New Booksellers

Last week’s story about ABA member stores opening in 2010 inadvertently left out Reading Frenzy Bookshop, which opened in Zimmerman, Minnesota, in September. With this addition, the number of ABA member stores opening in 2010 is 26.

Twenty-five ABA member bookstores opened in 2010, with several filling voids left by the closing of chain stores. The openings, and neighborhood response, suggest growing support for locally owned businesses, along with continued support for bricks-and-mortar stores.

Mexican-born Teresa Carbajal Ravet opened Dulce Bread & Bookshop in Dripping Springs, Texas, with the mission to promote various cultures and multicultural literature.

Fifteen prospective independent bookstore owners sought training in retail bookselling last week during an intensive workshop held at Amelia Island, Florida. Trainees came from across the U.S., from Victoria, Canada, and from as far away as the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Elizabeth and Sean Anker opened their children’s bookstore in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on April 3. "We have anything a teenager or younger is going to need or want to read,” said Elizabeth Anker.

This week, 10 more state-specific fact sheets were added to the E-Fairness Action Kit (E-FACT) on BookWeb.org, the American Bookseller Association's member website. Next week, the ABA will add the final fact sheets for the remaining states that collect sales tax but do not yet have e-fairness laws. ABA launched E-FACT in January to provide booksellers with a wide array of state-specific tools to help them in their e-fairness outreach efforts. New fact sheets are now available for:

Michael Barnard of Rakestraw Books in Danville, California, recommends booksellers be proactive in handling credit and debit card transactions. He'll discuss managing the complicated fee structure of credit and debit cards to reduce risk and save money at "The Business of Accepting Credit & Debit Cards," an ABA Day of Education session, on Tuesday, May 25, at at BookExpo America.

In 2009, 40 ABA member stores opened across the U.S. Bookselling This Week recently checked in with six of those new stores for a report on their first year.

All ABA Bookstore Members in good standing are entitled to four free two-week Classified Ad insertions in Bookselling This Week each year. BTW Classifieds are the perfect place for booksellers to place help wanted ads, advertise fixtures or stores for sale, and more.

Daniyal Mueenuddin Wins The Story PrizeThe winner of the sixth annual Story Prize was announced on March 3 at an awards ceremony in Manhattan. Debut writer Daniyal Mueenuddin accepted the prize for his collection In Other Rooms, Other Wonders (Norton), a book of eight connected stories set in southern Pakistan and centering around the estate of a feudal landowner.The other two finalists were Victoria Patterson (Drift, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) and Wells Tower (Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, FSG).