BTW News Briefs

Naperville Chamber of Congress Eyes Internet Sales Tax Laws

The Illinois’ Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce’s legislative committee has agreed to form a task force to follow proposed federal legislation that would force online retailers such as Amazon.com, eBay, and others to collect and remit sales tax to the state from which the online purchase was made, as reported by the Daily Herald. The agreement came at a chamber meeting last week where ABA president Becky Anderson, co-owner of Anderson’s Bookshops, told the committee about more and more people coming into Anderson’s family-owned bookshops, getting the recommendations of staff, and the leaving to order the book or merchandise online to avoid paying the 7.25 percent sales tax.

Penguin to Launch Self-Publishing Service

The Wall Street Journal reported this week on Penguin Group USA’s plans to launch a service that will provide tools — ranging from professional e-book conversion to a cover creator — to help writers make their works available through digital book outlets and print-on-demand services. The service will be offered by the Penguin subsidiary Book Country, a website for genre fiction, and would cost between $99 and $549, plus a cut of any sales revenue.

The self-publishing venture could help Penguin discover new writers while creating an additional revenue stream, WSJ observed.

GLIBA Completes Move

 The Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association has closed its Grand Haven office. The regional’s new address and phone number is GLIBA, 2113 Roosevelt, Ypsilanti, MI 48197; (734) 340-6397.