MEMBERS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
PW PAYS ATTENTION
Square One Books and Sourcebooks/Casablanca both received publicity in a late February issue of Publishers Weekly. “Square One Goes to the Cats” was how “Deals” headlined its report on Cat Calls by Jeanne Adkins, billed as New York City’s first full-time cat sitter. Due out in September, it will feature a foreword by Garfield cartoonist Jim Davis. The Return of Black Douglas, a romance by Elaine Coffman from Sourcebooks, was described by its reviewer as “a rewarding love story” with “credible conflicts” and a “satisfying time travel romance.”
In March, two other Sourcebooks/Casablanca titles were reviewed by PW—Love Drunk Cowboy by Carolyn Brown, and A Tapestry of Dreams by Roberta Gellis.
SOAP STIMULATES SALES
For another title, Days of Our Lives, 45 Years: A Celebration in Photos, Sourcebooks arranged for promotion via tours by members of the soap opera’s current and former cast and crew. In March, when several cast members attended the Chicago Flower & Garden Show, more than 1,000 people showed up to have copies of their books signed and to meet DOOL stars.
TIME TAKES NOTE
Lauren Froehner at Impact Publishers reports that Impact author A. Thomas Horvath was quoted in Time magazine’s February 28 issue, in an article entitled “Sex Addiction: Real Disease or Convenient Excuse?”
“Almost all U.S. treatment programs tell the client to abstain, without consideration of what the client is motivated to do,” writes A. Thomas Horvath, a past director of the addiction bureau of the American Psychological Association and the author of Sex, Drugs, Gambling & Chocolate: A Workbook for Overcoming Addictions. (He is also the medical director of the AToN [Aide to Navigation] facility in La Jolla.) Instead, Horvath suggests that clients be given the choice of either abstinence or moderation. “You get the rewards; you pay the consequences; you decide,” he writes.
The publicity resulted in a modest bump in book sales, thanks in part to spreading the news with Facebook, Twitter, and the company blog. “Five people—one with more than 5,000 followers—retweeted some of my posts,” Froenher reports, “and visitors to our Web site tripled.” In the two-and-a-half weeks after the article appeared, Impact sold 113 copies of Sex, Drugs, Gambling and Chocolate, compared to a total of 30 in January.
PARTNERINGON PRISONERS
Resilience Multimedia’s latest books, the Think Outside the Cell series, provide the framework for an upcoming national symposium on issues affecting the incarcerated, the formerly incarcerated, and their families.
The Ford Foundation, which is funding the September symposium in New York City, also provided grant funding for publication of the anthologies. Participants at the day-long symposium will include national policy makers, criminal justice experts, and thought leaders—Soledad O’Brien of CNN and Rev. Al Sharpton have already agreed to participate—as well as some of those who contributed stories to the series. The public is invited.
A PERMANENT TRIPLE CROWN
A Permanent Press title has won the PEN New England/L.L. Winship Award for the third time since 2004. This year’s winner: The Chester Chronicles by Kermit Moyer. Martin Shepard, co-publisher, reports that the earlier winners were Inland by K.C. Frederick, honored in 2006, and Warp & Weft by Edward Delaney, honored in 2004.
SETTING UP ANOTHER KINDOF SALES CHANNEL
Megan Scott tells us that C&T Publishing has launched PatternSpot.com, a new online sales venture that allows independent pattern designers to have their patterns sold by C&T for a percentage of the revenue. “Many of the designers are C&T authors, and many are popular designers with a strong online presence,” Scott says.
“We are certainly using this site for acquisitions,” she adds. “It is a great way to see what trends and designers are popular.” Patterns are welcome from all types of quilters and craft and garment sewers, as well as mixed media and fiber artists.
A BETTER WAYWITH E-BOOK LIBRARY SALES
Karen Reddick, executive director of the Colorado Independent Publishers Association—an IBPA Affiliate—points out in a recent press release that “larger commercial publishers have cut libraries out of the eBook market altogether or have imposed onerous new restrictions on use.”
Declining to follow that model, CIPA has announced that e-books by its members will be available for loan and for purchase through Red Rocks Community College Library and the Douglas County Libraries, both of Colorado.
Jamie LaRue, director of the Douglas County Libraries, was quoted as saying, “This project will demonstrate not only that libraries are firm supporters of the independent publishers through our willingness to buy and promote their works, but also that libraries and publishers can help each other grow the still-developing eBook market.”
Despite the budget problems experienced by some public libraries, LaRue went on to say that Douglas County is not concerned about generating revenue. “It’s more like this: We get a discount for our own purchase, and make it possible for our patrons to go instantly to the CIPA site to purchase the eBook there. So we’re generating sales for our partners.”
This is the primary reason that independent presses should work with libraries, Joe Sanchez of the Red Rocks library added: “We are not like a publisher or vendor whose ultimate goal is profit. We simply want to connect authors to readers. We see libraries as a far more author-friendly marketing venue.”
LaRue says his library system will eventually be open to partnerships with other publishing associations, once the e-book server is running well.
Members in the Spotlight is compiled by Linda Carlson (lindacarlson.com). She welcomes news of unusual special sales, licensing deals, significant media coups, and other achievements at linda@ibpa-online.org. Remember to submit news items promptly. The focus of this column is as much about how you accomplish something as what you accomplish, so details and specific how-to’s are important.
Please submit your information in the text of your email, and remember to include your name, title, and the name of your press. This column does not use news about nonmembers. It does not ordinarily use photos or other images. To ensure that you receive Linda’s emails, please check to see that her address has been added to the approved sender list in your email program—and that you have an updated email address on file with the IBPA office, ibpa-online.org.
Since information for Members in the Spotlight is needed at least six weeks in advance of the Independent’s issue date, news about April and later events that you submit by May 15 can be considered for the July and later issues. News that is time-sensitive and misses the Spotlight deadline—awards, events, upcoming television and radio appearances, and co-opportunities—should be directed to Lisa Krebs in the IBPA office at lisa@ibpa-online.org for inclusion in the IBPA e-newsletter, Independent Publishing Now.
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