The team behind Brooklyn’s Bookcourt bookstore has launched an Indiegogo campaign to buy the Bibliobarn property in New York’s Catskill Mountains and reopen as BookCourt North.

They have created a number of interesting perks for contributors. For $1,255 contribution, you can host an event at the future bookstore. For a $1,555 contribution, you can host an event at BookCourt in Brooklyn. Here’s more about the plans for the bookstore:

The ground floor of the barn will continue, just as it has for 16 years, to operate as a bookshop. We’ll maintain and enhance the store’s charming atmosphere and wisely expand on the book selection. We’ll add a selection of new-books and additional genres and sections. Down the line, we may open a cafe. … We will launch a much desired event series on site. We understand that many in the area have long desired a space dedicated to readings, discussion groups, and other performances. We’re very eager to make this happen, and it’s one of the first things on our list, but we won’t just be doing things inside the barn. The nearly five acres of land that accompanies will allow us opportunities in the years to come to host festivals and large scale events, which will draw people from all over the region to Bibliobarn, Hobart and to the Western Catskills.

Wanelo has grown quite popular among young Internet users lately. Below, we’ve linked to five Wanelo collections to help writers, readers and publishers explore the rapidly growing social network for young shoppers.

Wanelo users browse collections of quirky and stylish things, and they can buy the item in a few short clicks. Authors and publishers do have an opportunity to share books on the new site, and popular books have been shared thousands of times. At the same time, readers can buy lots of literary items in the sprawling store. Check it out:

Every product you see on Wanelo was posted by hand by a member of Wanelo’s growing community, via our desktop browser bookmarklet, Wanelo for iPhone and iPad, or that POST+ link you see at the top of this page. On Wanelo you can: Collect products. Start with what’s Trending today, or follow some stores, people andcollections, then check out your feed. Save products you like. Post products. Anyone can post any product from any online store. Sell products. Store pages are created when members post products from a new store. If products from *your* store have been posted on Wanelo, you can claim it.

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Alexandria, Virginia is the most well-read city in America once again, according to Amazon’s annual ranking that measures ”all book, magazine and newspaper sales in both print and Kindle format” in cities around the country.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn was the most popular novel purchased in that city, followed by the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.

We’ve reprinted the top 20 cities on the list below–the survey counts sales data “on a per capita basis,” only focused on cities with more than 100,000 residents.

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In a letter to the editor at the New York Times, Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary and Garden Arts co-owner Marion Abbott urged self-published authors to “think twice before venturing into a world largely unknown to them.”

While her comments may be discouraging for some self-published authors, our How To Sell Your Self-Published Book in Bookstores post will help you find a place for your indie book. Here’s more from Abbott’s letter:

We see this every day in our independent bookstore: writers dropping off unsolicited work in the hope that we will stock books that have had little or no editing, and few reviews or distribution beyond Amazon (always a nonstarter). With rare exceptions, it is unrealistic to expect busy booksellers, who conduct business with hundreds of established vendors already, to take them on: reading, evaluating and setting up separate vendors for each title.

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Curbside Splendor Publishing and The Chicago Writer’s House have teamed up for a second round of pop-up book fairs this year.

On April 14th, 40 different literary outlets will be selling books in a festive community event. As bookstore struggle to compete in this digital world, pop-up fairs can help authors, publishers and booksellers find new readers. Check it out:

40 of the finest independent publishers, presses, & booksellers from Chicago and elsewhere will be on hand from 1:30 pm until 6:30 pm at Chicago’s finest venue for underground music The Empty Bottle hocking their goods. Quimby’s Bookstore will also stock a table with a selection of books-n-zines penned by Chicagoans. The bar will be open so grab a cocktail and listen to live music all afternoon as you ogle some books and satiate your bibliophiliac needs!

Maine’s Longfellow Books received “serious water damage” during the blizzard last weekend. The bookstore will be closed as they recover from the damage, but c0-owner Chris Bowe said there was one way to help: “Support us by buying books.”

Even though the bookstore is closed, you can still support them by buying eBooks through the store’s partnership with Kobo. The store is one of the many independent bookstores that now sells eBooks through Kobo. Check out our How To Buy eBooks from Your Favorite Indie Bookstore for more details.

The Portland Press Herald had more details: “Maine writers offered help, support and sympathy to the independent bookstore, where as many as half of the 30,000 titles were damaged when this weekend’s blizzard pushed in a second-story window and caused pipes to freeze and burst overhead.” (Via Publishers Weekly)

According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP) StatShot report for September 2012, hardcover sales revenue in the children’s and young adult category rose nearly 24 percent compared to the same period last year–rising to $440 million (AAP chart embedded above).

In contrast, adult fiction and nonfiction hardcover sales declined 1.5 percent in September. Children’s and YA also saw a 177 percent jump in digital sales while the adult category grew 36 percent.

While adult fiction and nonfiction paperback sales increased by nearly 8 percent, mass market paperback sales continued to slide, dropping by more than 16 percent. Below, we’ve embedded a chart below that breaks down adult fiction and nonfiction sales by category as well.

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Jesus Calling by Sarah Young was the bestselling book at Christian retailers last year according to sales statistics from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.

Below, we’ve listed the top ten Christian books in multiple retail channels. You can also check out the list of the 50 bestsellers at Christian retailers.

Check it out: “The ECPA Bestseller Lists are compiled using adult book sales data from retail stores and websites across the U.S. using Pubtrack sales data. ECPA releases and distributes each month’s bestsellers throughout the year. All lists are featured and archived on the consumer site, www.ChristianBookExpo.com, along with industry award winning titles.”

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Want to own a bittersweet piece of bookselling history?

From January 21 until January 31, you can bid on the giant “BORDERS BOOKS & MUSIC” letters that used to adorn the flagship Borders Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan. All funds raised from the auction will go to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation. 

Currently, the letter “B” has earned the most bids on eBay, selling for $152. The letter “K” is still a bargain at $25.

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The American Booksellers Association (ABA) revealed a happy statistic this week: 41 independent bookstores opened their doors in 2012.

Here’s more from the organization: “The [ABA] welcomed 41 indie bookstores that opened in 2012 in 24 states. Among them were five branches of existing businesses and seven selling primarily used books. California is home to six new stores; New York, five; Florida and Texas, three; and Kansas, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina, two.”

As we celebrate this milestone, don’t forget to support your favorite independent booksellers. Read our How To Buy eBooks at Your Local Bookstore post, our Bookstores on Twitter list and our Best Bookstores on Tumblr directory. (Via Publishers Lunch)

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