A Report on Publishers' Props

Last spring, members of Book Publishers Northwest were asked if they could contribute letterhead and envelopes as props for the movie World's Greatest Dad. Here's a note from Lisa De Alva on this film.

It's been a while since I first contacted you for help with props on "World's Greatest Dad" and I wanted to send along some good news: "World's Greatest Dad" has been accepted to the Sundance Film Festival!

Unfortunately since the movie has been edited in Los Angeles, none of us here have seen a finished cut, so I'm not sure how many of the publishers who so kindly helped us will see their names, logos or stationery used, but I'm hoping for a good showing!

I wish all of you a very Happy New Year and thanks so much again for participating in our movie!

Cheers, Lisa De Alva
Property Mistress, "World's Greatest Dad"

PNBA Preparing Spring Catalog for Booksellers

The Pacific NW Booksellers Association is following their popular Holiday Catalog with a new "Leafing Out" Catalog for regional booksellers to distribute in the Spring.

PNBA Marketing Director Brian Juenemann suggests that publishers consider buying space in the catalgo for books with regional appeal, gifts for moms, grads, dads, inspiration for the garden, or activities to keep the kids busy when school lets out.

"Flip through your catalogs, confer with your rep and pick my brain--if I have your catalog on hand, I have surely flagged my odds-on favorites for success. It all has to be in place by February 11th, when production begins--and, space sold out last year--so don't push your decisions too far into the new year. I'm looking forward to talking a little spring with you," Juenemann wrote in a recent e-mail to publishers.

Junemann's contact information is:

Brian Juenemann
Marketing Director
Pacific NW Booksellers Assoc.
541-683-4363
brian@pnba.org

Borders and Publisher Experiment with "No Returns"

(Reuters) - Borders Group Inc , the second-largest U.S. bookseller, will accept books from publisher HarperStudio on a nonreturnable basis, departing from a decades-old publishing tradition, the Wall Street Journal reported.


Full Article

A Gift from Betsy in Florida

Betsy Wright-Lampe, Association Executive of the Florida Publishers Association, Inc, sent the following list of helpful websites. Enjoy!

Website Analytics and Search Engine Optimization Tools
Alexa: http://www.alexa.com
Google Analytics: http://www.google.com/analytics
Technorati: http://www.technorati.com
Del.icio.us: http://www.del.icio.us.com
IceRocket: http://www.IceRocket.com
Feedster: http://www.feedster.com
Feedburner: http://www.feedburner.com


Social Network Sites
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com
Bebo: http://www.bebo.com (Primarily in UK, Europe, growing in the US)


About Blogs
www.bloggingtips.com
www.bloglines.com
www.dailyblogtips.com
www.startingablog.com
www.blogit.com


Blog Hosting Services
TypePad: http://www.typepad.com
Blogger: http://www.blogger.com
WordPress: http://www.wordpress.com
Blogflux: http://www.blogflux.com
Movabletype: http://www.movabletype.com
LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com
Windows Live Space: http://home.services.spaces.live.com/

Email Services
Vertical Response: http://www.verticalresponse.com
Constant Contact: http://www.constantcontact.com
Topica: http://www.topica.com
GetResponse: http://www.getresponse.com
Aweber: http://aweber.com/?298144


Happy Holidays, cousins!

Best,
Betsy

Betsy Wright-Lampe
Association Executive
Florida Publishers Association, Inc.
P. O. Box 430
Highland City, FL 33846-0430
phone/fax (863) 647-5951
email: FPAbooks@aol.com
website: www.FLbookpub.org

FPA is an affiliate of the Association of American Publishers (www.publishers.org), the Independent Book Publishers Association (www.ibpa-online.org) and the Small Publishers Association of North America (www.SPANnet.org). FPA is a member of the Florida Library Association (www.FLAlib.org) and the Florida Association for Media in Education (www.FloridaMedia.org).

Ingram Publishing Services

The following discussion was posted recently on the affiliates' list of IBPA.

“I have heard great things about Ingram Publishing Services, the distributor arm of Ingram. Not only are they excellent performers, they are financially sound.“

I just spoke to Janet McDonald there yesterday (lucky coincidence, no?). They have had great success with non-fiction that targets a clearly identifiable audience, but they are also interested in fiction and more popular non-fiction. They work with larger publishers, but have some clients that do as little as $100k per year in sales.

They are also actively looking for new clients. Janet herself is the contact person: Janet.McDonald@ingrambook.com.

As far as I can see, the big pro is that it's Ingram. The con is that so few folks know that Ingram has a distribution arm, so you don't get the automatic street cred that you might from IPG, NBN or Consortium, for example.

As for financially sound—all the big companies have, for very sound reasons, been using modern cash management techniques, which require access to very short-term, low-risk loans on a frequent basis. Unfortunately, in the current economic situation, bank lending officers are over-reacting and those taps are sometimes cut off when there's no reason to do so.

That means that any large company can hit a brick wall with very little warning. Be warned, and get your UCC-1s filed on the inventory in other companies' warehouses, and make other similar preparations for unforeseen problems with your large trading partners.

Of course, that's just my opinion, and you should each assess your risks and exposures individually.

Marion Gropen
Gropen Associates, Inc.
By-The-Question Consulting, Tools for Publishers, & Classes
www.GropenAssoc.com
Her blog: www.GropenAssoc.com/blog

BPNW Members Party

The Book Publishers Northwest members party will take place on Dec. 6. Please e-mail host Sheryn Hara for directions: sherynhara at earthlink.net.


Members will have received a longer invitation via e-mail on Dec. 1. If you are a member of Book Publishers Northwest and did not receive your invitation, please e-mail bpnwnews at aol.com.

Oguneye Heard on KUOW

BPNW member Kunle Oguneye recently appeared on KUOW's "Sound Focus" to discuss his first children's book called "Sikulu and Harambe By the Zambezi River."

This first in a series of picture books was adapted from a tales that Oguneye heard growing up in Nigeria.

Listen to an archive edition of this interview at KUOW's website.

Use IBPA Services

BPNW members receive an affiliate discount for Independent Book Publishing Association's membership. The organization offers many services for small publishers including dispute resolution:

"IBPA does have a dispute resolution program. I wish it were better known. We might not be the publishing equivalent of Batman or the Avenger, but we do speak for 4,000 or so independent publishers, and that counts for something." - IBPA board member

Some websites recommended for promoting fiction

Janey Bennett, author of Pale Surface of Things, was BPNW's guest speaker on November 20. Following are some of Janey's suggestions from her talk on promoting fiction:

Awards – Pale Surface has seven of them. It’s one of the miracles of this book’s promotion. We found the competitions mostly through ads on www.shelfawareness.com, which I recommend reading daily. It’s a great source of ideas.

I also received one fellowship and two awards before publication, for the manuscript of Pale Surface, from sites I found in Poets and Writers Magazine. Those start the process of moving the air molecules around your title and name.
http://www.pw.org/content/grants_amp_awards_your_guide_writing_contests


Press Release – When Pale Surface got the seventh award, we sent out a press release on www.PRWeb.com and it’s still (5 months later) drawing hits to our website, www.palesurfaceofthings.com. I would only send a press release when I had news, like seven awards, because puff press releases annoy people. Use press releases wisely.

Websites – My website, www.palesurfaceofthings.com has grown into a collection of information, an interview, a press area, reviews, reader comments, a slide show of my research photos of Crete, a lot of things connected to the book. But for interviews, we found it a good idea to set up a second website at www.janeybennett.com which offers information on my other writing (including a sample), and some mention of my other endeavors and my background. The two sites are linked.

Other internet ideas keep coming to me, and will come to you. Some are great, and sometimes I just roll my eyes and go back to work on the next novel. It’s a balancing act, how much you want to do. This is what I have done. I’m sure I’m forgetting some things, but here we are. The book is alive and kicking, and life is lovely.

New section of articles by BPNW members

Recognizing that Book Publishers Northwest's members have wealth of knowledge to share, we've started a new section of informational articles by our members. Click on the link in the right-hand column to see the latest offering from our members.

HOW TO: Turn A Blog Post Into a Podcast for Free

Another useful article on Mashable about converting blog posts into audio files that can be downloaded through iTunes.


HOW TO: Convert Your Blog Into a Podcast on iTunes for Free

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11 Sites to Make Money Selling Old Gadgets

Mashable is one of your editor's favorite sources of new and wonderful ideas available around the Internet.

If you're thinking of clearing out the office this month, consider how that old equipment might be reused or recycled or just earn you a little extra cash:


11 Sites to Make Money Selling Old Gadgets

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Why You Should Apply for Pub U Scholarship

A Word about IBPA’s Publishing University (Pub-U)

Gail Sexton here, of Raston Publishing. I was the 2008 Book Publishers Northwest recipient of the Independent Book Publishers Association’s Pub-U scholarship. Each year IBPA accepts entries and chooses one winner from each affiliate. The scholarship includes the cost of attending the full conference ($775 for non-members, $675 for members) as well as a badge to attend BEA ($55.) You’d think that would be enough, but the scholarship includes a $500 stipend to be reimbursed after the conference! Niiiiiccce.

Do whatever you have to do to go – it is transformational. It’s the difference between reading about Italy and going to Italy. Reading about Italy is educational, going to Italy changes you. If you’re serious about being a member of the larger publishing community, this is the place to be. If you’ve previously submitted for the scholarship, submit again! This year there were over 100 industry professionals who donated their time to Pub-U to give practical industry advice as well as tons of inspiration. They enjoy getting to know the up and coming as much as we enjoy rubbing shoulders with them!

Remember, Book Expo America (BEA) begins right at the tail end of Pub-U, and in 2009 we’ll all be in New York City! I’ll be going on my own dime in 2009, because it’s that fabulous. Go, go, GO!! Go to Pub-U and BEA. Plan and budget now. Invest in your life, inspire your passion, connect with your publishing community, put your toe in the water – let yourself belong.

Be open. If you don’t go in, you can’t find out.

November 20 Meeting: Promoting Fiction

Janey Bennett shares what works and what doesn’t in promoting fiction. November 20, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside N., Room 221, Seattle, Washington.

Marketing mainstream fiction is not the same as marketing non-fiction. Your book will be tossed into the sharktank with ALL the other mainstream fiction books, and the fight for survival can be fierce.

When BPNW member Janey Bennett’s publisher announced that he was going back to graduate school and that all the marketing of her novel, The Pale Surface of Things, in both Canada and the US would be up to her, she began an education in fiction-marketing from point zero.

Fifteen months later, Bennett is a veteran of a fiction campaign including blogging, voice interviews on internet and cable (i.e., Sirius and Voice of America), book tours, trade shows, ad campaigns, bookclub discussions, and readings in churches and private homes. Pale Surface has received seven book-industry awards, is nearly through its first print run of 4,000, and will have a re-designed cover for its next print run.

Considering publishing fiction or already have novel or two on your list? Come to this meeting to learn more about how to promote your titles.



THE PALE SURFACE OF THINGS
by Janey Bennett
HOPEACE PRESS
ISBN 978-0-9734007-2-4
www.palesurfaceofthings.com

Grand Prize Second Place for All Fiction, Next Generation Indie Book Award
Gold Medal Winner, Multicultural Fiction Next Generation Indie Book Award
Gold Medal Winner, Multicultural Fiction USA BookNews BEST BOOK Award
Gold Medal Winner, Multicultural Fiction Indie Excellence Book Award
Gold Medal Winner, Best Use of Environmental Materials, PubWest Book Design Award
Silver Medal Winner, Multicultural Fiction & Non-Fiction, Nautilus Book Awards
Honorable Mention, General Fiction, Beach Book Festival Awards

Affiliate Scholarships Now Being Accepted

Current members of Book Publishers Northwest are encouraged to apply for the Independent Book Publishers Association scholarship. The application can be found at:
http://www.ibpa-online.org/files/pdf/AffiliateScholarship.pdf

The IBPA Scholarship Program was implemented in 1997 to afford opportunity for individuals from the Affiliates to participate in IBPA’s primary learning session, the Publishing University, and to share what they have learned with other members of their group.

The Affiliate Scholarship is awarded to one representative from each IBPA affiliate allowing free access to IBPA’s Publishing University, which normally occurs the three days prior to BookExpo America in the host city of BEA. IBPA will also provide a $500 stipend to cover partially the cost of travel and/or accommodations for this event.

It's All in the Display: Road Lessons from Basho

Greeting from Sandy, Utah!

I learned a valuable lesson on this tour at a very low "hard-knocks" cost. I spent the day Wednesday doing a string of courtesy calls at small independent NCIBA-member bookstores in northeast California and Reno, Nevada. A couple minutes after driving off from one of my stops, I heard a loud bang as though something heavy had fallen over in my trunk. I pulled over and checked my trunk: and all seemed well. It wasn't until I got to the next store 40 miles away and couldn't find my cardboard sample box that I realized what had happened. I had left it on the roof of the car at the last stop. It stayed there until I was out of town. Once I got up to highway speed, it flew off the car, hitting the trunk on its way to the ground.

Fortunately, there were only six copies total and some bookmarks and business cards left in the box: I was going to have to replenish it anyway. But how to carry books around for my remaining stops?

The only thing to do was dig out a wooden display case that was already set up for a future trade show. It holds five copies each of all eight of my titles and makes a very nice presentation. But I had never taken it in to a shop before. It's a bit weighty and there was no way to protect the books from the weather. At least it was a lovely day.

The response at my remaining four stops was fantastic. I sold ten copies outright at one store, and two others were checking ISBN numbers, saying they would put in an order with Partners West. One was the Barnes & Noble in Reno!

Presentation really is everything, and I will certainly keep doing this on my homeward stops. Who knows, I might start combing my hair too!

David Ash
Publisher, Basho Press

You can follow David's adventures at www.BookTour.com (search for "David Ash)

Book Video: Sikulu and Harambe

Sikulu and Harambe by the Zambezi River

More on Circle of Seven Productions

Sheila Clover English, CEO of Circle of Seven Productions, spoke to a packed meeting on November 11.

For those wanting to find out more about book video promotion, she provides a number of resources at her company's website: www.cosproductions.com.

Or watch this short video:

Book Video: Two Examples from Big River

Honor Due by D. H. Brown




Standing The Watch: The Greatest Gift by R. J. Brown

Members' Book Video: Crypt of the Moaning Diamond

The following book video was created for member Rosemary Jones with the help of a fellow author:




Book Publishers Northwest members are encouraged to share their book videos here.