Posts Tagged bookstores
Book Bloggers Get in Bed with Baby Boomer Booksellers!
Posted by Wanda in Get in Bed Project, GiB Book Bloggers on July 14, 2010
Get in Bed with a Bookseller #3
This information should not surprise anyone but, for the most part, booksellers are baby-boomers, and bloggers are not. Blogs have only been around in a big way for the past ten years while most bookstores that are thriving today are either brand new, or they are 25+ years old. And herein is an opportunity for you. Surviving and thriving over the last 15 years ensures outstanding bookstores that are well-established in the industry and able to provide you with contacts and information that could take years to gather on your own.
And because booksellers are often baby-boomers (as am I), we may have a tendency to think we know everything and many may need to be convinced to enter these partnerships. But together, we have the tools to convince them. So, what kinds of information does a bookseller want when considering a blogger as partner? Booksellers want someone who shares their passion for books as well as the First Amendment. That said,
FOR WEEK THREE:
1. Create a one-page with information you are willing to share about your blog. How many folks read it? What kinds of books do you review? Which is your most popular post? Where do you get your books from? Are you a customer/browser of their store/blog? What kinds of things can you assist with and what kinds of assistance do you need? How long have you been blogging? Why do you blog?
2. Visit your local independent(s). Introduce yourself. See if the store offers an affiliate program.
That’s it. Stop. Go post something. More next week.
Reader is Queen!
Posted by Wanda in Get in Bed Project, GiB Book Bloggers on June 22, 2010
Get in Bed with a Book Seller #1
Why do book bloggers blog? Well, I hope they will let me know, but here is what I think: Book bloggers love books, love sharing about what they have read, and want to connect with other book lovers. Most book bloggers are something else as well, either full-time moms, librarians, booksellers, writers, students. But they are all readers and the reader is king in my business. (which led to my title, which led to my changing king to queen, which led to my putting this APB out for male book bloggers – please let me hear from you! )
Those of us in this industry of selling stories on street corners yearn to hear directly from “the reader”. Harry Potter, Nancy Drew, The Passage, The Stand, Stephanie Meyer, Sense & Sensibilities, James Patterson, James and the Giant Peach; oh, if you could only hear the conversations that go ’round and ’round about how to create buzz for a book, what causes a book to intersect with readers, what makes a book “fresh” or “a book club read”. And the book blogger is the new reader, and SIBA wants to find you and nurture you and bring you inside the circle. Partnering with an indie bookstore is your ticket to becoming an industry insider. We welcome you. It’s crazy in here but it is also where the stories are.
FOR WEEK ONE:
1. Watch this video, Independent America: The Two-Lane Search for Mom & Pop (this will help you understand just what bookstores are facing and their value)
2. Find an independent bookstore near you (http://www.authorsroundthesouth.com/STARS/bookstore.php OR http://bookweb.org/aba/members/browse.do) , if you haven’t already (learn who these fine folks are and that they love books just as much as you do)That’s it. Stop. Go post something. More next week.
The 2010 Get in Bed Blog Project
Posted by Wanda in Get in Bed Project, GiB Book Bloggers, GiB Booksellers on June 7, 2010
The 2010 Get in Bed Blog Project is a summer-long project that will consist of weekly challenges to move you closer to getting in bed with a blogger or bookseller. Weekly, I’ll post an activity that will relate in some way to connecting book bloggers and booksellers. Each participant should spend the following week meeting the challenge. Some posts will be a blogger tip, and some will be a bookseller tip. We will begin next week.
If you choose to participate in this project, there is no obligation to participate in every challenge, and you can customize each challenge so it makes sense for your particular goals. Think of the design (and this post, for that matter) as similar to Sophisticated Dorkiness’ Blog Improvement Project (where I got my inspiration) — participate when it makes sense for you. This is a group effort, because getting better is always easier when you have a support system, but the ultimate commitment remains with you — do you want to get in bed with a blogger/bookseller before September 25, 2010?
A word of note — I am no expert. I am not even a book blogger or a bookseller. I read a lot of blogs about books and am interested in social media, and I do everything I can think of to market indie bookstores in the south. One of the reasons I am hosting this project is because I want to support the “circle of books” – the connection between books, their readers and their writers. I believe in support systems, and think this will be a fun way to get in bed & get better together.
Booksellers & book bloggers that would like to be listed as participants need only email me at wanda@sibaweb.com
Read, Remember, Recommend, and more.
Sourcebooks has published this ultimate organizing resource for book lovers. The journal features 60 cross-referenced lists of literary awards and notable picks, including Pulitzer, National Book Awars, 100 Best Books of the Century and the SIBA Book Awards for Fiction since 1999.
Like her recently re-launched website – www.bibliobabe.com – Read, Remember, Recommend by Rachelle Rogers Knight keeps readers coming back to bookstores to purchase recommended books and urges users to spread the joy to other book lovers.
Rachelle Rogers Knight is a passionate reader who has enjoyed books her entire life. She has earned the Bronze Medal for “Independent Publisher of the Year”. Read, Remember, Recommend for Teens: A Reading Journal for Young Adult Book Lovers is also available.
- How well do you know your Southern lit? We dare you to use a pen on these crossword puzzles, each inspired by one of the winning titles of the SIBA Book Award, honoring ten years of the very best in Southern literature as chosen by the people who would know…Southern Independent Booksellers! A great gift for your book club, for puzzle-lovers, and anyone who loves Southern literature.
Selling to Indies ONLY
I often get emails like this from authors who want to reach our community of indie booksellers and have made the decision to only sell to indies and that should get an assist, so here it is: Here is a copy of the email I recieved and following is the press release.
from: George Spitzer, Nebbadoon Press
Storytelling at its best, hilarious and serious at the same time.
Nebbadoon Press, as policy, does not sell to Borders, BN, or Costco! Only to independent bookstores…Order direct from www.CelloStories.com or fax consignment form to 805-456-0167
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: P.O. Box 91244, Santa Barbara, CA 93190
800-500-9086 (phone); 805-456-0167 (fax)
George@NebbadoonPress.com; www.CelloStories.com
The Day I Almost Destroyed the Boston Symphony
by John Sant’Ambrogio
Memoir takes readers behind the scenes to reveal the sublime enjoyment and occasional disasters experienced while performing upwards of 10,000 concerts always thought of this noble and sublime occupation as being devoid of humor. After all, classical music is often called serious music. I should have known better.”
Cellist John Sant’Ambrogio’s career spans more than 50 years and (still counting) 10,121 concerts. He has just released The Day I Almost Destroyed the Boston Symphony and Other Stories, a memoir containing nearly 70 stories reflecting his myriad experiences as a former member of the Boston Symphony and Principal Cellist with the Casals Festival Orchestra and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.
Ranging from the dramatic to the poignant, the utterly hilarious to the very serious, chapters include “My Musical Crime,” “On Teaching Your Own Children: Don’t! Well, Maybe,” “Is This Your Real Job?,” “Those Newcomers,” “Concertmasters I Have Known,” “Who’s the Best?,” and many more.
Replete throughout the book is the self-awareness and humor indicative of a man who knows himself well and forgives himself too. As Sant’Ambrogio notes, “Just before I left the BSO, a friend said, “John, we will have to hire two cellists to replace you: one to play for you, and one to talk for you.”
The Day I Almost Destroyed the Boston Symphony and Other is available at www.CelloStories.com and at select independent bookstores.
# # #
For more information or to contact the author for media commentary or interviews, email George@NebbadoonPress.com or visit www.CelloStories.com.
There are no new problems. Only old solutions. Let your fingers do the talking.
Posted by Wanda in Social Networking on March 31, 2010
Have a question, need an idea, want to consolidate your email addresses, buy a smart phone, find an old beau, need day care, car care, or air balloon ride…Remember, there is a community of problem solvers at your fingertips. There are thousands of sites that search, and gather into one place millions of resources and there is one for your new problem. So, don’t reinvent the wheel or lamely skin the cat. Work smarter, not harder. This list was compiled from contributions made at the first Southern Social Networking Summit. Plans for the second are in progress and to be announced soon.
Readers, Aggregators, & Search Engines
http://bloglines.com/ It’s the same internet minus the clutter
www.google.com/reader read it in one place
http://www.google.com/ check out all of the options on google, endless (http://wave.google.com)
http://www.icerocket.com/ blog search (use Big Buzz to search everywhere)
http://clusty.com/ the clustering search engine
http://popurls.com/ the genuine news aggregator for the latest web buzz
http://www.ask.com/ search engine
http://alltop.com/ all the hot stories
Easy Bake Oven – Looking to share a slice
Posted by Wanda in Social Networking on March 23, 2010
A Baker’s Dozen of Easy Share Sites
All of these sites were found by someone to be easy to use in sharing information over the internet.
This first batch allows you to share photos and/or videos.
http://vimeo.com/ video sharing some Easy Bake Oven for you
http://www.youtube.com/ broadcast yourself & Easy Bake Oven
http://www.viddler.com/ the best way to watch and publish your videos about Easy Bake Ovens
http://www.flickr.com/ share your photos of Easy Bake Ovens. Watch the world.
This second batch hosts your blog so you can share anything & everything -
http://www.blogger.com create your free blog
http://wordpress.org/ blog tool and publishing platform
http://www.typepad.com/ simple, social blogging
http://www.tumblr.com/ the easiest way to blog
And this last batch lets you share other items – my favorite is etherpad.com – it just seems to work and I cannot wait to use it. Happy Sharing!
http://www.slideshare.net/ upload and share PowerPoint presentations & documents
http://animoto.com the end of slide shows
http://etherpad.com/ realtime collaborative text editing
http://www.yousendit.com/ send, receive and track large and important files (lite account is free) http://www.meebo.com/ instant messaging everywhere







