Debi Echlin, owner and founder of A Great Good Place for Books,
Oakland, Calif., and a member of the board of the Northern California
Independent Booksellers Association, died in her sleep Thanksgiving
Day. She was 52.
In a note on the store's Web site, employees called her "a vibrant force in our community, a loving boss and an incredible friend. . . . The next time you have a drink, raise your glass in a toast to Debi. She would have loved it!"
The staff said that "in her memory, we plan on continuing Debi's legacy and vision of the bookstore for our community to the best of our ability."
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While yesterday has become such a big day for online sales that it's being called "Cyber Monday," one major online book "marketplace" had a sales gain on Sunday that may be a sign of a shift in online buying patterns. Abebooks.com said sales on Sunday were up 30% compared to the same Sunday a year ago. Weekends are traditionally the slowest days of the week for Abebooks, but an increasing number of people are making purchases at home, too, the company added.
Topselling titles at Abebooks include A Million Little Pieces by James Frey, Harry Potter titles (because of the movie) and C.S. Lewis titles as the crescendo of publicity rises in advance of the opening of The Chronicles of Narnia.
For its part, Alibris told the Wall Street Journal that its sales for the weekend were up 60%.
Reports from online non-book retailers were also positive, according to the Journal; all retailers quoted had at least double-digit increases. In addition, ComScore Networks estimated that Black Friday online sales were up 22% over last year.
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The Sarasota Herald Tribune reports that Caren and Dick Lobo are selling Sarasota Books & News again--this time to people with spotless records, Andrew and Meghan Foley, who are brother and sister. The Lobos had come close to selling the store to Thomas Coelho and a partner, but then found out Coelho had a long criminal record and was wanted in California (Shelf Awareness, October 24 and November 1).
The Foleys have deep roots in Sarasota. At one point, their late father owned the building in which the bookstore is located. The pair said they plan to continue running the store in the way it has been run.
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Happy New Year. Barnes & Noble is paying a dividend of 15 cents a share at the end of December.
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The Chicago Tribune looks at the effect of technology on writing: "Literature, like all genres, is being reimagined and remade by the constantly unfolding extravagance of technological advances. The question of who's in charge--the producer or the consumer--is increasingly relevant to the literary world. The idea of the book as an inert entity is gradually giving way to the idea of the book as a fluid, formless repository for an ever-changing variety of words and ideas by a constantly modified cast of writers."
And more: "Changing ways of accessing literature, however, could end up changing the way literature is produced. If customers increasingly nab their reading material by the phrase or by the page--rather than by the book--surely writers will eventually get the hint and begin to create works that capitalize on the new reality. Thus literature itself will undergo a dramatic retooling."
---
Founded in 1896, Conkey's Book Store in Appleton, Wis., one of the oldest bookstores in the country, is the subject of an Appleton Post Crescent profile. Conkey's has been owned since 1979 by John and JoAnn Zimmerman and has 7,000 square feet, 150,000 titles and 60 employees. "It's foolish for us to try and compete with deep discounters on price, but they have to cut way back on service," longtime employee Joe Goodfellow told the paper. "It's a balance."
---
The $317 million modernization of some 63 branches of the Los Angeles public library system has helped usage grow by 70% in the past decade and helped make the libraries community centers, the Los Angeles Times reported. The libraries have encouraged "ties between immigrants and their new city as well as helping to bridge divisions of class and race."
---
The Snohomish Herald chronicles the sale and move of Uppercase Books and Collectables, a used, rare and out-of-print store in Snohomish, Wash. The larger space offered more room for a café with tables and meeting rooms for groups, clubs and art shows.
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The Gwinnett Daily Post in Gwinnett County, Ga., praises Asheville, N.C., "a breathtaking community filled with artists' studios, restaurants, bistros, shops, nightclubs and, of course, eclectic bookshops like Malaprop's. . . . Nowhere in the Southeast can you find this much class, style and culture. "
In a note on the store's Web site, employees called her "a vibrant force in our community, a loving boss and an incredible friend. . . . The next time you have a drink, raise your glass in a toast to Debi. She would have loved it!"
The staff said that "in her memory, we plan on continuing Debi's legacy and vision of the bookstore for our community to the best of our ability."
---
While yesterday has become such a big day for online sales that it's being called "Cyber Monday," one major online book "marketplace" had a sales gain on Sunday that may be a sign of a shift in online buying patterns. Abebooks.com said sales on Sunday were up 30% compared to the same Sunday a year ago. Weekends are traditionally the slowest days of the week for Abebooks, but an increasing number of people are making purchases at home, too, the company added.
Topselling titles at Abebooks include A Million Little Pieces by James Frey, Harry Potter titles (because of the movie) and C.S. Lewis titles as the crescendo of publicity rises in advance of the opening of The Chronicles of Narnia.
For its part, Alibris told the Wall Street Journal that its sales for the weekend were up 60%.
Reports from online non-book retailers were also positive, according to the Journal; all retailers quoted had at least double-digit increases. In addition, ComScore Networks estimated that Black Friday online sales were up 22% over last year.
---
The Sarasota Herald Tribune reports that Caren and Dick Lobo are selling Sarasota Books & News again--this time to people with spotless records, Andrew and Meghan Foley, who are brother and sister. The Lobos had come close to selling the store to Thomas Coelho and a partner, but then found out Coelho had a long criminal record and was wanted in California (Shelf Awareness, October 24 and November 1).
The Foleys have deep roots in Sarasota. At one point, their late father owned the building in which the bookstore is located. The pair said they plan to continue running the store in the way it has been run.
---
Happy New Year. Barnes & Noble is paying a dividend of 15 cents a share at the end of December.
---
The Chicago Tribune looks at the effect of technology on writing: "Literature, like all genres, is being reimagined and remade by the constantly unfolding extravagance of technological advances. The question of who's in charge--the producer or the consumer--is increasingly relevant to the literary world. The idea of the book as an inert entity is gradually giving way to the idea of the book as a fluid, formless repository for an ever-changing variety of words and ideas by a constantly modified cast of writers."
And more: "Changing ways of accessing literature, however, could end up changing the way literature is produced. If customers increasingly nab their reading material by the phrase or by the page--rather than by the book--surely writers will eventually get the hint and begin to create works that capitalize on the new reality. Thus literature itself will undergo a dramatic retooling."
---
Founded in 1896, Conkey's Book Store in Appleton, Wis., one of the oldest bookstores in the country, is the subject of an Appleton Post Crescent profile. Conkey's has been owned since 1979 by John and JoAnn Zimmerman and has 7,000 square feet, 150,000 titles and 60 employees. "It's foolish for us to try and compete with deep discounters on price, but they have to cut way back on service," longtime employee Joe Goodfellow told the paper. "It's a balance."
---
The $317 million modernization of some 63 branches of the Los Angeles public library system has helped usage grow by 70% in the past decade and helped make the libraries community centers, the Los Angeles Times reported. The libraries have encouraged "ties between immigrants and their new city as well as helping to bridge divisions of class and race."
---
The Snohomish Herald chronicles the sale and move of Uppercase Books and Collectables, a used, rare and out-of-print store in Snohomish, Wash. The larger space offered more room for a café with tables and meeting rooms for groups, clubs and art shows.
---
The Gwinnett Daily Post in Gwinnett County, Ga., praises Asheville, N.C., "a breathtaking community filled with artists' studios, restaurants, bistros, shops, nightclubs and, of course, eclectic bookshops like Malaprop's. . . . Nowhere in the Southeast can you find this much class, style and culture. "