September 21, 2006 and St. Petersburg Bookstore. TABLE OF CONTENTS: "The first-ever Brooklyn Book Festival proved that nowhere has as • A Festival Grows in Brooklyn ........................... 1 many talented and diverse literary voices as Brooklyn," said Eric • Portland or Bust: Scholarships A-Plenty for Demby, communications director for Brooklyn Borough President Winter Institute ................................................. 2 Marty Markowitz. "One of the most-heard comments of the day was, 'I can't believe this event didn't already exist -- it's such a • Educational and Collegial Show For NAIBA ..... 3 no-brainer to have a Brooklyn book festival.' So we feel like the • NEIBA Welcomes Booksellers with New fest not only boosted the borough's literary reputation, it also Initiatives and Time-Tested Tools .................... 4 improved visibility of Brooklyn authors and helped further • Energetic MPIBA Trade Show Enlightens and establish Brooklyn as a destination for visitors and entertainment Invigorates ........................................................ 5 unto itself in New York City." • SCBA Trade Show to be a Veritable Feast of In light of the its success, event organizers hope to present another book festival next year, and will be seeking opportunities that make Education and Authors ..................................... 6 an annual event possible and feasible, said Demby. • Frist Seeks Small Business Health Plan Vote The festival featured three outdoor stages as well as "Reading This Month ........................................................ 7 Rooms" inside the historic Borough Hall, with appearances and • Institute for Local Self-Reliance Launches "Big readings by authors Jhumpa Lahiri ( The Namesake , Mariner); Box Tool Kit" ..................................................... 7 Jonathan Lethem ( Motherless Brooklyn , Vintage); Rick Moody ( • BookExpo America Calls for Speakers for Demonology , Little Brown); Edmund White; ( The Flaneur , 2007 ................................................................. 8 Bloomsbury USA); Colson Whitehead ( Apex Hides the Hurt , Doubleday); and Valorie Fisher ( How High Can a Dinosaur • Teen Read Week Urges "Get Active @ Your Count?:... And Other Math Mysteries , Schwartz & Wade); and Library" ............................................................. 8 many more. Programming also included music, a kids' stage, and • BTW News Briefs ............................................. 8 more than 100 exhibitors, including bookstores, publishers, literary • St. Paul Home to Next Week's MBA Fall Trade organizations, and more. Show ................................................................ 8 Crystal Bobb-Semple of Brownstone told BTW , "It was wonderful. • July Bookstore Sales Disappointing ................. 9 We had one of our best book fairs in terms of sales." She added that the bookstore primarily brought Brooklyn titles to stock their booth. "We really tried to focus on items that had some kind of BOOK SENSE THIS WEEK connection to the borough. It was a narrow selection, but people • Creekside Books Fills Bookstore Void in New were excited about it and everything moved." York's Finger Lakes .......................................... 9 Top festival sellers for Brownstone were Hunger (Erica Simone Turnipseed, Amistad), and Brown Girl, Brownstone s (Edwidge Danticat and Paule Marshall, The Feminist Press at CUNY). MARKETPLACE Spoonbill & Sugartown's Quentin Rowan experienced similarly • Classifieds ........................................................ 10 high volume. "I thought the [festival] was great," he said. "It was • Other Advertising .............................................. 10 really crowded.... It was really good sales-wise and really busy. We're located in Williamsburg, so it was good to have a presence at the festival." A Festival Grows in Brooklyn Independent publisher Sasquatch Books reported that it had two of its Brooklyn-based authors operating their booth: F. Bowman September 21, 2006 -- Untitled Document Attracting about 10,000 Hastie III ( Portrait of the Dog as a Young Artist: Art From attendees, 75 vendors, and more than 70 authors, the first Brooklyn Scratch, by the World's Preeminent Canine Painter ); and Gersh Book Festival, held on September 16 at the Brooklyn Borough Hall Kuntzman ( Chrismukkah: The Official Guide to the World's and Plaza, was such a success that plans are already underway to Most-Beloved Holiday ). Said Sasquatch's Courtney Payne, "We make it an annual event. The festival was created to celebrate both thought it was unique to have two authors from Brooklyn [at the the borough's rich literary history and its diversity and abundance booth]. I heard that [the festival] was great -- they were singing its of contemporary writers. The site of Hotel ABA at BookExpo praises." America 2007 1 will be the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, in Brooklyn 2 . Bobb-Semple looks forward to future festivals and was pleased to see her borough get its literary due. "It's nice to see literature at the Participating bookstores included Bank Street Bookstore; Book forefront in Brooklyn," she said. "There are huge numbers of Court; Booksellers; Brownstone Books; Spoonbill & Sugartown; authors residing and from here. It was great to see all of them in © 2006 American Booksellers Association. http://news.bookweb.org/ 1 BOOKSELLING THIS WEEK September 21, 2006 one place. I had one customer ask me what took so long. That was working to identify, and foster the development of, the next a really good question. Everything came together so nicely and generation of booksellers. The group has worked with ABA, the famously, it made you say Brooklyn should have had a book regional trade associations, and publishers to provide scholarships festival long ago." -- Karen Schechner 3 with reporting from David to bookselling events and to organize Emerging Leaders receptions Grogan 4 in different areas of the country. Because ABA believes the mission of the Emerging Leaders is of great value to the wider According to Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz's community of independent bookselling, and the Winter Institute's office, one in seven Americans has family roots in Brooklyn. comprehensive two-day education program has much to offer booksellers at all levels of experience, the association is once again If your family is connected to Brooklyn in some way, Bookselling providing an Emerging Leaders Scholarship to help cover the costs This Week would like to know. We're gathering stories for a feature for one bookseller from an ABA member store who wishes to in an upcoming edition of BTW . Please send an e-mail describing attend the second annual event, to be held on February 1 - 2, 2007, your relationship to Brooklyn to [email protected] 5 . in Portland. Booksellers can apply directly for the scholarship, or storeowners Portland or Bust: Scholarships A-Plenty may nominate their employees. Application is via e-mail to ABA for Winter Institute Education Director Len Vlahos at [email protected] 6 . The e-mail should identify the candidate and the store in which she or September 21, 2006 -- The American Booksellers Association's he works (with contact information). In addition, information Second Annual Winter Institute, to be held in Portland, Oregon, on should be provided about the candidate's role in the store, his or her Thursday and Friday, February 1 and 2, 2007, promises to be a feelings about bookselling, the candidate's potential for a long-term winter wonderland of terrific educational programs, networking, bookselling career, and how she or he might benefit from the and fun for attending booksellers. And for a certain number of Winter Institute. Applicants should put "EL Scholarship" in the booksellers, this year's Winter Institute will be especially rewarding e-mail subject line. as, once again, ABA and its Publisher Partner Sponsors are offering scholarships to the Winter Institute to ABA member booksellers. The Emerging Leaders Group will review the applicants and choose a winner. The deadline for submissions is Friday, October "ABA and its Publisher Partner Sponsors are deeply committed to 19, 2006. The scholarship consists of airfare to Portland from the the goal of bookseller education," said Len Vlahos, director of winner's city of residence, and three nights' hotel accommodations education for ABA. "By helping even a small number of ABA at the DoubleTree Portland, Lloyd Center. Winners are responsible members attend the Winter Institute, we're going a long way to for ground transport and meals; however, most meals are included furthering that goal." in the Winter Institute program. Here's a look at the different scholarships: ABA Scholarships Publisher Scholarships At each of the nine regional shows, ABA member booksellers who Thus far, 11 Book Sense Publisher Partner Sponsors and five stop by the ABA booth and drop off a business card will be eligible Supporting Sponsors have generously offered to provide financial to win prizes. In a random drawing, ABA will award a color inkjet support for the Winter Institute, including sponsoring scholarships printer. The printer winner will then be entered into a grand prize for booksellers. These scholarships will be chosen randomly and drawing with the eight printer winners from the other fall trade awarded to ABA member booksellers that have accounts in good shows. The grand prize winner will be awarded airfare to, and up to standing with the particular publisher. a three-night