e-Newsletter July 2, 2015

In This Issue
MPIBA Booksellers Create Fireworks for DESCENT
Off the Beaten Path Mixes Books and Brews
MPIBA Booksellers Remember Avin Domnitz




Laura Ayrey
Executive Director
MPIBA

435.649.6079 office

435.649.6105 fax  

 


Association Information
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ARCs, and publicity  
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Kathy Keel
Project Manager
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Mark Your Calendar!

Fall Discovery Show (Trade Show) 2015
October 8-10, 2015
The Renaissance
Denver Hotel
MPIBA offices will be closed on Friday, July 3, reopening on Monday, July 6. Have a wonderful holiday!

 

MPIBA Booksellers Create Fireworks
for DESCENT   

"God bless the talented, ass-kicking booksellers in the MPIBA region."

 

Hola,

 

We've had two weeks in a row of DESCENT love in the MPIBA region. Cathy Langer (Tattered Cover) and Nicole Magistro (The Bookworm of Edwards) appeared on Colorado Public Radio yesterday sharing their summer picks, including DESCENT.

And then Changing Hands First Draft Book Club (Phoenix, Arizona) kicked-off with tremendous success last week. They had a huge crowd. [The Arizona Republic called the book a "propulsive, gorgeous thriller."]  

 

Algonquin and Tim Johnston very much appreciate all the tremendous support from the MPIBA booksellers. I just wanted to say God bless the talented, ass-kicking booksellers in the MPIBA region.


Best,  

Craig Popelars
Algonquin Books

 

[Author Tim Johnston appeared at the Books & Brews event at MPIBA's 2014 Fall Discovery Show as well.] 

 

Off the Beaten Path Mixes Books and Brews   
This spring and summer, Off the Beaten Path Bookstore in Steamboat Springs, Colo., has been experimenting with a new event series called Books and Brews. Every Wednesday from 6-8 p.m., the store features a selection of craft beers from a local brewery, specials on cafe treats and drinks, book discounts and events, including open mics and poetry slams. The idea behind the series, explained Logan Farmer, Off the Beaten Path's receiver and events coordinator, is to create less of a traditional author event and more of a "literary happy hour," although authors still do sometimes drop by.

 

"We found a need for this in our town,"
said Emily Katzmann [pictured at left], events coordinator and bookseller at Off the Beaten Path. Katzmann and Farmer ran a six-week trial run of Books and Brews that began in March. It proved successful, especially the open mics and poetry slams, and the pair decided to bring it back for the summer. This week saw their fifth event in the summer series--a local author showcase--and presently they're booked through August.

"Every week we have a larger audience,"  

said Farmer. Two weeks ago, Books and Brews drew roughly 30 people, and last week they had to push all of their bookshelves aside to accommodate the crowd. One of their most popular events was a visit by John Vaillant, author of The Jaguar's Children and The Tiger, on May 27.

 

"One of the store's recurring challenges is getting authors to visit consistently."

Off the Beaten Path is a 2,700-square-foot indie bookstore and cafe selling both new and used titles. This year it is celebrating its 25th year in business. Steamboat Springs is an isolated mountain town some three and a half hours from Denver and, Katzmann said, one of the store's recurring challenges is getting authors to visit consistently. "We've tried to overcome that in different, innovative ways," she said.

 

Another challenge is the "boom and bust" cycle in Steamboat Springs tied to the seasons; the store took a hiatus from Books and Brews in the spring, and may take another in the fall, quieter times of the year. But then the program will return. "People want a chance to get on the mic and share. We plan to continue it."  

 

-Alex Mutter in Shelf Awareness, June 22,2015 

 

MPIBA Booksellers Remember Avin Domnitz  
 

Avin Mark Domnitz  

former ABA CEO
and past president
(1994-1996)

 

 

 

Former ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz died on Saturday, June 27. Since then, friends and colleagues have been offering their thoughts on a man who was a passionate advocate for independent booksellers, a good friend, and a loving husband and father.  

 

Oren Teicher, ABA CEO: 

Avin was an extraordinary person who did the thing that all of us hope to accomplish in our lives - make a real and discernible difference for those he left behind.  

 

Bookselling in America is stronger today because of Avin, and in his honor and memory we commit to carry on and keep up the fight.

 

A friend suggested on Facebook that one way all of us could honor Avin would be to go to our favorite indie bookstore and buy a few books in his memory. Lots of us will do just that ...

 

To read the full article in
Bookselling This Week, please click here. 
 

Betsy Burton  

The King's English Bookshop
Salt Lake City, Utah

ABA President
2015 - Present 

"I was wowed time and again by his vision and enthusiasm."

Avin Domnitz was CEO of the American Booksellers Association when I served on the Booksellers Advisory Council, and listening to him at meetings, I was wowed time and again by his vision and his enthusiasm. He not only had one grand idea after another, he had a way of talking about those ideas that made them seem not just brilliant but real, doable. He was also a born teacher. As just one example among many, he not only sold us on the necessity of participating in ABACUS, but worked with us individually (and patiently - he never acted as if we were as stupid as we no doubt seemed to be) as we struggled to fill out the dreaded paperwork. At The King's English, we credit his "2% Solution" with saving our lives back in the late '90s when independent stores found themselves suddenly fighting for survival. After listening to him talk, we'd try mightily to apply his formulas, and when we came up against situations in which we had trouble getting our numbers down he'd work with us in person or on the phone until we figured out solutions to our financial woes. I doubt there's a bookseller who was in the business back then who can't still hear him say, "It's in the payroll."

 

He was also passionate about this industry to which he devoted such a large piece of his life and so much of his genius. 

Avin himself was equally feisty, charismatic, and passionate about books, always on the lookout for the next great piece of history, the next book on baseball, the next good thriller, spreading the word with enthusiasm about the ones he loved - ever a bookseller at heart. He was also passionate about this industry to which he devoted such a large piece of his life and so much of his genius. We owe him more than we can begin to express.

 

To read Betsy's full comments in Bookselling This Week,
please click here. 
 
Gayle Shanks   

Changing Hands
Bookstore
Tempe, Arizona

ABA President  

2008 - 2009

 

 

"He pushed us all to be big in our lives as booksellers."

Avin was a big man in so many ways beyond his physical size. He thought about the big picture, he tried big solutions to hard problems, and pushed us all to be big in our lives as booksellers. In addition, he was creative and passionate about the book world, first as a bookstore owner, then as an ABA Board member, and finally as CEO.

 

We had big arguments, he and I, and we fought passionately for what we thought was the "right" direction for the Board, the organization, and, of course, our booksellers. But the conversations were always to move us forward, to heighten our awareness of pressing issues that were facing booksellers at the turn of the century. I learned a tremendous amount from Avin over the years, and wouldn't have my two successful stores had I not heeded his counsel. He was a brilliant man and loved his work, his family, and the book world. I will miss him terribly.

 

Len Vlahos Trade Show 2006  
Len Vlahos   

Tattered Cover
Book Store   

Denver, Colorado 

 

ABA Chief Operating Officer   

2009 - 2011 

 

 

"Avin was both a mentor and a friend."

Avin gave me maybe the best piece of advice I've ever received: "The perfect is the enemy of the good." It's been a guiding principle in my life ever since. Not that I don't - and not that Avin didn't - strive for perfection, but that getting hung up on minutiae can obscure the big picture and slow down progress. It's one of many pieces of advice that I gathered from him over the years.

 

Avin was both a mentor and a friend, and I'll miss him terribly. I should also note that he is survived by one of the most truly wonderful families I've ever had the pleasure to meet. I've been fortunate to get to know Rita and all four kids... they are a reflection of what a wonderful life Avin lived.