BTW News Briefs

J.K. Rowling Announces Pottermore

On June 23, J.K. Rowling unveiled Pottermore, a new website, where, she said, readers “can enjoy an online experience based around the Harry Potter books, which includes exclusive new information from me.” Pottermore will also be the exclusive place to purchase digital audiobooks and e-books of the Harry Potter series.

Rowling described Pottermore as “the same story with a few crucial additions,” namely the readers’ interactivity, that will, she said, provide an “online reading experience unlike any other,” where fans can “share participate in and rediscover the stories.” She will be participating in Pottermore and providing new information about Harry Potter’s world. Pottermore opens to everyone in October, but Rowling invites readers to return on July 31 to find out how to get the chance to enter Pottermore early.

Rowling said that her website jkrowling.com remains the primary source for other content, such as her updated biography and bibliography, and links to relevant organizations, including the charities she supports.

New York Times Reports on Indie Stores Charging for Author Events

On Wednesday, the New York Times featured an article on independent bookstores that have begun charging for author events to counter the loss of business from customers who attend events after already having bought the book online or who plan to do so later.

“Bookstores, including some of the most prominent around the country, have begun selling tickets or requiring a book purchase of customers who attend author readings and signings, a practice once considered unthinkable,” said journalists Julie Bosman and Matt Richtel.

Among the featured stores are:

• New York City’s McNally Jackson Books, which plans to begin charging for events once an event space under construction on its lower level is completed.
• The Boulder Book Store in Colorado, which in April began charging $5 a person for store events.
• Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park, California, which in April began charging customers a $10 gift card that admits two people to an author event appearance but also gives customers the option of buying the book in exchange for admission.
• The King’s English Bookshop in Salt Lake City, Utah, which now requires book purchases or sells tickets for approximately half of its 150 annual events.
• Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Massaschusetts, which in recent years began hosting more events that require customers to buy a book.
• R.J. Julia Booksellers in Madison, Connecticut, which began charging for events about five years ago with customers generally able to apply the price of the ticket to the purchase of the book.

The Times noted that reactions to the event charges among customers and publishers is mixed.

U.K. Celebrates Independent Booksellers’ Week

The Booksellers Association of the U.K. and Ireland (BA) reports that 262 independent booksellers (up from 251 last year) are hosting events during Independent Booksellers’ Week, underway from June 18 - 25.

The national celebration of independent bookshops is part of the BA’s IndieBound marketing campaign, based on ABA’s IndieBound program and adopted in May 2010.

A new addition to this year’s festivities is the inclusion of National Reading Group Day on June 25, the second Saturday of IBW. National Reading Group Day is “not necessarily about booksellers starting reading groups, or even running groups in the shop, but about capitalizing on the current huge grassroots affection for Reading Groups in the U.K.,” said BA President Jane Streeter. The BA is also working with Book Aid International (BAI) on the campaign to help foster reading groups while raising funds for BAI, whose main aim is to send books to sub-Saharan Africa and change lives.

AMIBA Seeks Local First Videos

The American Independent Business Alliance is compiling resources and examples for local business advocates on how to advance the Local First cause with short videos. AMIBA will review videos from IBAs and buy local campaigns that effectively promote the benefits of doing business locally or effectively market a local alliance. Details are provided via a Facebook page.

Reach Out and Read Summer of a Million Books Campaign Begins

On Tuesday, June 21, Reach Out and Read kicked off its second annual Summer of a Million Books campaign, which has the goal of putting one million new books in the hands of children in the U.S. this summer. To meet that goal, every day between June 21 and September 8 (International Literacy Day) Reach Out and Read’s participating pediatricians will need to distribute 25,600 books to children.

Ways that people can get involved in the campaign are spelled out on the Reach and Read website, and the organization encourages individuals and businesses to promote the campaign via their blogs and websites.