonderful publishers that are new to Posman, like Edinburgh-based (!) Charco Press."

Friends to Lovers has officially opened in Alexandria, Va., Secret DC reported.

Owner Jamie Fortin

The romance-only bookstore held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, November 13, at 103 S. Saint Asaph St., followed by a grand opening celebration on Thursday evening. The celebration, which 200 people registered for in advance, featured a signature beverage, portrait drawing, and gluten-free desserts.

Festivities then continued throughout the weekend with a wine tasting Friday night and an astrology hour on Saturday. The store also ran a special giveaway that included a special-edition Jane Austen book and other prizes.

Yesterday the store posted on Instagram: "What an unforgettable day! Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate the grand opening of Friends to Lovers! Your love and support mean the world to us, and we couldn't have asked for a better start to this new chapter. Here's a little recap of the magic--cheers to many more memories together!"

Owner Jamie Fortin carries a diverse selection of romance titles spanning myriad sub-genres. She decided to open a romance bookstore after moving to Alexandria in August.

The Print Factory, a new and used nonprofit bookstore and community space, has opened on a limited basis in Bellefonte, Pa., the Centre Daily Times reported.

Directors John Eburne, Mandisa Haarhoff, and Kathy Mitchell held a soft opening for the Print Factory at 130 S. Allegheny St. on Friday. The book's inventory is still growing, with much of it currently sourced from community donations. Eventually they plan to offer an extensive selection of titles for all age groups, with an emphasis on titles that are anti-racist, feminist, and queer-inclusive. Currently, books are available only for purchase, but the directors plan eventually to create a lending program.

The space has movable bookshelves and is easily reconfigurable, which will give the Print Factory flexibility in hosting events. They've already held an open mic at the bookstore, and they expect to expand their programming in the weeks and months ahead. They would like to host movie screenings, presentations, writing groups, workshops, live music, and more. There is also complimentary coffee and tea for patrons and guests.

"We want people to feel welcome here," Haarhoff told the Centre Daily Times. "There are a lot of negative things going on in the world today, and I think it's important to provide people with a space like this to safely and comfortably spend their time without fear of being judged for who they are."

Originally slated to open by Small Business Saturday 2023, the Print Factory's debut was delayed for nearly a year due to unforeseen renovations. Eburne explained that "there was a lot more that needed to be done than we anticipated, and the more that we fixed, the more we found that needed fixing."

For now, the Print Factory is open from noon to 8 p.m. Thursdays through Sunday, with additional hours dependent on volunteers.

"Booksellers are magic and our crew is ready for a great holiday season!" Napa Bookmine, Napa, Calif., posted on Facebook. "Looking for the perfect gift or have a question about our holiday hours? These are the folks to ask! Look for their friendly faces at both our 2nd Street and @oxbowpublicmarket locations. 

"We encourage you to keep your money in the local economy this holiday season! It literally supports not only our business, but all of these lovely folks who work with us in the bookstore and at @canarycoffeenapa. Pick up a Small Business Holiday Bingo card the next time you're at the shop and explore all of the amazing small businesses here in town while crossing items off your holiday shopping list! Shop local, shop small!"

In a video accompanying a Buffalo News story about how indie bookstores are booming, Jonathon Welch, a co-founder of Talking Leaves, Buffalo, N.Y., describes how his store has weathered ups and downs since its founding in 1975: by "stocking the books that other people didn't, featuring authors and writers from underrepresented populations throughout the country and around the world. We've managed to survive... largely by sticking to what it is that we believe in and what we do best and trying to keep representing those communities that haven't been represented."

James by Percival Everett (Doubleday) has been selected as the 2024 Barnes & Noble Book of the Year. In addition, two new awards were made: Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell (Knopf Books for Young Readers) has been named B&N's first Children's Book of the Year, and The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan (Knopf) was named B&N's first Gift Book of the Year.

Concerning James, Shannon DeVito, B&N's senior director of books, said in part, "Of all of the books we booksellers have read this year, this is the one that we have not been able to stop talking about... If you read one novel this year, let it be this one."

About Impossible Creatures, Jackie DeLeo, B&N's chief merchandising officer, said in part: "Booksellers are always on the hunt for the next big series. As soon as I read the first chapter, I knew this would be a hit, and our booksellers--and customers--agreed whole-heartedly."

For The Backyard Bird Chronicles, B&N CEO James Daunt commented: "Amy Tan has been long been celebrated for her excellent novels, and rightly so. Now, with this lovely book she has proven her prowess once again--a memoir as compelling as her best work of fiction; a celebration of nature by a master storyteller. This book defies categorization--you need not be interested in birds to thoroughly enjoy it, as the author's own interest is infectious. This truly makes for an excellent gift."

Sunday's issue of Hut's Place, the weekly newsletter by Hut Landon, bookseller and former executive director of the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (now part of the California Independent Booksellers Alliance), features Time of the Child by Niall Williams, "a family-themed holiday tale from a beloved Irish storyteller"; The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer, which "delivers a short but inspiring vision for how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world"; and, now in paperback, Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, "the emotionally compelling family saga [that] pays homage to Little Women."

Ellen Whitaker has been promoted to marketing manager, Knopf.

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Shaelyn (Shae) McDaniel has joined the marketing department at Candlewick Press, Holiday House, and Peachtree Publishing as senior digital marketing manager. She was most recently marketing manager for Algonquin Young Readers.

Today:
Today Show: Nikki May, author of This Motherless Land (Mariner, $30, 9780063084292).
 
Tamron Hall: Jaleel White, author of Growing Up Urkel (Simon & Schuster, $28.99, 9781668068892).
 
Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Josh Brolin, author of From Under the Truck: A Memoir (Harper, $30, 9780063382183). He will also appear tomorrow on Good Morning America.
 
Tonight Show: Cher, author of Cher: The Memoir: Part One (Dey Street, $36, 9780062863102). She will also appear tomorrow on the Today Show.
 
Tomorrow:
CBS Mornings: Keke Palmer, author of Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative (Flatiron, $27.99, 9781250372512). She will also appear on the View and the Tonight Show.
 
Today Show: Jessica Seinfeld, co-author of Not Too Sweet: 100 Dessert Recipes for Those Who Want More with Just a Little Less (Gallery Books, $32.50, 9781668015360).
 
Jennifer Hudson Show: Henry Winkler, author of Detective Duck: The Case of the Missing Tadpole (Abrams, $14.99, 9781419766817).
 
Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Bill Clinton, author of Citizen: My Life After the White House (Knopf, $38, 9780525521440).

Acorn TV and Paramount's Channel 5 are co-producing an adaptation of Reverend Richard Coles' bestselling novel Murder Before Evensong. Deadline reported that Acorn has been developing the series for around two years alongside Sky Studios-backed producer the Lighthouse. The streamer will take U.S. rights, while Channel 5 will broadcast the drama in the U.K.

Murder Before Evensong was published in 2022 and introduces Canon Daniel Clement, a rector of Champton who becomes embroiled in a murder case. He has gone on to feature in three other of Coles's "cozy crime" novels, including Murder at the Monastery and A Death in the Parish.

Writer Nick Hicks-Beach (Midsomer Murders) is attached to the adaptation. Coles will be an executive producer alongside Hicks-Beach and Lighthouse co-founder Radford Neville. 

Winners have been selected for the 2024 National Outdoor Book Awards, whose sponsors include the National Outdoor Book Awards Foundation, Idaho State University, and the Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education. To see the 15 winners in 10 categories (some with two winners), click here.

Former journalist/magazine publisher Suzy Hopkins never expected her marriage to implode, but after three decades, her husband announced "starry-eyed that he'd reconnected with a former girlfriend." Encouraged and enabled by her daughter, author/artist Hallie Bateman, the duo created What to Do When You Get Dumped, an affecting graphic how-to for gradually, realistically "unbreaking your heart." Vulnerably heart-wrenching, yet infused with laugh-out-loud humor, mother and daughter create a rallying guide to learning to be okay.

"If you need a thread of hope to mend a tattered heart," the dedication opens, "this book is for you." Hopkins's introduction is notably raw: "Welcome to your new life: the one you didn't ask for, didn't want, and never expected." That "splashing and flailing" after being "unceremoniously and unequivocally dumped" lasts weeks, months, years. Eschewing drugs, alcohol, replacement relationships, Hopkins slowly sheds her grief through writing this "pep talk of sorts," presented as a revealing countdown that starts at 1,582 days from reaching the promising possibility: "the day you unbreak your heart."

Hopkins immediately admits to an initially unbearable journey--relentless panic, damaging flashbacks, agonizing aftershocks--but tiny steps signal progress. This is when simple to-do lists that might include "stare out window," just for the satisfaction of checking the completed box, are exactly enough. Choosing to live is the biggest accomplishment. Amid "The Muddle," she advises "go easy on yourself," ask for help, don't forget to shower, and maybe use a sledgehammer to break something co-owned with the ex (Hopkins picked a litter box). Halfway through, "The Beginning" commences with the freedom to choose a new life--although screaming and faking it to get through the day is still okay. Saying yes to the unexpected may be the best path to getting unbroken.

Dumped is Hopkins's and Bateman's second glorious collaboration, after 2018's What to Do When I'm Gone. Again, Hopkins writes, Bateman draws--in full-color, cartoon-esque style, rife with outrage and mourning, but also warm laughter, across saturated pages, occasional panels, labeled diagrams and dioramas. Underscoring their symbiotic bond, Bateman's illustrations highlight intimate details that perhaps only a daughter could know: the hindsight dissection of family photos, her mother's wardrobe ("stretch-tastic sweatpants!"), her "helpful" movies (the aptly titled Cast Away). By sharing their mutual, unconditional support, mother and daughter provide both the empathy and tools to inspire others to "believe [they] could make it through to a new life... [from] steps A, B, and C, and if [necessary], D through Z." --Terry Hong

Shelf Talker: Mother Suzy Hopkins and daughter Hallie Bateman create a heartfelt, encouraging, surprisingly humorous guide to recovering from the overwhelming break-up of a long relationship.

The top 10 bestselling Libro.fm audiobooks at independent bookstore locations during 2024:

1. Funny Story by Emily Henry (Penguin Random House Audio)
2. The Women by Kristin Hannah (Macmillan Audio)
3. Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune (Macmillan Audio)
4. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (Penguin Random House Audio)
5. James by Percival Everett (Penguin Random House Audio)
6. The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Penguin Random House Audio)
7. We Solve Murders by Richard Osman (Penguin Random House Audio)
8. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (Simon & Schuster Audio)
9. Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez (Hachette Audio)
10. Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten (Penguin Random House Audio)