Canada’s dominant book retailer Indigo has informed publishers of new recyled paper guidelines that “will require publishers to use an average of 20% post-consumer recycled paper for uncoated books and 10% for coated books, starting this fall. Those levels will then climb to 50% (for coated and uncoated books) after five years. Indigo has also set benchmarks for magazine vendors, and has vowed to reduce its own internal paper usage by 25%,” Quill & Quire reports. A consulting company Indigo worked with indicates that “publishers will not be punished for failing to meet the new benchmarks” but those who do […]
Indie Community
A group of New York City-booksellers has officially announced the formation of the Independent Booksellers of New York City. “Member stores must primarily sell books, have a storefront that is open to the public, and be located within one of the five boroughs.” They will promote NYC stores to the public and serve as a professional support group and advocate to publishers and lawmakers on behalf of bookseller concerns.http://ibnyc.org/ Separately, the ABA has launched a web site to organize an online community around independent community-based retailers of all kinds of merchandise, including books, around the country.IndieBoundCommunity.org
Oprah Book Club #62
Penguin’s had a long ride with Eckhart Tolle; now Oprah is finally ready to select another title for her Book Club, to be announced on September 19. The lucky publisher is HarperCollins, and for now, contrary to recent custom, both Amazon and BN.com are showing the new selection as a $25.95 hardcover. One other potentially meaningless clue: the collaborative filtering on Amazon tells me that customers who bought items like this also bought….almost all thrillers (Kathy Reichs; Jeffery Deaver; Tess Gerritsen; Nelson Demille; Robert Crais; James Patterson, etc…–plus an add assortment of Little Golden Books.)Amazon page
Sony UK Stats
The UK launch of the Sony Reader has taken a page from Amazon’s playbook, with excitement over unspecified numbers and demand. Waterstone’s, which has a two-week exclusive on initial sales before the device rolls out among other retailers, has–you guessed it–“sold out” of their initial stock of “the thousands of Readers supplied for launch” (e.g. their initial order.) But there are more on the way: they are “working with Sony to ensure regular deliveries of stock to stores – no one will have to wait very long to get their Reader.” Commercial director Neil Jewsbury tells the Bookseller “we’ve also […]
Film Before Book: An Unusual Take
It’s a long story but here’s the gist: Author Scott Campbell’s book was adapted for film by Oscar-winning German director Caroline Link and debuted at the Toronto Film Festival as “Im Winter ein Jahr” (A Year Ago in Winter)” but the manuscript–finished in 2004–never found a publisher. The Boston Globe says “when the film, which is still seeking American distribution, was over, the audience enthusiastically applauded.” Campbell “wrote it after a friend of his, a painter, told him about his experience doing a portrait for a family whose son had died suddenly. They wanted him to put the surviving daughter […]
Roth TV
Philip Roth rarely appears before cameras or in stores to promote his work but on Tuesday when INDIGNATION is published, “fifty bookstores will show a live, closed-circuit interview between Roth and novelist and essayist Benjamin Taylor. Some are using larger venues, including the Chicago Public Library and Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA,” USA Today report. Houghton has a pdf of stores posted here.