BTW New Briefs

Survey Finds Most Americans Are Still Buying Books at a Store

According to a survey conducted by Rasmussen Reports in February [1], most Americans still prefer the buying a book in a bookstore or other retail outlet, rather than online.

In the telephone survey, 71 percent of adults said they are most likely to go to a bookstore or some other retail store to buy a book. Twenty-one percent said they are most likely to order a book online, while just four percent said they are most likely to download their reading material to an e-reader.

Eighty-one percent of survey respondents said they would rather read a book in a traditional format than on an electronic device. Only eight percent said they prefer to read on an e-reader, while 11 percent were uncommitted.

Alliance For Main Street Fairness Applauds Texas E-Fairness Bill

 On March 8, the Alliance for Main Street Fairness [2] (AMSF) applauded Texas Rep. John Otto (R) for filing HB 2403, which addresses the unfair tax advantage exploited by online-only retailers that fail to collect the sales tax.

“Rep. Otto’s bill levels the playing field for Texas companies,” said Valerie Koehler, owner of the Blue Willow Bookshop [3] in Houston. “Brick-and-mortar retailers that collect sales taxes, create local jobs and support local communities by paying property taxes shouldn’t be put at a competitive disadvantage to out-of-state companies that do none of those things.”

Otto’s legislation clarifies language on “nexus,” which establishes whether a company is doing business in Texas, and is subject to sales tax collection. Recently, the state Comptroller’s Office invoiced Amazon for $269 million for uncollected sales tax, while they were operating a distribution center in Irving.

“A sale is a sale is a sale,” said John Raney, owner of Texas Aggieland Bookstore.  “It should make no difference whether Texans purchase retail items online or in a store, the tax collected should be the same.  To do otherwise is to discriminate against local businesses that are part of the community.”  

World Book Night Is a Resounding Success

On Saturday, March 5, two days after World Book Day, the United Kingdom and Ireland celebrated World Book Night [4]. With the support of the Booksellers Association of the United Kingdom & Ireland, the Publishers Association, the Independent Publishers Guild, other book industry groups, as well as the BBC, corporate sponsors, and others, one million books were given away by an army of readers to members of the public across the U.K. and Ireland.

The event was covered extensively [5] by radio, TV, and print outlets. The book give-away included 40,000 copies each of 25 carefully selected titles, given away by nearly 30,000 “givers,” who distributed 48 copies of their chosen title to whomever they chose on World Book Night.

The remaining books were distributed by World Book Night itself in places, such as prisons and hospitals. The 25 titles [6] were selected by a wide-ranging editorial committee.

Candlewick Launches New Imprint

On March 10, Candlewick Press announced the launch of Nosy Crow, an imprint of Candlewick Press. In a new partnership with independent U.K.-based publisher Nosy Crow, Candlewick will co-publish a majority of Nosy Crow’s full-color and illustrated titles in the U.S. and Canada.

Nosy Crow, an imprint of Candlewick Press, will launch with 10 children’s titles in fall 2011.