The American Booksellers Association named 22 booksellers who will receive publisher-sponsored scholarships to ABA's 2010 Winter Institute. Bookselling This Week published the complete list of winners.
"We hope all ABA members will join us in thanking these publishers for their continuing support of independent booksellers." said ABA COO Len Vlahos.
Summer Moser of Summer's Stories, Kendalville, Ind., is the recipient of ABA's inaugural Avin Mark Domnitz Scholarship, "awarded to a participant in the 2008 ABACUS Survey in honor of the former ABA CEO's wide-ranging contributions to independent bookselling," BTW wrote.
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The publicity juggernaut for Sarah Palin's memoir, Going Rogue, gathered more momentum after the Associated Press "was able to purchase a copy Thursday" and offered an early peek at the pre-release bestseller.
The New York Times noted that, "Despite her disdain for the media, Mrs. Palin spent part of Thursday on the first part of a media blitz for the book, taping an interview to air Monday on the Oprah Winfrey show. . . . Her book tour will take her to smaller cities across the country, but this week, she is in New York, taping appearances on several television shows, including an interview with Barbara Walters that is to air in several parts over the next week on ABC."
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Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler) is on the move. The author of the Series of Unfortunate Events books is selling the North American rights for a new four-part series to Little, Brown rather than HarperCollins, which had published the earlier works. The New York Times reported "Handler’s longtime editor, Susan Rich, will join Little, Brown as an editor-at-large in the young readers’ group."
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Congratulations on 30 years and counting, coast to coast.
In Washington, Griffin Bay Bookstore, Friday Harbor, will celebrate its 30th anniversary Saturday "with an open house, sale and complimentary treats from Bakery San Juan, Cynthia’s of Course and Caffe Umbria," the San Juan Journal reported, noting that current owner Laura Norris "has operated the landmark bookstore since July 2006 following the death of long-time owner and friend, Susan Eyerly, who, over the course of 25 years, developed a special rapport with myriad readers--not only local but countless from all over the world. Norris maintains this vital connection to book lovers, and adheres to Eyerly’s tradition of stocking the store with all manner of books, paying particular attention to customers’ preferences and tastes, and choosing books she believes will feed their love of the written word."
In Vermont, Rick and Ellen Havlak will host an open house tonight in celebration of their 30th anniversary as owners of the Bennington Bookshop, which was established in 1928. The Banner reported that the Havlaks, who purchased the book department and business name in 1979, "have moved the shop twice and have been located at 467 Main St. since 1995."
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Frank Kramer, owner emeritus of Harvard Book Store and co-chair of Cambridge Local First, was one of eight speakers who addressed the issue of e-fairness "at a public meeting on tax policy held in Cambridge by the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Revenue. The meeting, which was part of the Joint Committee's 'Listening Tour,' was one of several held throughout the commonwealth. The focus was tax policy and working families. Kramer was one of eight speakers during the night," Bookselling This Week reported.
Kramer noted that he "attended because the Massachusetts sales tax just went up by 25%, from 5% to 6.25%, and local merchants have mentioned that this increase is definitely forcing more consumers to the Internet to save the tax. I'm personally outraged that Massachusetts leadership is slashing and cutting programs and payrolls because of the decline in revenues while they are either overlooking or--far worse--deciding to forgo the millions that Internet sellers should be collecting and paying to Massachusetts. And, by doing so, they are giving an unfair competitive advantage to businesses outside of Massachusetts at the expense of locally owned businesses."
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Obituary note: Robert W. Cameron, photographer, founder and publisher of Cameron & Company, died Tuesday. He was 98. Cameron published the popular "Above" series of books featuring aerial photographs of nearly 20 cities, including San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Paris and London.
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John Grisham's Ford County is only the second short story collection ever to enter USA Today's bestseller list at number two. USA Today noted that "short stories can be a tough sell. Stephen King's 1992 Everything's Eventual is the only short-story collection to make its debut at number one on the list."
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In experimental trials, a proposed computerized marking system for U.K. schools expressed displeasure with the written work of some high profile test subjects, including Ernest Hemingway, Winston Churchill, William Golding and Anthony Burgess.
The Times of London wrote that the computer program criticized passages from Lord of the Flies for having "inaccurate and erratic sentence structure" and Clockwork Orange as "incomprehensible."