Bookselling

The American Booksellers Association (ABA) has revealed the winners of the 2012 Indies Choice Book Awards and the E.B. White Read-Aloud Awards, books that show “the spirit of independent bookstores.” Below, we’ve linked to free samples of all the winners.

In an odd turn of events, brother and sister authors Maile Meloy and Colin Meloy tied for the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award this year.

ABA CEO Oren Teicher had this statement: “After a month of voting by the owners and staff at independent bookstores across the country, we have an outstanding list of winners that reflects the types of books independent bookstores champion best … We look forward to saluting the winners and honor recipients at the Celebration of Bookselling Author Awards Luncheon on June 5 at BEA.”

Read more

Representatives from the American Booksellers Association (ABA) visited the Department of Justice (DOJ) to defend the agency model. The government agency is investigating Apple and five major publishers  for breaking antitrust laws as they set eBook prices.

At the March meeting, association CEO Oren Teicher, president Becky Anderson, vice president Steve Bercu and association general counsel Deanne Ottaviano urged the DOJ to keep the agency model in place after an investigation into the eBook pricing model.

Teicher explained what happened in the meeting in a letter to ABA members yesterday. Below, we’ve included a long excerpt from the letter.

Read more

Graffiti and street artist Toofly painted the Strand Bookstore in New York City last week. Above, we’ve embedded a snapshot of the mural. More photographs follow below…

The street art project promoted the release of XCIA’s Street Art Project: The First Four Decades, a collection of photographs taken by former CIA officer turned photographer Hank O’Neal. The book came out last week, and the publisher Siman Media Works will release an app version in April.

Check it out: “The Strand Bookstore, New York City’s legendary home of 18 miles of new, used, and rare books, will celebrate the publication of XCIA’s Street Art Project: The First Four Decades by Hank O’Neal (aka XCIA) by having street artist Toofly–paint in hand and feet on ladder–create street art on the 12th Street side of the store on walls that have long been blank.”

Read more

According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP) net sales revenue report for January, the children’s and young adult categories saw massive growth in January.

The categories saw a nearly 69 percent increase in hardcover sales and almost 62 percent increase in paperback sales compared to the same period last year. Overall trade sales jumped by 27 percent, up from $396 million in January 2011 to $503.5 million this January.

Check it out: “While Children’s/Young Adult physical format Hardcover and Paperback both saw strong double-digit growth ( and 61.9% respectively), AAP’s first monthly data on Children’s/YA eBooks showed a massive +475.1% increase from 2011 to 2012. Some publishers have attributed this to the availability of more options for devices aimed at those demographics as well as a number of popular new releases.”

Children’s books illustrator Richard Christie hopes to raise $22,750 on Kickstarter to makeover his children’s bookstore, Gas-Art Gifts. The term “gas” is an acronym for “Gregarious Art Statements.” Above, we’ve embedded a video about the project–what do you think?

Christie has illustrated more than 28 children’s books and is a three-time recipient of the Coretta Scott King Honor Award in Illustration. The funds for this Georgia-based establishment would be used to install a new floor, lighting, signs, video monitor, shelving and display racks. In addition, Christie will also put the money towards publicity efforts, re-painting the walls and commissioning a graphic designer.

Here’s more about the project: “The store will feature my published children’s books and sell handmade products at a reasonable price. Additionally the mall’s management is fine with me bringing in creative friends to do weekend long intensive workshops…Workshops teaching book-binding,painting,t-shirt production,silk screening, even computer and cell phone cover design painting will be offered. I will have something to teach any aspiring art student or curious craft enthusiast.”

Read more

In our age of digital books, pundits love to say “bookstores will disappear, just like record stores.” But the truth is, record stores never disappeared!

Despite the digital shift in music, record stores have built a booming new community in Los Angeles. KCRW recently produced that video embedded above about the city’s record store resurgence. Can bookstores maintain the same kind of loyalty?

In an interview, Record Store Days author Gary Calamar explained why record stores have endured: “I am not of the mind that it has all gone to hell now. I mean I use iTunes and Amazon, and I still love going into record stores. I certainly appreciate the convenience of iTunes, and in a way I could be buying more now than I was then. I think it was good then and I think it is good now … All these great albums are coming out on vinyl now.  I will buy vinyl just for the artwork and keep vinyl just for the great artwork.”

Groupon has posted a special box set deal for fans of Stieg Larsson‘s Millennium Trilogy. For $29 plus $5 for shipping, readers can get all three books in hardcover along with the 85-page book, On Stieg Larsson.

More than 1,000 people have already purchased the box set deal. With four books, that’s only $8.50 per book. Groupon readers have five days to take advantage of this deal.

What do you think? Random House released the box set back in November 2010. The publisher sells the set for $99 on its website.

Would you plan a vacation just to visit a beautiful bookstore? Flavorpill has compiled a list of the “The 20 Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World.”

The list includes stores located all over the world, including Holland, Italy, Mexico, China, Japan and Brazil. Which one is your favorite? This GalleyCat contributor prefers Paris’ Shakespeare & Company and Beijing’s The Bookworm.

Here’s more from the article: “With Amazon slowly taking over the publishing world and bookstores closing left and right, things can sometimes seem a little grim for the brick and mortar booksellers of the world. After all, why would anyone leave the comfort of their couch to buy a book when with just a click of a button, they could have it delivered to their door? Well, here’s why: bookstores so beautiful they’re worth getting out of the house (or the country) to visit whether you need a new hardcover or not.”

Deal site Gilt City offered customers a $15 ticket to a book launch party for Cristina Alger‘s debut novel, The Darlings. The deal has completely sold out and now has wait-list.

The event is scheduled for February 23rd. Attendees will spend two hours at the Gilt restaurant inside the Palace Hotel and get a copy of the book. The party includes cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and a book-signing.

Could this strategy work for other authors?

Mary Alice Gorman and Richard Gorman, the current owners of the Mystery Lovers Bookshop, hope to sell the Oakmont, Pennsylvania store after 21 years.

Interested parties should visit this webpage about the store and the potential sale. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the shop has hosted events headlined by bestselling mystery authors including Jo Nesbo, Michael Connelly and Dennis Lehane.

Here’s more from the Gormans’ email announcement: “There are wonderful opportunities for our store that include eBooks, revitalizing the cafe business, expansion of genres, consideration of new sidelines and dozens of others. However, taking advantage of these opportunities requires a new set of younger eyes, hands and backs.”