Around Indies

Author Event Lends Itself to Pitchapalooza

To promote Arielle Eckstuck and David Henry Sperry’s new book, The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published, Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville, Illinois, hosted a “Pitchapalooza” event to give locals an opportunity to pitch their book ideas. Nearly 300 attended the event, and 25 were chosen to pitch to the panel consisting of the authors – also known as The Book Doctors – as well as several publishing experts, including Dominique Raccah, publisher and CEO of Sourcebooks; Wendy McClure, published author and editor at Albert Whitman Publishing; and Joe Durepos, published author and acquisitions editor at Loyola Press.

Kim Lovejoy-Voss of the Downers Grove Patch, who was one of the pitchers at the event, shared her experience of receiving tips and criticism from the panel. Everyone who purchased a book at Anderson’s had the opportunity to speak with one of the authors for 30 minutes during a phone interview to receive feedback and more information about publishing.

“This evening was done because of the release of the book,” Gail Wetta, a publicity person at Anderson’s told Patch. The authors “have quite the pedigree, and it is only logical to add (the pitching of stories) to their event. They are very committed to their craft.”

Pitchapalooza sales totaled 171 books, and the store received numerous e-mails in the following days praising the event and thanking the store for the opportunity.

Bellingham Business Owners React to the Indie City Index Report

Chuck Robinson, co-owner of Village Books in Bellingham, Washington, was not surprised to see his city ranked as number two in the Indie City Index 2011, a study commissioned by ABA and conducted by Civic Economics, which was released at last week’s first-ever Advocates for Independent Retail (AIR) National Leadership Summit.

“Many more people we see say they’ve changed their buying behavior because they want to support local businesses, and I think a lot of it has to do with increased public awareness,” Robinson told the Bellingham Herald.

“Not many towns have something like Hardware Sales or two great local brew pubs like we have here,” he added. “Having these unique businesses are important to the community.”

R.J. Julia Promotes E-books to Snowbound Readers

With yet another snow storm blanketing the Northeast this week, J.R. Julia Booksellers is promoting sales of Google eBooks™ to customers unable, or unwilling, to venture out.

“This is going to be the perfect week to snuggle up to a great book and let the wintery weather pass us by,”  said R.J. Julia Booksellers News.  “While we always prefer to visit with you at the store, if getting in your car and braving the slush seems too daunting, not to worry – you can still find tons of great ebooks online for immediate download to your iPad, Nook, Android, laptop – everything except the Kindle! And for many ebooks, our prices match Amazon’s and Barnes & Noble’s.”

With a link to “learn more” and a reminder that store staff is available via phone or e-mail to answer questions, R.J. Julia recommends a number of  “great reads for a cold day, all under $15!”