Friday, March 31, 2006

Barnes & Noble Moves Silverdale Store

Barnes & Noble announced today that they will be moving their Silverdale, WA, location. The new store will be located at 10317 Silverdale Way Northwest and will replace the existing Barnes & Noble at 3108 Northwest Randall Way. The new location opens in November and will stock close to 200,000 book, music, DVD and magazine titles and include a cafe.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Barnes & Noble Adds Northgate Location

Shelf Awareness reported on March 23 that Barnes & Noble will add a new store to the Seattle scene. The company will close the B.Daltons currently operating at the Northgate Mall and open 200,000 square foot bookstore with a café.

The Northgate Barnes & Noble is scheduled to open in the spring of 2007.

Shelf Awareness is a free e-newletter covering topics of interest to booksellers.

Monday, March 27, 2006

Working With Freelance Editors

Richard Hugo House presents "What's In It For You? Working with a Freelance Editor," on Thursday, April 6, from 7-9 p.m. Local editors Barbara Sjoholm, Leslie Miller and Ann Gosche discuss when you should consider, how you can expect to benefit, and what is should cost to work with a professional freelance editor on a manuscript. Admission cost is $5.

Richard Hugo House is located at 1634 11th Ave. This is part of the House's InPrint Series.

Add to ForeWord Book of the Year Awards.

A Hike For Mike was named as a finalist in the travel essay category. It was published by BPNW member Dreams Shared Publications.

Friday, March 24, 2006

Kahle Leads Writing Class

Former PNWA president and current BPNW member Peter Kahle will lead a two-month writing class for novelists. The ten two-hour sessions will feature lectures and writing exercises along with chapter critiques of participants' work. Class will cover material from Vogler's Writer's Journey, John Gardner's Art of Fiction and E. M. Forster's Aspects of a Novel.


Kahle is the author of Naked at the Podium and Tempest: A Prose Narrative. Class will be held on Tuesdays, April 4 - June 6, from 7-9 p.m., at the Greenwood Senior Center, 525 N.85th Street, Seattle, WA.


The cost for the full session is $195. For more information, go to 74th Street.

BPNW Members Recognized in ForeWord Awards

ForeWord Magazine announced finalists this month for its 2005 Book of the Year Award. As always, Book Publishers Northwest members were well represented on this list. Among the titles named were:

The Pen and the Key (Anthologies), 74th Street Productions
Franca’s Story (Memoir), Wimer Publishing
Little Yellow Pear Tomatoes (Children’s Picture Book), Illumination Arts
Adventures of Riley (Environment), Eaglemont Press
Mission to Madagascar, (Environment), Eaglemont Press

A jury of librarians, booksellers and reviewers are selected to judge the categories for entry, and they select winners and finalists based on editorial excellence and professional production as well as the originality of the narrative and the value the book adds to its genre.

If any BPNW member was missed in this announcement, please e-mail bpnwnews@aol.com.

Monday, March 20, 2006

Horowitz Calls PNBA Spring Trade Show
"A Smashing Success"

I sold three books at the PNBA publishers' trade show, and I consider my day there a smashing success.

No, I am not delusional. I also met owners of five bookstores who told me that they would be delighted to host me for an author reading. Another bookstore owner for whose store I have read before invited me back to read. These connections will make for a phenomenal autumn tour and probably many future readings, and book sales, over the years. I am thrilled!

I also had numerous excellent conversations with bookstore owners, authors, and fellow publishers. Some took a Rose Alley Press brochure and promised to consider ordering one or more of our titles through a wholesaler. Others praised the beauty of our books and the eloquence of their poetry. Again, I am thrilled!

Moreover, I promised an author with whom I will read in The Dalles this April that I would help him research a publishing niche in which he maintains special interest. At the trade show I discovered a publisher in Montana that might help him enormously. I can at least offer contact information and a recommendation. I feel triply thrilled!

Last, each sale of a book was accompanied by a thoughtful, provocative conversation. We traded ideas, not simply books and cash.

At this year's Spring PNBA Trade Show, I developed and deepened social connections, initiated relationships with owners of venues previously unknown to me, exchanged provocative ideas, and learned ever more about the changing landscape of Pacific Northwest publishing and bookselling. Yes, that is a success.

David D. Horowitz
President, Rose Alley Press
www.rosealleypress.com

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Spring Cleaning: Is All Your Information Up to Date?

We’re currently spring-cleaning the BPNW database. 2005 members who have not renewed for 2006 will be removed from the on-line directory this month. We will also stop sending out hard copies of the newsletter to nonmembers (other than media).

Is your directory information current? Click on the directory (see right) and then follow the directions. If you cannot open the directory, it may be because your browser blocks “forwarding” (this is a feature of some versions of Internet Explorer). Please e-mail bpnwnews@aol.com and we will send you direct links to the appropriate pages.

PNBA, Friday, March 17, Trade Show Exhibition

As always, Book Publishers Northwest saw the most traffic at the table during the morning. PMA provided us with “March is Small Press Month” posters, which were eagerly snapped up by booksellers (we ran out in the first hour). Special thank you to Lisa at PMA for making this give-away possible.

By having something to give away, we were able to get booksellers to stop and chat for a minute. This gave them an opportunity to look more closely at various books and pick flyers for items that might suit their store.

Two stores mentioned very specific needs. Members should contact them if they have something that suits these bookstores:
Baker Street Books, 32709 Railroad, Black Diamond, WA 98010
This store is a general bookstore, but they particularly want books with a Scottish theme!

Fort Nisqually Museum, 5400 N. Pearl Street #11, Tacoma WA 98407
The Museum is expanding their bookstore and is seeking books about the early history of Washington or the Pacific Northwest. The Fort was built in the 1850s and they are very interested in books about that period.

Several of our members had their own tables or booths at the show. We would be very interested in hearing about their experiences. E-mail comments to bpnwnews@aol.com about what worked and what didn’t work for you at this Trade Show. We’ll be using this information to improve our own presentations.

Special thank you to Christine Quinn, Bob Powers, Lani Jacobsen, and Rosemary Jones, who all volunteered time to run the table.

PNBA, Thursday, March 16, Education Session on “Maximize Your Profits”

We had a terrific session on the Thursday "education" day of the PNBA Spring Trade Show—people liked it so much that they stayed past the end of our allotted hour. The speakers all addressed how publishers and authors can maximize their assets by spinning off additional products/services from their original books to increase revenue.

MaryAnn Kohl of Bright Ring spoke about how she turned her books (on how to create art projects with children) into a calling card for children’s television producers, creating a niche for herself as a content provider for TV, and other ways to turn any type of specialized knowledge into a revenue source for an author.

Linda Carlson of Parenting Press used the example of one book that was eventually published in various formats (hardcover, book club edition, board book) as a way to get the maximum exposure for a backlist title.

Ray Pfortner of Pfortner & Associates spoke about the use of magazine serialization as a way to increase profit on a title. Pfortner works with photographers and spoke primarily about how to sell the photographs into a secondary magazine market, adding that the same techniques could be applied to text or illustrations.

All three emphasized that they were not looking for publicity alone. Instead, they always try to negotiate the best deal possible—the one that pays cash as well as giving the author/book credit in the secondary market. As they suggested, even if cash payment isn’t possible, see if a real “value” can be added to the deal, such as an advertisement in a magazine as well as an article.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

PNBA Trade Show Replaces March Meeting

Book Publishers Northwest’s regular March meeting at the Good Shepherd Center has been replaced by our exhibition at the Pacific Northwest Bookseller Association Spring Trade Show.

We will be exhibiting our members’ books at Table 55 in the Emerald Ballroom at Hilton Conference Center, 17620 Pacific Hwy S, Seatac. The Trade Show is open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on March 17. For more information on PNBA and the 2006 Spring Trade Show, please see www.pnba.org.

NOTE FOR MEMBERS: If you are exhibiting books at the BPNW Table and want to pick them up before the show ends, please come by 4 p.m.

Doyle Wins PMA Scholarship

Margaret Doyle, Port Gamble Publishing, won the affiliate scholarship to the 2006 PMA University in Washington, DC as a representative from BNPW. Besides receiving the scholarship (which pays for all classes that she wants to attend), Doyle will receive a $500 stipend from PMA to help defray the cost of travel and accommodations at the University.

PMA offers one scholarship each year to members of PMA affliates, including BPNW. We congratulate Doyle on receiving this year’s scholarship and look forward to hearing about her adventures in Washington, DC.