Steve Fischer, who has worked at bookstores and as a rep for several
decades, has been hired as the new executive director of the New
England Independent Booksellers Association. He replaces Rusty Drugan, who announced in August
that he would be resigning for health reasons.
Fischer began his bookselling career at the Vermont Bookshops in
Middlebury and Waitsfield, where he worked for six years. In 1979, he
became the mid-Atlantic sales rep for Harper & Row, then Harper's
New England rep in 1983. In 1991, he moved into international sales
with a somewhat larger territory--it included the U.K., Australia, New
Zealand and Canada. In 1995, he managed HarperCollins's account with Barnes
& Noble, and in 1998 became sales director of Tuttle Publishing.
Most recently he worked at Bunch of Grapes bookstore on Martha's
Vineyard and at Red Wheel, Weiser/Conari.
In an announcement, NEIBA president Allan Schmid of Books Etc.,
Portland, Me., said that Fischer "brings with him a wealth of knowledge
and experience on both bookselling and publishing sides of the
business. He is very excited about the new strategic plan and about
shepherding it into reality. He is gregarious by nature, creative, and,
above all, a consummate book person."
Fischer will be in the NEIBA
offices in Cambridge, Mass., part time until January 2, when he begins
working full time.