By the end of next year or early 2012, the original Seminary Co-op Bookstore, Chicago, Ill., will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in "a new, dramatically better space" one block east of its current location at 5757 S. University.
In a letter to the bookshop's members, customers and friends, general manager Jack Cella said the Co-op's new space "will comprise the first floor of the building (owned by the University of Chicago) and a portion of the basement. Our new store will allow us to improve what we do now and open possibilities to do new things not possible in our current situation.... The new store will have windows (imagine that!), will be completely accessible, and will have operational temperature and air circulation controls. We may bring a pipe along for the occasional customer who feels nostalgic for a place to bump his or her head."
Cella added that "the cost of the move--necessary rehabilitation of the 5751 S. Woodlawn building, architectural work, build-out in the new space, and the move itself--is being borne by the University of Chicago. Working with the myriad of people at the University involved in this project, from the administration, the faculty, and the staff, has been a genuine pleasure for those of us at the Co-op, and a stimulating, energizing experience. That one of the world's great universities is putting this much effort into finding a new, better home for the Co-op highlights the value the University places on our independent, customer-owned and locally grown bookstore."
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Under a new agreement effective January 1, Ingram Content Group will manage warehousing, fulfillment and print on demand for science, medical and professional publisher Springer in the U.S. Ingram will hold Springer's current inventory and as those copies sell down, the companies will move some to a POD-only basis, when it makes economic sense.
The model is similar to but more comprehensive than one concluded less than a month ago with Macmillan (Shelf Awareness, September 22, 2010). Under that agreement, Ingram is providing POD and fulfillment for Macmillan's "long tail" or slower moving titles and taking over the current printed stock on those titles.
Eric Schmitt, Springer's executive v-p, customer service, fulfillment and logistics, commented: "This agreement allows us to better serve our users and readers by combining physical and digital book distribution, thereby shortening the time to market. Working with Ingram is part of our continued and ambitious move to focusing on what we do best."
Ingram president and CEO Skip Prichard emphasized that the company has "continued to invest in the newest print-on-demand technologies, physical and digital distribution and worldwide market reach, so publishers can focus their attention on content creation, the foundation of their business."
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Apple's iPad may give Amazon an advantage in the e-book wars. According to a report from Cowen and Co. on the digital book market, "not only are sales of the Kindle device expected to grow 140% this year to nearly 5 million units from 2009, but digital book sales via the Kindle store are on track to grow 195% to $701 million in 2010.... Greasing those book sales are Amazon's Kindle app for iPhone and iPad, which are the digital equivalent of little storefronts," the Los Angeles Times wrote. The survey also found that "one in five people who buy digital books from the Kindle store don't own a Kindle device."
Cowen analysts Jim Friedland and Kevin Kopelman observed that the "iPad is not having a negative impact on Kindle device or e-book sales. In fact, we think the adoption of tablets will boost Kindle e-book sales."
The study indicated that this year "Apple will have 5% of the market for digital books, compared with Amazon, which is projected to have 76% of the market, But by 2015, Cowan estimates Amazon will have 51% of the market and Apple with 16%," the Times reported.
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The Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association has opened its search for a new executive director to replace Lisa Knudsen, who is retiring. The notice reads:
"The Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association seeks an energetic, technologically savvy, well-organized and self motivated individual with a passion for bookselling to lead our regional trade association during a period of transition in the organization and the industry. Qualifications should include experience and knowledge of the book industry, including current issues affecting booksellers specifically, and independent business generally. For more details click here. MPIBA asks interested parties to e-mail your application with resume to hr@mountainsplains.org no later than October 22, 2010 and use 'ED Position' in your subject line."
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A tax credit for small businesses that, in effect, helped save the King's English Bookshop, Salt Lake City, Utah (Shelf Awareness, September 20, 2010), has been underreported by the media, according to the Huffington Post, which noted that the bookshop's co-owner, Betsy Burton, "is frustrated. No one seems to know about the tax credit that has helped her, and the media doesn't seem to be covering it much."
Because she has become an outspoken advocate for the tax credit, Burton was invited by the White House recently on one day's notice to meet with Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and accompany President Obama to an event in Virginia.
"Within 24 hours she was in D.C., interviewing with Secretary Sebelius and in the backyard in Virginia with the president," the Huffington Post wrote. "When her turn came to ask a question, she told him about her dilemma and asked him why more people didn't know about the tax credit? Obama turned to the press covering the event and said, 'I hope that all reporters will record what you asked.' (You can watch the C-Span coverage of this event and Betsy's question at minute 32....) Both Obama and Sebelius have been talking about health reform's benefits almost nonstop for months. Secretary Sebelius was as incredulous as Betsy as to why the issues don't seem to stick with the public." A bookseller at heart, Burton also offered President Obama a copy of David Malouf's Ransom.
"I'm not a conspiracy theorist," said Burton. "I don't think the media conspires not to cover this issue. But I just don't understand why we always have to have a tragedy, a disaster, or some other sensational story to get information out to the public. I definitely fault the media for not helping get this story out."
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Barnes & Noble plans will close its University Park Village store in Fort Worth, Tex., in December rather than renew its lease, the Star-Telegram reported.
"Unfortunately, we were unable to reach terms to extend our lease that were acceptable," said David Deason, B&N's v-p of development.
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Is the late Steig Larsson's Millennium Trilogy on its way to becoming the Millennium quintet-minus-one? The New York Times reported that Larsson’s brother, Joakim, told CBS, "I got an e-mail from Stieg 10 days before he died, where he said that book four is nearly finished. To make it more complicated, this book Number 4--that’s book Number 5. Because he thought that was more fun to write."
Knopf's Paul Bogaards "said he believed the unpublished manuscript existed but did not know whether it was intended to be the fourth book or the fifth," the Times wrote, adding that the mystery deepens further with the controversy over who owns the manuscript--Larsson's family or his longtime companion, Eva Gabrielsson, who will not surrender the laptop in her possession that may contain the only copy (Shelf Awareness, August 24, 2010).
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The book that was thrown at President Obama during a campaign rally in Philadelphia Sunday was apparently less an assault with a deadly tome than a poorly conceived marketing ploy. CNN reported that Secret Service spokesperson Ed Donovan said the book-thrower "was an over exuberant person who wrote a book that he wanted the president to read."
Secret Service agents detained and interviewed the proactive author, then released him. "A book isn't considered a dangerous object so we're not going to start prohibiting books or any inanimate objects," Donovan said. "The person threw a book on stage and our agents acted appropriately."
---
Cool idea of the day: the new reading series First Person Singular at Pegasus Books, Oakland, Calif., features local actors and performers reading a narrative, first-person short story in character. The next one, tomorrow night, features actor and artist Michael Horse, who played Deputy Hawk on Twin Peaks, reading from the works of Sherman Alexie. As Pegasus president Amy Thomas said, "We offer a wee pour and a bite and treat our customers to some wonderful stories."
Pegasus is also working on a sequel to its Booksellers Are Superheroes video.
---
An Independent slide show highlighted the 50 best bookshops in the U.K.
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In a letter to the bookshop's members, customers and friends, general manager Jack Cella said the Co-op's new space "will comprise the first floor of the building (owned by the University of Chicago) and a portion of the basement. Our new store will allow us to improve what we do now and open possibilities to do new things not possible in our current situation.... The new store will have windows (imagine that!), will be completely accessible, and will have operational temperature and air circulation controls. We may bring a pipe along for the occasional customer who feels nostalgic for a place to bump his or her head."Cella added that "the cost of the move--necessary rehabilitation of the 5751 S. Woodlawn building, architectural work, build-out in the new space, and the move itself--is being borne by the University of Chicago. Working with the myriad of people at the University involved in this project, from the administration, the faculty, and the staff, has been a genuine pleasure for those of us at the Co-op, and a stimulating, energizing experience. That one of the world's great universities is putting this much effort into finding a new, better home for the Co-op highlights the value the University places on our independent, customer-owned and locally grown bookstore."
---
Under a new agreement effective January 1, Ingram Content Group will manage warehousing, fulfillment and print on demand for science, medical and professional publisher Springer in the U.S. Ingram will hold Springer's current inventory and as those copies sell down, the companies will move some to a POD-only basis, when it makes economic sense.
The model is similar to but more comprehensive than one concluded less than a month ago with Macmillan (Shelf Awareness, September 22, 2010). Under that agreement, Ingram is providing POD and fulfillment for Macmillan's "long tail" or slower moving titles and taking over the current printed stock on those titles.
Eric Schmitt, Springer's executive v-p, customer service, fulfillment and logistics, commented: "This agreement allows us to better serve our users and readers by combining physical and digital book distribution, thereby shortening the time to market. Working with Ingram is part of our continued and ambitious move to focusing on what we do best."
Ingram president and CEO Skip Prichard emphasized that the company has "continued to invest in the newest print-on-demand technologies, physical and digital distribution and worldwide market reach, so publishers can focus their attention on content creation, the foundation of their business."
---
Apple's iPad may give Amazon an advantage in the e-book wars. According to a report from Cowen and Co. on the digital book market, "not only are sales of the Kindle device expected to grow 140% this year to nearly 5 million units from 2009, but digital book sales via the Kindle store are on track to grow 195% to $701 million in 2010.... Greasing those book sales are Amazon's Kindle app for iPhone and iPad, which are the digital equivalent of little storefronts," the Los Angeles Times wrote. The survey also found that "one in five people who buy digital books from the Kindle store don't own a Kindle device."
Cowen analysts Jim Friedland and Kevin Kopelman observed that the "iPad is not having a negative impact on Kindle device or e-book sales. In fact, we think the adoption of tablets will boost Kindle e-book sales."
The study indicated that this year "Apple will have 5% of the market for digital books, compared with Amazon, which is projected to have 76% of the market, But by 2015, Cowan estimates Amazon will have 51% of the market and Apple with 16%," the Times reported.
---
The Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association has opened its search for a new executive director to replace Lisa Knudsen, who is retiring. The notice reads:"The Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association seeks an energetic, technologically savvy, well-organized and self motivated individual with a passion for bookselling to lead our regional trade association during a period of transition in the organization and the industry. Qualifications should include experience and knowledge of the book industry, including current issues affecting booksellers specifically, and independent business generally. For more details click here. MPIBA asks interested parties to e-mail your application with resume to hr@mountainsplains.org no later than October 22, 2010 and use 'ED Position' in your subject line."
---
A tax credit for small businesses that, in effect, helped save the King's English Bookshop, Salt Lake City, Utah (Shelf Awareness, September 20, 2010), has been underreported by the media, according to the Huffington Post, which noted that the bookshop's co-owner, Betsy Burton, "is frustrated. No one seems to know about the tax credit that has helped her, and the media doesn't seem to be covering it much."
Because she has become an outspoken advocate for the tax credit, Burton was invited by the White House recently on one day's notice to meet with Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and accompany President Obama to an event in Virginia.
"Within 24 hours she was in D.C., interviewing with Secretary Sebelius and in the backyard in Virginia with the president," the Huffington Post wrote. "When her turn came to ask a question, she told him about her dilemma and asked him why more people didn't know about the tax credit? Obama turned to the press covering the event and said, 'I hope that all reporters will record what you asked.' (You can watch the C-Span coverage of this event and Betsy's question at minute 32....) Both Obama and Sebelius have been talking about health reform's benefits almost nonstop for months. Secretary Sebelius was as incredulous as Betsy as to why the issues don't seem to stick with the public." A bookseller at heart, Burton also offered President Obama a copy of David Malouf's Ransom.
"I'm not a conspiracy theorist," said Burton. "I don't think the media conspires not to cover this issue. But I just don't understand why we always have to have a tragedy, a disaster, or some other sensational story to get information out to the public. I definitely fault the media for not helping get this story out."
---
Barnes & Noble plans will close its University Park Village store in Fort Worth, Tex., in December rather than renew its lease, the Star-Telegram reported.
"Unfortunately, we were unable to reach terms to extend our lease that were acceptable," said David Deason, B&N's v-p of development.
---
Is the late Steig Larsson's Millennium Trilogy on its way to becoming the Millennium quintet-minus-one? The New York Times reported that Larsson’s brother, Joakim, told CBS, "I got an e-mail from Stieg 10 days before he died, where he said that book four is nearly finished. To make it more complicated, this book Number 4--that’s book Number 5. Because he thought that was more fun to write."Knopf's Paul Bogaards "said he believed the unpublished manuscript existed but did not know whether it was intended to be the fourth book or the fifth," the Times wrote, adding that the mystery deepens further with the controversy over who owns the manuscript--Larsson's family or his longtime companion, Eva Gabrielsson, who will not surrender the laptop in her possession that may contain the only copy (Shelf Awareness, August 24, 2010).
---
The book that was thrown at President Obama during a campaign rally in Philadelphia Sunday was apparently less an assault with a deadly tome than a poorly conceived marketing ploy. CNN reported that Secret Service spokesperson Ed Donovan said the book-thrower "was an over exuberant person who wrote a book that he wanted the president to read."
Secret Service agents detained and interviewed the proactive author, then released him. "A book isn't considered a dangerous object so we're not going to start prohibiting books or any inanimate objects," Donovan said. "The person threw a book on stage and our agents acted appropriately."
---
Cool idea of the day: the new reading series First Person Singular at Pegasus Books, Oakland, Calif., features local actors and performers reading a narrative, first-person short story in character. The next one, tomorrow night, features actor and artist Michael Horse, who played Deputy Hawk on Twin Peaks, reading from the works of Sherman Alexie. As Pegasus president Amy Thomas said, "We offer a wee pour and a bite and treat our customers to some wonderful stories."
Pegasus is also working on a sequel to its Booksellers Are Superheroes video.
---
An Independent slide show highlighted the 50 best bookshops in the U.K.
---
The number one choice in Honolulu magazines "Field Guide: Sandwiches" feature was Covenant Books and Coffee. Manager Dave Yoshimura said, "We use local produce and, in addition to the soup, all of our sandwich spreads are homemade, too."
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On Sunday, 10/10/10, the L.A. Times Jacket Copy blog got a jump on the end-of-year "best-of" lists by showcasing "the 10 Best 'Best of' books of 2010."
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Former President George W. Bush's memoir, Decision Points, will have an initial print run of 1.5 million copies when it is published November 9 by Crown, the Associated Press reported, adding that the publisher will also produce an enhanced e-book edition "featuring video highlights of Bush's presidency, photographs not included in the hardcover book and personal correspondence."
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Book trailer of the day: Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution by Sara Marcus (Harper Perennial).
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Author video of the day: Emma Donoghue reacting to a display at Next Chapter Bookshop, Mequon, Wis., for Room.
The display featured early reviews, announcements of Donoghue's
appearance and a diorama of the room, all surrounded by copies of the
book. Owner Lanora Hurley wrote: "The display was incredibly effective,
and we've sold LOTS. I still have many signed first editions, so here's
hoping she wins the Booker!!"
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Publisher video of the day: Harvard University Press has begun a series of audio slideshows highlighting jacket designs. The first features art director Tim Jones talking about how he created the jacket of Roosevelt's Purge by Susan Dunn. A blog post explains the series.
Greg Kornbluh, the press's web content associate, added: "Besides
being a fun thing to do and a (hopefully) interesting thing for people
to see, we think this can serve as a little rejoinder to the parties out
there who'd have people believe that publishers don't add value."