CNN Discusses the Kindle's Progress

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/12/03/kindle.electronic.reader

21st Annual Indie & Small Press Fair‏ (NYC)

Event: 21st Annual Indie & Small Press Fair
Time: December 6, 2008 10:00AM
Location: New York Center for Independent Publishing, 20 West 44th street, between 5th and 6th Avenues, New York, New York 10036

Check out www.nycip.org/bookfair/ for a list of events and exhibitors.

Photos from the Spring 09 Sales Conference (thanks, Shana!)

Studs Terkel Passes Away

An iconic figure to writers, journalists, and historians, Studs Terkel has died at 96.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/10/31/studs.terkel.obit/index.html

(On a personal note, meeting him at BEA 2001 remains a BEA highlight for me - Davida)

Judging a Book By Its Cover (fun time waster)

http://judgeby.com/

Pairing Books with Wine

An article on pairing books with wine:
http://www.examiner.com/x-562-Book-Examiner~y2008m10d24-Pairing-books-with-wine

New England Children's Booksellers Advisory Council Interactive Author Touring Map

This is a very cool tool for any children's authors thinking of touring New England:
http://www.newenglandbooks.org/necbamap5.html

A Taste of the Frankfurt Book Fair

Guerilla Marketing: Soliciting Reviews From Readers

Check out what Tow Press is trying:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2008/sep/11/tow.press.giveaway.kevin.federline

Shipping Rates and Carriers Compared

The Baltimore Sun recently ran an article comparing shipping carriers:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/investing/bal-bz.ml.shipping31aug31,0,7526612.story

Make sure you read the comments as well, they offer even more advice.

Books as Furniture

http://www.dezeen.com/2008/09/05/book-vases-by-laura-cahill/#more-17551

Dave Freeman, author of 100 Things to Do Before You Die, dies at 47

A message from Jed Lyons, President and CEO of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group:

We are deeply saddened by the accidental death of Dave Freeman. Dave was a pleasure to work with, and he will be missed. He was very creative in his advertising and his writing and took the same approach to his free time and travel. Dave inspired those he worked with and those who attended his talks. The book he co-wrote with Neil Teplica, 100 Things to Do before You Die, was groundbreaking and started a new line of travel and adventure books that many publishers adopted. The book was a nice success for Taylor Trade as the content and format connected with a wide variety of readers looking to sate some wanderlust with a vacation trip far off the beaten trail or to simply enjoy an adventure from the safety of their own armchair.

Dave Freeman was an exciting man to be around. He lived his life with great intensity and knew that life itself is precious and time is a valuable thing that you can't bank on for later. A young man of just 47 years old, Dave's untimely death clearly illustrates that you must live each day as if it could be your last. We here at Taylor Trade Publishing, National Book Network, and all of us within the Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group are better for having known him and will take his passing with a look at what we can do special today that we might have thought to put off for another day.

With all of the press Dave Freeman's death is getting, we hope people will see past the irony of this world traveling adventurer's demise from a slip and fall at home to the message that you should live like there may be no tomorrow and enjoy life in the present. We are certain that Dave enjoyed his years to the fullest. We are glad to know that he crammed a lot of living into a too-short life.

Read more about Dave's life and "100 Things" books on the Today Show website

PW Article: Gauging the Value Of Free Freight

NBN's CEO, Jed Lyons, is quoted in a PW article this week looking at the pros and cons of free freight:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6585803.html?industryid=47152

Saving Books from Floodwaters

Volunteers came together to save the books housed at the Univ. of Iowa:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080614/NEWS/806140327/1001/NEWS

Jed Lyons on NPR's Morning Edition

Jed Lyons talks to NPR's Morning Edition on the subject of returns in the book industry.

"Publishers Push for New Rules on Unsold Books"

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91461568

Readers Statistics

Did you now that 49% of book purchasers are swayed by reviews, but 60% are swayed by recommendations from friends or family? Read more of these tidbits as part of a Random House/Zogby Poll:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6565475.html?nid=3329

BEA Day One

BEA Set Up Day

The NBN Team!

Michael Sullivan and Jeff Harris unpacking boxes.

Jason, Keith, Mark, Linda, Liz, and Marie merchandising posters.

Project Leader Ginger Miller

The new NBN sign.

Forbes Article Regarding Amazon

There is an interesting debate about Amazon and publishing in general on the Forbes messageboards:
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/05/16/mitra-amazon-books-tech-enter-cx_sm_0516mitra.html

For the Love of Home Libraries

More people want a home library, than a home gym or theater:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/main.jhtml?xml=/property/2008/04/15/plibrary115.xml

The Love and (possible) Death of the Semicolon

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/04/france.britishidentity

BEA & ALA Reminders

Just a quick reminder that the deadlines for BEA and ALA 2008 are fast approaching. Reserve your place with NBN today!

BEA 2008 (Los Angeles): http://www.nbnbooks.com/BEA/#bookexpo

ALA 2008 (Anaheim): http://www.nbnbooks.com/BEA/#american

Looking for Book Festival in Your Neighborhood?

Check out this list:
http://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/bookfair.html#LISTING%20BY%20STATE

For Fun: Odd Book Titles

Oddest book titles prize shortlist announced:

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/53656-oddest-book-titles-prize-shortlist-announced.html

PMA-U 2008

The 2008 PMA Publishing University will be held in Los Angeles at the Wilshire Grand Hotel just prior to BEA. PMA, the Independent Book Publishers Association, also celebrates their 25th year.

PMA-U is the largest educational event for independent book publishers with more than 600 attending. This year there are 80 class offerings in nine tracks and half are new. They have also developed an Advanced Track Program for previous attendees and experienced publishers. Many NBN staff members will be teaching classes and on panels, including Marianne Bohr, Davida Breier, Jeanne Kramer, Tressa Helvey, Jeff Harris, Les Petriw, and Linda Sinisi.

To view information about the tracks and classes visit these links:

http://www.thepublishinguniversity.com/Tracks/tracks.html.

http://www.thepublishinguniversity.com/Classes/classes.html.

March is Small Press Month

Small Press Month, now in its 12th year, is a nationwide promotion highlighting the valuable work produced by independent publishers...

Copyright Infringement on the Web - Nomad Press's Story

We learned today about a serious copyright infringement incident that happened to one of our publishers, Nomad Press. Someone scanned every page of one of their books and posted it online. Deborah addresses the problem in her blog:

http://independentstitch.typepad.com/the_independent_stitch/2008/02/copyright-infri.html

Shelf Awareness's new drop-in title database

Drop-in titles (also known as crash or add-in titles) continue to grow--and getting the word to booksellers and librarians about these sudden new books or titles with major last-minute changes is ever more problematic. NBN releases new title information to accounts via Nuts and Bolts, but not all territories are covered by this release of information. Markets such as libraries and independent booksellers may not have access to such information, thus causing your momentum to stall in those markets.

In an effort to make it easier and more effective for publishers, retailers and librarians to communicate and receive information about drop-in titles, Shelf Awareness in partnership with Unshelved has launched a service for publishers to get the word out to the 12,000 people in the book trade who subscribe to Shelf Awareness and the 40,000 librarians and others who read Unshelved.

For a fee of $150, announcements about drop-in titles will appear in the Shelf Awareness and Unshelved newsletters--and then reside in the Shelf Awareness drop-in title database web site. The web site is fully searchable and will archive all drop-in listings.

Publishers who want to learn more about the drop-in title database should go to: http://www.shelf-awareness.com/howto.html.

PW's Annual Look at Small Publishers - Last Call for Submissions

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6528090.html?nid=2286&source=title&rid=

"Friday, Feb. 11 is the last day submissions will be accepted for our annual look at fast growing small publishers. To be considered for inclusion in our annual look at fast-growing small publishers, presses with net sales of between $2 million and $10 million should submit net sales for 2005--2007, number of employees in those years as well as the number of new titles released. Sales will be kept confidential. A brief description on the reasons behind the growth should also be included. E-mail responses to Jim Milliot at jmilliot@reedbusiness.com; phone 646-746-6867."

Books 'most popular online buy'

According to a recent BBC article, books are the most popular item sold online http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7213686.stm

ALA Midwinter

NBN Booth at ALA Mid-Winter

Marketing staff Jessica Kennedy, Davida Breier, and author Carmen Ferreiro (Tanglewood)


Title Showcase Display


Northland Display


Totem/Icon Display

Just for Fun: Authors and Their Tattoos

Abebooks has an interesting look at inked authors:

www.abebooks.com/docs/Community/Featured/author-tattoos.shtml

America's Most Literate Cities

Are you curious to see the most bookish cities according to Central CT State University? Go here:

http://www.ccsu.edu/amlc07/Overall_Rankings/Top10.htm

Interestingly, New York, LA, and Chicago did not make the list.