12 Things that Will Give You Hope
for the Future Of Book Publishing

 

BuzzFeed asked attendees at the annual BookExpo America conference what gives them hope for the future of publishing. Here are their answers.

 

1. "All the amazing, brave young writers publishing their first books!"
2. "So much amazing talent!"
3. "There will always be readers."
4. "New readers are born everyday!!!"
5. "Every time I read a great sentence."
6. "The pervasive hunger for innovation and creation!"
7. "Indie bookstores 8% up."
8. "What gives me hope in publishing is reconciliation and transformation and denouement."
9. "The new voices in middle grade literature."
10. "I hope to still be published in 2115!"
11. "We can't help it: we love stories-we need books."
12. "No matter what format, what genre, what author, books inspire and excite. That will never change!"

-BuzzFeed, June 3, 2015

Explore Booksellers, Aspen, Colo., hosted a celebration Friday, offering "devotees and supporters" of the store a chance to meet new owner Doug Phelps and his team, the Aspen Times reported.

 

The goal is to dramatically increase the number of authors and other speakers
the bookstore hosts this summer. 

 

Included among the bookstore's recently announced goals under its new ownership is "to dramatically increase the number of authors and other speakers it hosts this summer, the first under new ownership," the Times noted. In a recent presentation to the Save Explore Committee, Phelps, the principal in the limited-liability corporation that bought the bookstore for $5 million in January, said programming is the prime focus for the summer, with a goal of three events per week: "That'll be the main change that people see."

 

The Times noted that the nonprofit owner "has done what Phelps outlined in January: It allowed manager John Edwards and his staff to run the operations without major changes. Sometime in the fall, they will assess what changes they want to make to boost revenue and cut expenses.... From the beginning, he said the goal of the purchase was to preserve the bookstore."

 

-Shelf Awareness, June 8, 2015

The Well-Read Feline

 

Curling up with a good book and a cat is a heavenly experience. Libraries and bookstores know that, and having a cat around is not only good for customers relations and advertising, they also keep mice away. And they make the folks who work there happy.  

 

Over the years, we've brought you several lists of bookstores and their resident cats. Here are a baker's dozen more of them for your enjoyment.

 

Moby Dickens has always included
a cat or two on their staff.

 

Moby Dickens Bookshop in Taos, New Mexico has always included a cat or two on their staff. The current residents are Tony and Mabel Dodge Lujan. They were no doubt named after Taos art patron Mabel Dodge Luhan and her fourth husband Tony. Customers love the cats.

 

To read the full May 26, 2015, mental_floss article, please click here.

Congratulations to Danica and Arvin Ramgoolam, owners of Townie Books in Crested Butte, Colorado, who proudly welcomed two new "bookends" -- Anya and Sahira -- on May 19, 2015!

John Mutter and Jenn Risko, the founders of Shelf Awareness, are very pleased to announce that Neil Strandberg, director of technology of the American Booksellers Association and, earlier, longtime bookseller and manager of the Tattered Cover, Denver, Colo., is joining Shelf Awareness as director of technology and operations.

 

As the Shelf begins to celebrate our 10th anniversary, we can't think of a better way to insure our next decade of continued success than by investing in technology and talent.

 

Our industry would be hard pressed to find anyone who has more bookselling and tech experience, and who has accomplished more; he sees innovating for booksellers as a true vocation--and we agree!

 

Neil began his bookselling career as a bookseller at A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books in San Francisco, Calif., then moved to Tattered Cover, where he started in 1989 as a bookseller. After four years he was promoted to floor manager, then store manager, retail manager and, finally, manager of operations, a position he held from 2002 to 2012. In 2012, he joined the ABA as director of technology.

 

He has also participated in numerous book world organizations. Since 2013, he has been a member of the Book Industry Study Group board of directors. Earlier, he was a member of the BookExpo America Advisory Council; the Tattered Cover representative to the Independent Booksellers Consortium; and v-p and board member of the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association. Also, in 2007, he won the MPIBA's Gordon Saull Bookseller of the Year award.

 

... help the people in this business do what they do best: write, publish, promote, curate, and sell books.

 

Neil commented: "My career has really been all about supporting booksellers and their customers. I see joining the Shelf Awareness team as continuing to put books and people together, with an increasing emphasis on how technology can help the people in this business do what they do best: write, publish, promote, curate and sell books."

 

To read the full article in the June 4, 2015, edition of Shelf Awareness, please click here.