Congratulations to Joe Murphy, head buyer for 11 years at Olsson's,
with five (and soon six) stores in and around Washington, D.C., who is
moving to Southern California to become a sales rep for W.W. Norton,
effective with the new year. In a note in the Olsson's newsletter,
Murphy said that January would have marked his 17th anniversary. "I've
spent my entire adult life at Olsson's, and I haven't regretted a
single moment of it." Amazingly Murphy has never been to California.
Alexis Akre, the buyer at Olsson's Courthouse/Arlington store, whom
Murphy described as "very capable, hyper-intelligent," will succeed him.
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The first annual Lesbian Book Festival, sponsored by Bold Strokes Books, a publisher of lesbian fiction, and Casitas Laquita Resort, will take place in Palm Springs, Calif., February 14-17, the Desert Sun
reported. The Peppertree Bookstore, which has a store in Palm Springs and will soon open another in La Quinta, is one of several companies that
will host events during the fair. For more information, call the Resort
at 760-416-9999, ext. 37.
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ISBN-13 countdown. In three weeks, the International Standard
Book Number becomes a 13-digit number. For more information about the
change, go to the Book Industry Study Group's Web site.
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Gary Luke, editorial director of Sasquatch Books
for 12 years, has been named president and publisher. He replaces
founding president and publisher Chad Haight. The company called Luke
"the editorial visionary of Sasquatch," among whose titles are Book Lust by Nancy Pearl.
Sarah Hanson has been named v-p, sales and marketing, at Sasquatch
Books. She has worked at the publisher 10 years, most recently as
director of sales and marketing.
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Borders has raised its
next quarterly dividend by a penny--or 10%--to 11 cents a share. The
fattened dividend will be paid February 1 to shareholders of record as
of January 3.