The U.S. Senate has passed the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 (S.743), approving a bill that would make online sellers with $1 million or more in yearly sales (including booksellers like Amazon) collect state sales tax.

The U.S. House of Representatives must now consider the bill. The bill was introduced by Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Michael Enzi (R-WY) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND). It passed with a 69 to 27 vote. American Booksellers Association CEO Oren Teicher had this official statement:

We are grateful that the U.S. Senate has done the right thing and is standing up for Main Street retailers by passing the Marketplace Fairness Act … This victory is the direct result of the tireless work of thousands of booksellers nationwide, who, year after year, have advocated for sales tax fairness. Recognizing that this fight is far from over, importantly, today we are one very important step closer to leveling the playing field for Main Street retailers.”

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

The American Booksellers Association CEO Oren Teicher criticized Amazon’s price check app in an open letter to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Earlier this week, Amazon unveiled a special discount for customers who use their new price comparison app–a way to scan prices at brick and mortar stores but buy on Amazon.

Here’s more from the open letter (reprinted below): “We could call your $5 bounty to app-users a cheesy marketing move and leave it at that. In fact, it is the latest in a series of steps to expand your market at the expense of cities and towns nationwide, stripping them of their unique character and the financial wherewithal to pay for essential needs like schools, fire and police departments, and libraries.”

Read more

Random House announced yesterday afternoon that they will follow the agency pricing model for digital books–a model that allows publishers to set the price of a book and keep pricing even across booksellers.

The American Booksellers Association immediately issued a statement supporting the move. The new price model for Random House books will also  help 200 ABA booksellers sell Google eBooks through their websites.

ABA CEO Oren Teicher had this statement: “We have believed from the beginning that the agency model is in the best interest of not only the book industry, but the consuming public as well … We appreciate the careful and thoughtful deliberation Random House has brought to this issue, and applaud their decision to adopt agency pricing.”

Farrar, Straus, and Giroux president Jonathan Galassi opened BEA 2010 with a contentious conversation between industry leaders–generating plenty of fireworks, but few conclusions. His publishing CEO panel focused on the themes of Galassi’s controversial NY Times op-ed.

Panelists included: Authors Guild president Scott Turow, Ingram CEO David ‘Skip’ Prichard, ICM executive VP Esther Newberg, Penguin CEO David Shanks, and ABA CEO Oren Teicher.

The panel skimmed over a number of sticky publishing issues, everything from Amazon price scales to enhanced eBooks to piracy. Agent Newberg came out swinging, addressing the fact that she was the only woman on the seven-person panel. “This group is worse than the Supreme Court,” she quipped.

“Digital versions didn’t cause piracy,” Prichard said, reminding the panel that the majority of pirated books are scanned, not eReader editons. “If you don’t have a digital book, you can scan the print version in five minutes.”

Read more