October 02, 2008 Over the course of the meeting, the Board: TABLE OF CONTENTS: • Received a report from ABA President Gayle Shanks of • A Report on ABA's September Board Meeting Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, on her efforts on behalf of the association, including her participation in the .......................................................................... 1 1 • The November Indie Next List & Notables Electronic Catalog Task Force meeting in San Francisco in August and meetings in September at ABA's offices in Preview ............................................................. 2 Tarrytown, New York, to brainstorm plans for the further • ABA Sponsors Emerging Leaders Scholarship development of IndieBound, as well as for discussions with .......................................................................... 4 Above The Treeline 2 founder John Rubin. • The October Indie Next List Notables Fliers & • Received an update from ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz on his Shelf-Talkers .................................................... 4 activities since the last Board meeting, including his • Bookselling in Tough Times: Inventory participation in the Electronic Catalog Task Force meeting and a meeting with leaders of CBA, the Association for Christian Management .................................................... 4 Retail, to discuss issues of mutual concern. Also received status • Banned Books Week: Store Says It With reports on registration for the upcoming Winter Institute and Pictures ............................................................ 5 member participation in the 2008 ABACUS Study. • Around Indie Bookstores .................................. 5 • Heard a report from ABA Chief Marketing Officer Meg Smith • BTW News Briefs ............................................. 6 on the implementation of IndieBound and discussed plans for • International Trade Associations Condemn future development. Recent Attacks on Booksellers & Publishers ... 6 • Received a status report on the migration of ABA's membership • New Owner for Harvard Book Store ................. 7 database to web-based Association Management Software from • Needed Now: December Indie Next List Senior IT Director Jeff Wexler and Database Manager Barry Sobolewski and previewed some of the new package's Nominations ..................................................... 7 self-service application modules, which will allow members to • Olsson's Closes ................................................ 7 update their own records. • MBA Show: A Great Mix of Education, Authors • Traveled to New York City on Tuesday in groups of three, & Events ........................................................... 8 accompanied by an ABA staff member, to meet with publisher • SIBA Show Earns Positive Reviews ................. 8 representatives to discuss the recommendations of ABA's • ABA E-Commerce Solution Extends Beta Test Electronic Catalog Task Force. Participating publishers were Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin .......................................................................... 9 Harcourt, Macmillan, New York University Press, Penguin • Harcourt Introduces a New Generation to Jim Group, Perseus Books Group, Random House, and Simon & Copp's "Uncommonly Clever Tales" ................. 9 Schuster. (Watch for a further report on these meetings in an • Wanted: Creative Events & Marketing Ideas upcoming edition of Bookselling This Week .) for Graphic Novels ............................................ 10 • Received a report from ABA COO Oren Teicher on ABA's • October 31 Deadline for ABA Board of continuing efforts to level the playing field for sales tax on Directors Nominations ...................................... 10 Internet purchases. • Booksellers Challenged to Tell a Friend ........... 11 • Heard updates from ABA Chief Program Officer Len Vlahos on plans for the Fourth Annual Winter Institute 3 to be held in Salt Lake City from Thursday, January 29, through Sunday, February MARKETPLACE 1, 2009, as well as on the status of the migration of ABA's • Classifieds ........................................................ 11 E-Commerce Solution to the open-source platform Drupal. • Other Advertising .............................................. 11 • Met with William King of Merrill Lynch, the association's financial consultant, who provided a report on the performance of ABA's investment portfolio during the current economic downturn. A Report on ABA's September Board • Reviewed the association's 2008 - 2009 operating budget, Meeting presented by CEO Domnitz, which reflected an anticipated October 02, 2008 -- The American Booksellers Association's Board reduction in investment income based on current economic of Directors held its 2008 fall meeting in Tarrytown, New York, conditions. from Monday, September 22, through Wednesday, September 24. In conjunction with the Board meeting, the ABA Audit Committee, © 2008 American Booksellers Association. http://news.bookweb.org/ 1 BOOKSELLING THIS WEEK October 02, 2008 which is charged with oversight and monitoring of ABA's financial In Confessions of an Eco-Sinner , Fred Pearce is determined to find dealings, meet with the association's auditors, Marks Paneth & the truth by following his possessions from the cradle to the grave. Shron LLP, in New York City on Wednesday, September 24. What he learns is sometimes disturbing, occasionally rewarding, and always eye-opening." --Rachel Tavares, Changing Hands The November Indie Next List & Bookstore, Tempe, AZ Notables Preview Conspiracy of Silence by Martha Powers (Oceanview, $24.95, 9781933515182 / 193351518X) October 02, 2008 -- Here's a preview of the November Indie Next "Mystery lovers are in for a treat. Martha Powers' character, Clare List now on its way to ABA member stores in the IndieBound Prentice, a Chicago journalist, begins to unravel secrets of her past movement. ... and discovers that her whole life is a lie. A compelling, I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass fast-paced story set in a small town determined to keep its secrets, (Pantheon, $24.95, 9780375422751 / 0375422757) Conspiracy of Silence is a must-read, not-to-be-missed mystery." "Louisa -- solid, steady, dependable. Clem -- younger, rebellious, --Melissa Wade, Vero Beach Book Center, Vero Beach, FL daring, and the favorite. This is a story, told over 25 years, of two The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens's A sisters -- opposite as night and day, oil and water, yin and yang -- Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday and how they remain connected. In my opinion, this is Julia Glass' Spirits by Les Standiford best book yet!" --Vicki McNeil, Watermark Book Co., Anacortes, (Crown, $19.95, 9780307405784 / 0307405788) WA "Les Standiford gives us the chance to understand Dickens not only The Fire: A Novel by Katherine Neville as an author, but as a person struggling to save his career, who, in (Ballantine, $26, 9780345500670 / 0345500679) the process, reinvigorates the Christmas spirit. Standiford excels at "After reading Katherine Neville's novel The Eight years ago, I had telling the story of historical figures in a way that reads like a high expectations for this sequel. The Fire delivered more than I novel, so we learn almost in spite of ourselves. This is an could have hoped -- history, intrigue, chess moves, fascinating irresistible read for the holiday season!" --Rona Brinlee, The Book characters, and an engrossing plot. A great read that I can't wait to Mark, Atlantic Beach, FL recommend." --Susan Sinclair, Newtown Bookshop, Newtown, PA The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell The Longest Trip Home: A Memoir by John Grogan (Riverhead, $25.95, 9781594489990 / 1594489998) (Morrow, $25.95, 9780061713248 / 0061713244) "As always, Vowell is darkly hilarious and freshly informative. She "John Grogan has another winner in The Longest Trip Home , his pokes fun at the buckle-shoed Puritans who first settled here, but reminiscence of growing up a somewhat reluctant Catholic. It's she also tells a story of how their quirks, foibles, and love of words funny, romantic, and poignant -- an entertaining and worthwhile formed our country's personality. Her distinct and sharply witty read." --Alec Milner, Vintage Books, Vancouver, WA voice makes this book an edifying delight." --Laura DeLaney, The Rediscovered Bookshop, Boise, ID The Memorist by M.J. Rose (Mira, $24.95, 9780778325840 / 0778325849) A Mercy: A Novel by Toni Morrison "M.J. Rose does it again with The Memorist , another breathtaking (Knopf, $23.95, 9780307264237 / 0307264238) thriller. She interweaves a multiplicity of themes involving a quest "With an economy of language that is both piercing and fine, Toni to resolve issues from the past, the music of Beethoven, a secret Morrison is a master in full stride as she takes us on a journey, set society, and the threats of terrorism -- bringing all the plot strands in 1680s America, where survival requires trust and dependence together for an incredible denouement." --Mary Alice Gorman, between people, particularly women, of different race and Mystery Lovers Bookshop, Pittsburgh, PA experience. Raising the question of the price of dominion, A Mercy explores the very art of thwarted mercy itself. This is a brilliant and Songs for the Missing: A Novel by Stewart O'Nan flawless novel." --Sheryl Cotleur, Book Passage, Corte Madera, (Viking, $23.95, 9780670020324 / 067002032X) CA "Popular high school student Kim Larsen disappears from her Midwestern home. Yes,