FOREWORD THIS WEEK
06.04.08
1. SPEAKING OF INDEPENDENTS …
In the wake of BookExpo America’s celebration of independent bookstores, FTW talks to three booksellers who are leading the shop local movement in their communities.
2. FAST FOREWORD
News, awards and announcements from our wire.
3. FOREWORD FOOTNOTES
Titles of note from our review stacks.
1. SPEAKING OF INDEPENDENTS …
Independent bookselling was buzzing at BookExpo America last weekend with the American Booksellers Association announcement of the launch of IndieBound.
The new initiative replacing BookSense aims to help ABA member bookstores connect with their customers in ways that the old program didn’t. Like BookSense, IndieBound will send out white boxes and red boxes, publish bestseller lists (Indie Bestseller List) and picks lists (Indie Next List), and support e-commerce for independently owned stores. Unlike BookSense, however, IndieBound will focus not only on bookstores, but on all locally owned businesses, and will market shopping bags, t-shirts, and posters.
“The times, they are a-changing,” ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz said in a speech, “There’s something in the air… The big store on the highway doesn’t do it anymore.”
“Shop Local” is already a familiar mantra across the country as Starbucks and Wal-Mart are closing a handful of locations, and “green” citizens are choosing to shop locally in order to use fewer natural resources. Major cities, including Boulder, Austin, Portland, and Albuquerque, have created local business alliances to encourage residents to patronize locally owned shops. Many of these alliances were founded by independent booksellers who have been at the forefront of the Shop Local movement for years. FTW talked to three booksellers who are members or founders of independent business alliances in their communities to find out what they do to promote local buying.
“Booksellers were slightly ahead of the curve because they were threatened very early by the chain stores,” said Steve Bercu, co-owner of Bookpeople in Austin, Texas, and founder of the Austin Independent Business Alliance. “It was easy for them to recognize and understand it.”
When corporately owned pharmacies, coffee shops, toy stores, and hardware stores began springing up, other local businesses took notice as well. The alliances that were formed publish directories, sponsor events, hang fliers, and promote member businesses in other creative ways. Today, well-publicized studies conducted by these alliances and national organizations, including ABA and the American Independent Business Alliance, show that spending money at independent businesses keeps more money in local communities.
Bercu told FTW about a study conducted several years ago on the last Saturday in November. Austin residents spent $44 million that day. If that money was spent entirely in national chain stores, Austin kept only $5.85 million. If that $44 million was spent in independent businesses, the community would keep $20.25 million. That $14 million difference would have resulted from a “small change in behavior,” Bercu said.
Sheri Toomey, events coordinator at Village Books in Bellingham, Washington, said her community is concerned, not only with local business issues, but with environmental issues as well.
“One of our local initiatives is Bellingham’s Smart Trips program,” she said. “Once you make ten smart trips by bike, bus, or walking, you receive a card that entitles you to discounts at local merchants. Village Books participates in this program by offering a ten percent discount on your purchase.”
Bellingham businesses also hang posters in their windows promoting member stores reminding shoppers to “Think Local First,” and grocery stores post placards about where their produce is grown.
“I think that this community is moving beyond the concept of shopping local and looking at everything we do that impacts the world,” she said. “[Owners] Chuck and Dee Robinson have created a bookstore that is a cornerstone in the community and I believe that good ideas are catching here… I wish there were more communities like this in the world, but especially in this country. We’re the ones who really need to consider the impact our lives make on others.”
Bercu began the Austin Independent Business Alliance by working with a few local business owners; it now has 350 members and a full-time executive director.
Bercu said AIBA was one of the first to conduct an economic impact analysis.
“It always seemed like it was better to shop locally,” he said, “because of the diversity and uniqueness. It is nicer to live somewhere that’s different. Everybody likes to live someplace that is special.”
Now their studies have proven that it is three and a half times better for the community to shop locally. The economic impact is that much greater.
Bercu believes, like ABA COO Oren Teicher, that independent bookselling is at a “tipping point.” He said that information about the economic benefits of local buying has been available for six or seven years, but now shoppers are looking for a more personal experience, which local business can provide in ways that chain stores can’t.
“It may not be directly related, but the energy, sustainability, and green movements have also helped,” he said. “It’s all trending in the same direction. It is favorable to locally owned businesses.”
The Boulder Independent Business Alliance was the first independent business alliance in the country, said Mandy King, marketing and promotions manager at the Boulder Book Store. BIBA was established in 1997 by the Boulder Book Store and three other local businesses, which are still open today.
“Bookstores are community centers so I think it’s a natural fit that booksellers are involved with the community,” King said. “Our bookmarks, bags, totes, event flyers, newspaper ads, and even receipt tape brand our store as a locally owned, independent business… Basically, for every transaction and interaction that takes place, we let our customers know that they are shopping local and we appreciate it.”
King said the people of Boulder, like residents of other independently minded communities, have always made local shopping a priority. She also believes that independent bookstores can learn from chain stores. Training and online marketing are some of the things that chain stores do well, she says.
Other ways that bookstores promote local shopping include coupons and window displays that highlight books like Big Box Swindle and The Small-Mart Revolution, along with t-shirts and tote bags with store logos. Austin also claims the first week of July as Independents Week and encourages locals to “Celebrate Your Independents.”
With the creativity coming from locally owned businesses, Domnitz is undoubtedly right to say that independents are “bound by knowledge, passion, and education.” They are “bound to succeed.”
by Whitney Hallberg, Managing Editor
This week at Publishing Insider, Derek Armstrong says authors and publishers need to lead the crowd, not follow it.
At Editor’s Notes, Editor in Chief Heather Shaw Heather Shaw reviews Seeing Beyond Sight and Birds: The Art of Ornithology.
At Publishing Matters, Eugene Schwartz presents highlights from the IDPF's recent conference.
At Shelf Space, Jackie Parker explores trends in Young Adult literature by finding common themes in this year's Cybil entries.
Visit www.forewordmagazine.com for publishing news, book reviews, and the ForeWord Book Club.
2. FAST FOREWORD
San Francisco Dispenses Books to Public Transit Passengers
San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit system will unveil its first Library-a-Go-Go machine tomorrow at the Pittsburg/Bay Point BART station. The book-dispensing machine holds about 400 popular books, which will be available for free to holders of library cards from the Contra Costa County Library. BART riders will be able to check out three books at a time and return them to the Library-a-Go-Go machine.
Other machines will be installed at the BART station in Pleasant Hill, a shopping center in Discovery Bay, and a third location still to be determined.
“Library-a-Go-Go offers passengers a library experience that is fast, available at convenient hours, easy to use and customer focused,” said BART District 2 Director Joel Keller in a statement.
Libraries Make ‘Friends’ Online
The Hartford Courant explores the ways that libraries are using MySpace and Facebook to connect with patrons. “Technology is giving new meaning to ‘friends of the library,’” Jodie Mozdzer writes in the article. She speaks to three librarians about the social networking sites.
NBCC Members and Honorees Recommend Indie Titles
At Critical Mass, the blog of the National Book Critics Circle, critics and authors recommend books that they nominated for the NBCC’s Spring 2008 NBCC Good Reads List. While the final list contains only a handful of books from indie publishers, Scott McLemee reports that he recommended The Craftsman by Richard Sennett (Yale University Press), Steven G. Kellman recommends The Waitress Was New by Dominique Fabre, translated from the French by Jordan Stump (Archipelago Books), and Diane Ackerman recommends The Shadow Factory, by Paul West (Lumen Books).
From staff reports. Share your news and information with Whitney Hallberg, Managing Editor.
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3. FOREWORD FOOTNOTES
Biography & Autobiography. FREEDOM’S PROPHET: BISHOP RICHARD ALLEN, THE AME CHURCH, AND THE BLACK FOUNDING FATHERS by Richard S. Newman (New York University Press, 359 pages, hardcover, $34.95, 978-0-8147-5826-7): associate professor of history and author of The Transformation of American Abolitionism presents the life (1760-1831) of one of America’s leading black activists before the Civil War; references include Allen’s early years as a slave, his help in forming the African Methodist Church, and writer James Baldwin calling Allen “one of the great ‘poets’ of black inspiration.”
Business. THE DESIGNER’S GUIDE TO MARKETING AND PRICING: HOW TO WIN CLIENTS AND WHAT TO CHARGE THEM by Ilise Benun and Peleg Top (How Books, 275 pages, softcover, $19.99, 978-1-60061-008-0) Graphic Artists Guild speaker and design entrepreneur answer questions on how to become and stay profitable; subjects include, naming the business, introducing services to a new market, the importance of an hourly rate, and winning taglines--essence “in a nutshell.”
Games. VIDEO GAMES & YOUR KIDS: HOW PARENTS STAY IN CONTROL by Hilarie Cash and Kim McDaniel (Issues Press, 191 pages, softcover, $18.00, 978-1-930461-05-5): computer addiction specialist and internet gaming addiction counselor explain gaming addiction and its affects; discussions include setting limits, effects on the body as well as the brain, and the formal intervention option involving a trained therapist whose goal is to break the addict’s denial system.
Health & Fitness. WOMEN, WORK, AND AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE: KEEP WORKING GIRLFRIEND by Rosalind Joffe and Joan Friedlander (Demos Health, 200 pages, softcover, $18.95, 978-1-932603-68-2): MS expert and Crohn’s disease sufferer present a book of inspiration and wisdom for women that live and work with chronic disease; chapters include “Challenges of the Workplace,” “You’re Fired—By Your Body or Your Boss,” and “Developing Your Warrior Spirit,” which discusses hope and resilience.
History. CANNIBALISM, HEADHUNTING AND HUMAN SACRIFICE IN NORTH AMERICA: A HISTORY FORGOTTEN by George Franklin Feldman (Alan C. Hood, b/w illustrations, 272 pages, softcover, $20.00, 978-0-911469-33-2): ancient North America history enthusiast provides a close look at Native American practices toward their enemies that preceded the European exploration and colonization of North America; notes include the self-sacrifices of the Natchez burial ceremony, headhunting of the Basketmakers in Utah, and the Iroquois who came to dine with the Chippewa only to have the “tables turned on them.”
History. TRUMAN AND MACARTHUR: POLICY POLITICS AND THE HUNGER FOR HONOR AND RENOWN by Michael D. Pearlman (Indiana University Press, 14 b/w photographs, 2 maps, hardcover, $29.95, 978-0-253-35066-4): professor of history at US Army Command and General Staff College provides a comprehensive account of the public confrontation between a sitting president and a well-known general concerning the military’s role in foreign policy; discussions include the wars against North Korea and China, and the firing of MacArthur.
Juvenile Nonfiction. HORSE: THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE FOR YOUNG EQUESTRIANS by Libby Hamilton, illustrators Sophie Allsopp, John Butler, Adam Stower, and Mik Martin (Candlewick Press, color, 10 x 10, fold-outs, 24 pages, hardcover, $15.99, 978-0-7636-3547-3): stable hands Rosie and Phillip present tips, facts, and horse sense; information, tips, and features include pony breeds such as Welsh Mountain Pony; tips, for example, “don’t groom away the oil and dirt on a field-kept horse’s coat -- it helps keep him warm and dry!”, and a three dimensional saddle for easy part-distinguishing.
Juvenile Nonfiction. SPEED TOYS FOR BOYS: THE RACER by Armand J. LaBerge (Linden Publishing, diagrams, 7 x 19, pages 96, softcover, $12.95, 978-1-933502-18-2): re-issue of Speed Toys for Boys (and for Girls Too) (c 1928) that instructs in the building of more than fifty classic woodworking projects; includes plans and materials for bobsleds, scootums, and doll coaches, which provides baby-doll rides to stores or the ice cream parlor.
Reference. MLA STYLE MANUAL AND GUIDE TO SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING (Modern Language Association of America, 340 pages, hardcover, $32.50, 978-0-87352-297-7): third edition guide for graduate students, scholars, and teachers in the humanities; subjects and mentions include placing a manuscript with a journal, physical characteristics of the printed manuscript, e.g., tables, abbreviations for titles of works such as 1H4 for King Henry, Part 1, and Russian names where scholars unfamiliar must balance accuracy with clarity, e.g., the prename, patronymic and surname of Natalia Nikolaevna Pushkina.
True Crime. A MIND FOR MURDER: THE REAL-LIFE FILES OF A PSYCHIC INVESTIGATOR by Noreen Renier (Hampton Roads, 272 pages, softcover, $16.95, 978-1-57174-573-6): author has appeared on Good Morning America and lectured at the FBI Academy at Quantico; characters and victims include the stocking-masked rapist, the Zodiac killer, and the double murder victims Jake and Dora Cohn in which the author ran her hand over Dora’s bloody glasses for clues.
by Alex Moore, Book Review Editor