Book Awards Announced Familiar and New Names Added to Annals
The 2017 Pacific Northwest Book Awards were announced Jan. 10, and the celebration is in motion.
Winners and their publicity teams are in talks with PNBA stores for plaque presentations and winner essays have already begun their run atop NWBookLovers, to continue for the next several weeks.
Tremendous thanks are due your Book Awards Committee Members, who reviewed 300+ titles submitted for consideration this year.
You might notice that the roster of winners adds up to seven this year and not the traditional six. The Committee determined that a tie in the final balloting was not to be broken, but considered a bonus.
Your 2017 Winners:
Barkskins
Annie Proulx (Carnation, WA) Scribner
Bitch Planet, Book One: Extraordinary Machine
Kelly Sue DeConnick (Portland, OR) Image Comics
Marrow Island
Alexis M. Smith (Portland, OR) Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
On Trails: An Exploration
Robert Moor (Halfmoon Bay, BC) Simon & Schuster
Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman
Lindy West (Seattle, WA) Hachette Books
Thunder Boy Jr.
Sherman Alexie (Seattle, WA) Little, Brown and Company
To The Bright Edge Of The World
Eowyn Ivey (Palmer, AK) Little, Brown and Company
Shelftakers for each of the winning titles, featuring original Committee comments, can be downloaded for store use on the PNBA website. The web banner featured above can also be downloaded from the page.
Committee Opportunities
Board, Education, Awards
Would you like to serve on the PNBA Board of Directors or on one of our two standing Committees, the Education Committee or the Book Awards Committee?
If so, this is the time to let us know!
Here is information on our current Board of Directors and a statement about the responsibilities of those who serve on the Board.
Here are the details about the responsibilities of those who serve on the Book Awards Committee.
Here is the similar info about serving on the Education Committee.
At this time, we need one new member for the Board, three members for Awards and two for Education.
To be eligible, you must currently be employed at a PNBA member bookstore--that's it!
All Board and Committee members will be reimbursed for all expenses related to attending the fall show each year. PNBA is happy to reward those who dedicate their time to the Association.
Email your interest along with your store and a bit about your book industry history to PNBA Executive Director, Brian Juenemann.
The Board plans to discuss appointments at their Annual Retreat in early February.
Higher Ed. Scholarships The Application Period is Open!
The application period for Binc's annual Higher Education Scholarship Program opened this week. Applications will be accepted through March 6.
All current independent bookstore owners and employees are eligible for the 27 awards totaling more than $100,000.
Between now and Feb. 1, all you need to do to qualify for special terms on this year's premium items for
Indie Bookstore Day is to make sure your PNBA membership is up to date, pick out at least 15 individual items (easy-breezy), and plan to party at your store on April 29.
Here's the catalog of collectible items from and inspired by the likes of Oliver Jeffers, Rainbow Rowell, Jenny Lawson, Michael Chabon and Jane Austen!
And be sure enhance your lineup with t-shirts, book bags and bookmarks for both staff and for sale.
Shirts and bags are available with wholesale terms and
bookmarks are free (scroll to the very end of the catalog).
Jenny and Muir Cohen of Hood River's Waucoma Bookstore welcomed their first child into the world just before the new year. Kenan Joseph Cayabyab Cohen, publication date 012/28, the same day his old man hit the shelves a few seasons back.
Broadway Books to Educate, Empower Customers Portland's Broadway Books announced that they would be giving away copies of Chimamande Ngozi Adichie's
We Should All Be Feminists to all receptive customers on Inauguration Day.
"We wanted to kick off the new year by celebrating the power of women to do great things," said owner Sally McPherson. "As the owners of a bookstore founded by women, and still women-owned after almost 25 years, we appreciate strong women, and we rejoice in the men who respectfully support and stand alongside them."
University Book Store Closes Bellevue Branch The U. Book Store will close its Eastside location on Feb. 15, after 30 years of operation in the building owned by the store. The building already hosts several businesses store plans to lease the additional space it's vacating and to explore options for a smaller Eastside location.
Jury Still Out but Reading List Lengthened Last month we put forth a challenge posed by former owners of St. Helens Book Shop Allen and Sylvia Six, who were in search of an author they met at a PNBA in the 1980s. They met the author along with K.K. Beck and Earl W. Emerson and believed the third to be "an attorney who wrote about police officers."
The responses were numerous, from reps and booksellers, from memory and the internet. J. A. Jance, Gary Alexander, Aaron Elkins and Charlotte Elkins, Philip Margolin, G.M. Ford, Frederick Huebner and Janet L. Smith.
We must have nailed it, right? Well, if Allen Six can trust his memory at all, NOT! Believe it or not, the mystery writer still seems to be a mystery. Regardless, some of you might enjoy this
time capsule unearthed by BookPeople of Moscow's Carol Spurling.
And the Sixes appreciate the effort and have some new names they pledge to be reading soon.
Jan 27-30
Winter Institute 12, Minneapolis
Feb 6, 7 Annual
PNBA BOD Retreat
Feb 24 2017 Membership Renewal Deadline
April 4 ABA Spring Forum, Portland
Apr 5-7 Children's Institute, Portland
Apr 29
Independent Bookstore Day May 31-June 2
BookExpo, NYC
Check out the full calendar of member-related deadlines and events featured on pnba.org.
Footnotes, February 2017: Inspiration, Education, Authors, Action!
Winter Institute Stokes Many Fires Diversity, Reflectivity, Inclusivity--Proactivity!
Anyone who attended Wi12, in Minneapolis, can can attest to the charge in the show's overall atmosphere. To be there was to feel it.
There were earlier sparks in the indie Northwest. Last fall's Tradeshow Education Day offered "Diverse Reading," with a sundry of experts. The session was lauded, but it also put a spotlight on shortcomings in our little corner of the industry--and probably beyond.
Session facilitators found it no easy task to to populate the panel with booksellers of color. Their list of contacts was dishearteningly short. However, microtopics were identified within the broad presentation that will inspire future educational offerings and general efforts among our booksellers to work harder within the framework of our blessed profession. The session was a move in the right direction.
Another move designed to enlarge PNBA's welcome mat is the creation of a PNBA event code of conduct. We may not think we need to formally exclaim our arms wide open approach, but the COC has become standard at comic and alternative press shows where the audiences respond to and reflect declarations that all participants will be valued and made to feel safe.
With the help of Education Committee members and consultation from alternative press vets, PNBA has begun the task of developing a unique COC that will debut later this year.
And so we get to Minneapolis and Wi12--Roxane Gay, Indies Forward, and all of the brave booksellers who told their stories and shared their goals and demands of themselves and their industry.
ABA president Betsy Burton shared it well in her Bookselling This Weekletter published Feb. 7.
Your Board of Directors continued the exploration at their annual Retreat last week, sharing individual and store experiences ranging from specially curated book clubs, to bookseller career day style visits at schools, to personally connecting with the neighborhood homeless, to making store space available for a postcard protest gathering, to making your stand not by shaming and excluding, but with understanding and an open heart.
The group laid down goals and plans of action to take all of these bits and pieces of passion and practical ideas and incorporate them into some kind of mosaic to be shared through educational programming at the Tradeshow this fall.
That doesn't mean we should sit tight and wait out the next several months. There is much to be weighed on our personal and store fronts.
ABA will provide one venue that could be immensely valuable in this process, having released the program plans for the ABA/PNBA Spring Forum, April 4, in Portland. The announcement is profiled below.
We hope you'll be there to plug in, because there's undeniable energy running through our circuits.
A Funny Thing Happened... ABA Shakes Up Spring Forum
Preceding its Children's Institute, April 5-7, the American Booksellers Association will join with PNBA to offer educational programming to members of both organizations.
Exact timing and registration details to come, but here's what's slated for the Red Lion on the River, Jantzen Beach, in Portland, April 4.
Bookstores: An Inclusive Place for Dialogue and Discovery
In the current environment, customers are increasingly coming to bookstores for connection and communication, as well as for sources of a diverse range of voices and viewpoints.
At the upcoming ABA Spring Forum, in response to member bookstore feedback and requests, ABA will be hosting a conversation facilitated by an ABA Board member, where booksellers will share ideas and brainstorm about how stores can foster communication and create opportunities for people of diverse backgrounds to express and respond to differing views in the welcoming setting of a bookstore.
This will not be a traditional education session. It is designed to be an interactive discussion, where booksellers will be able to participate in open communication and problem solving -- in both large and small groups -- to clarify strategies for strengthening the unique role that bookstores play in their communities.
Following the forum, PNBA will host a special spring edition of Authors on the Map featuring a dozen Northwest authors signing new books and eager to connect with local booksellers. Sponsored by Baker & Taylor, this version of AOTM will be in a happy hour setting in JB's Lounge, with a glorious view of the Columbia River. Jamie Ford is confirmed, drinks and snacks on PNBA!
Come ready to work your brains hard at the forum and then to decompress with your comrades at Authors on the Map. Together, we'll celebrate another fabulous day in the life of an indie bookseller.
Spots Still Available Companion Hotel Now Booking
The ABA room block at the Jantzen Beach Red Lion is maxed out, but there are still attendee spots available, and the backup hotel is just across the parking lot.
ABA will host the fifth annual Children's Institute starting April 5 with store tours and an opening reception and continuing with author events and educational programming, April 6 and 7.
Group Brings Energy and Goals Hits Ground with Momentum at Wi12
The seeds of the new ABA backed young professionals collective known as Indies Forward were sewn right here in the Northwest and we will all benefit as the group grows and flourishes.
Members of the group already shine on PNBA committees and in our educational programming and will help lead your Association and the industry for a long time to come.
If you are a young bookseller looking to further invest in your work or a veteran who wants to learn more about supporting your young counterparts and promoting the sustainability of your profession, you need to familiarize yourself with Indies Forward.
IBD Checklist Six Items to Cross Off the List
1. Marketing in a Mailer: Signs, stickers, shelftalkers, balloons! All
2. T-shirts while they last:
For staff or for resale,
email or call Ann at NCIBA by March 1. (415) 561-7686 ext.101
3. Free Audio Books from Libro.fm:
Get the certificates for your customers by contacting
Mark at
Libro.fm. Did we mention it's free!
4. Free IBD Bookmarks:
Every participating store receives 500 promotional bookmarks, to arrive in your March Red Box from ABA.
5. Free Little Golden Book IBD Event Kit:
Mini books, stickers, Poky Little Puppy pouches!
Order here.
6. ISBN Straightened Out:
Keep your system in order. The correct ISBN for the exclusive IBD Literary Condoms is 978-0-9863969-6-0.
In Case You Missed It
* In the past month, two more Book Award winners presented acceptance essays and one more got his plaque and a party. Here are original works from
Alexis M. Smith and
Robert Moor and a recap of
Sherman Alexie at Queen Anne Book Co.
* NWBL editor, Tegan Tigani, proclaimed her love on Valentine's Day for, well, books. And her husband is okay with it--heck, he's in on it! There's nothing like "
Falling in Love with a Book."
Galley Room Goofs
Dealing with Crossed-up Boxes
ABA staff have received numerous messages regarding missing or incorrect shipments made from the FedEx shipping center at Winter Institute and have been in contact with the shipping manager who provided this response:
If you have received packages that are not yours, please send an email to myself, Keith Korhely. I will print a FedEx label, scan it to you, and it can be placed on the package so we can send it to the intended party. My business phone is: 800-599-2902 x2254 if you need to contact me.
If you have not received your package(s) as of yet, please send me an email with your contact information and what is missing, and we will do our best to track it down for you.
We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this has caused and we will do everything in our power to try and rectify the situation.
Higher Ed. Scholarships Finish Those Applications!
Don't forget, Binc's annual Higher Education Scholarship Program is open to applications through March 6.
All current independent bookstore owners and employees are eligible for the 27 awards totaling more than $100,000.
Grass Roots Books & Music (Corvallis, OR) has teamed up with store customer Seema Bharwani to solicit local donations to purchase picture books featuring Muslim and/or Middle Eastern characters and culture to donate to local kindergarten-through-second-grade classrooms.
Manager and buyer Tiffany Harlan and Bharwani were already working on the idea when President Trump ordered his travel ban effecting seven Muslim countries and, "Suddenly, an important project became an imperative one!"
The Mystery of the Thrilling Author This fun project started in
December when former owners of St. Helens Book Shop Allen and Sylvia Six asked for help identifying an author they met at a PNBA in the 1980s. They met the author along with K.K. Beck and Earl W. Emerson and believed the third to be "an attorney who wrote about police officers."
To add to J. A. Jance, Gary Alexander, Aaron Elkins, Charlotte Elkins, Philip Margolin, G.M. Ford, Frederick Huebner and Janet L. Smith, we have recently received suggestions for Kent Anderson, author of
Night Dogs, and this one, from another old friend:
"Although not an attorney, Vincee Kohler was a mainstay around the PNBA in the late 1980s. A reporter for the Oregonian, he died in 2002." --Greg Millard, formerly of Jackson's Books, Salem, Oregon
Spring Forum in Portland Heads Together, Then Glasses
PNBA will join the American Booksellers Association for a half-day bookseller workshop capped with a regional author reception, April 4, in Portland. Members of both Associations are encouraged to attend.
Bookstores: An Inclusive Place for Dialogue and Discovery
ABA CEO Oren Teicher's recent letter from the March 1 edition of Bookselling This Week is the perfect primer for what you can expect from this specially-formatted forum.
"[T]his new session is a departure from our traditional educational programming. It will succeed to the degree that all attendees feel comfortable in participating in the discussions, allowing a wide range of opinions to be shared and discussed in a respectful and collegial setting, where all of us are mindful of listening as well as talking.
"It goes without saying that we are currently living in a heated political environment. But, regardless of one's political opinions, I know we all share a commitment to fulfilling the special role that indie bookstores play in their communities, recognizing that different bookstores will fulfill that role in a wide variety of ways."
Read the entirety of
Teicher's letter and then fill out this
Forum RSVP to confirm your plans to join us in Portland!
Authors on the Map, Spring Release
The Spring Forum will provide not only an opportunity to commune with and learn from your fellow booksellers but also, as with any good bookseller event, a hefty stack of new and forthcoming books from an array of new and notable Northwest authors.
Sponsored by
Baker & Taylor, this version of AOTM will play out in a happy hour setting in JB's Lounge--windows on the Columbia, drinks and apps on B&T and PNBA! The author lineup is featured below.
In between author tables, visit with Binc Foundation executive director Pam French. She'll be hanging out and sharing updates on the myriad ways your foundation is helping booksellers across the country.
ABA/PNBA Spring Fourm; Tuesday, April 4 Red Lion Hotel on the River, Jantzen Beach; Portland, OR Education, 11 am - 2:30 pm; Multnomah Room Reception, 3 pm - 5 pm; JB's Lounge
Authors on the Map
Spring Release
Love, Santa
Martha Brockenbrough and illus. Lee White
(Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine Books)
Gifted
John Daniel
(Counterpoint)
Make a Zine!: Start Your Own Underground Publishing Revolution
Joe Biel
(Microcosm Publishing)
Love and Other Consolation Prizes
Jamie Ford
(Random House/Ballantine)
Narrow River, Wide Sky
Jenny Forrester
(Hawthorne Books)
Wildman
J.C. Geiger
(Disney-Hyperion)
Yearbook
Jesse Edward Johnson
(Paul Dry Books)
PNW Veg
Kim O'Donnel
(Sasquatch Books)
The Mercy of the Tide
Keith Rosson
(Meerkat Press)
Keys to the City
Lisa Schroeder
(Scholastic Press)
Hidden Palms: A Butch Bliss Novel
Harry Bryant
(ROTA Books)
Hooper's Revolution
Dennie Wendt
(Unnamed Press)
April 4, in Portland!
Bookstore Day Countdown Your March To-Do List
Newsletter Get it on your customers' calendars now!
Web Presence Show sneak peak of IBD exclusive items. Use social media tag #bookstoreday. Make sure IBD is on your store event calendar!
Press Release Send your IBD event release to local media with calendar listings.
Companion Titles Order books that team with IBD premiums.
Bookmarks Put them out--they're in this month's ABA Red Box!
Share Let the IBD team know about any authors you have booked for April 29.
In Case You Missed It
* Book Award Winner Annie Proulx shares an image-filled travelogue of her slow drift west through her lovely essay of gratitude, "
Ocean."
* Two more of our Award winners, Alexis Smith and Kelly Sue DeConnick, joined forces to celebrate at Portland's Broadway Books.
Check out the scene, complete with cake and killer custom plaques!
*A Six-year-old, Shakespeare, and Paul Simon. It will all make sense when you read James Crossley's latest column, "Bringing Up Baby and Bringing Down the House."
Member Notes
Secret Garden Celebrates 40, No Foolin' Seattle's Secret Garden Bookshop will celebrate its 40th Anniversary with an April 1 all-day bash. Cake, prizes, and--look sharp!--a custom photo booth.
Seattle Stores Band to Issue IBD Challenge For the third consecutive year, Seattle area indies are offering up the Indie Bookstore Challenge. Customers who hit 19 stores on April 29 will earn 25%, across the board, for the rest of the year!
Adios, Ceballos
After nearly two decades with Third Place Books, Wendy Ceballos is seeking adventure in NYC. Ceballos has been a gift buying specialist for many years but feels she's "worn so many hats" for TPB that she's likely qualified to handle many possibilities the NYC book world and the city itself might present. Her last day is April 28, and TPB is still interviewing for her position should you be
intersted.
Mouser Uncaged For the first time since 1980, University Book Store's Mark Mouser can visit the store without having to clock in. The former trade book manager and longtime remainder guru swiped his card for the last time in February. Here's a great feature from
The Seattle Review of Books.
Indie Next List Island Style If you're unclear on exactly how this ABA program comes together or have been wondering if it might work for your store, Island Books lays out this "Staff Picks collection for the whole country" program nice and neat in, wait, here it comes . . . "
What's Indie Next?"
Waldo Can Wait But just a few more days. The deadline to pre-register for this year's
Find Waldo Local celebration has been extended through Monday, March 20.
Last week was a big one for PNBA and national booksellers alike, as ABA brought both a regional forum and the fifth annual Children's Institute to the Red Lion on the River, in Portland.
ABA's Spring Forum program "Bookstores: An Inclusive Place for Dialogue and Discovery" continues its tour around the country, and many ABA Association goals and programming decisions can be expected to emerge in the following months.
If the PNBA session preceding Children's Institute is a fair indication, the outcomes will be varied and valuable to ABA members.
Children's Institute is officially (as well as spiritually and philosophically) in the books for 2017. If you missed it--or were there, but without a reporter's inclination for recording--you are in luck.
Booksellers would be well-served to visit recent issues of both Shelf Awareness and Bookselling This Week, both of which contain bang-up recaps of much of the action.
Start with keynote coverage from the Shelf's Alex Mutter on Coretta Scott King Honor and NAACP Image Award-winning author Jason Reynolds and BTW's Sydney Jarrard on diversity advocate Ilsa Govan.
Authors on the Map reception, Spring Forum, Portland Sponsored by Baker & Taylor
Bookstore Day Countdown To-Dos for April!
Added Premium Order copies of Norton's newly minted Special Edition copies of Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology!
*This book is going to have your registers and your Book Awards Committee chirping over the following weeks and months. Keep your eye on the birdie!
"Thanks a million to all of you who promoted the Binc Scholarship Program in your newsletters and on your websites. With your help we received enough applications to give away the full $100,000! The award winners will be announced in May and we hope we have great representation from all of your groups."
--Kit Steinway, Book Industry Charitable Foundation
Member Notes
Red Lion Reservations Author and Education proposal solicitations have been sent and Vendor registration has opened for the 2017 PNBA Tradeshow, Oct. 8-10, Portland. Attendee registration is still a few weeks off, but you can lock in your
hotel reservation now!
Third Place Shuffle It started in the fall when Sam Kaas, your current Education Committee chair left Village Books to take on offsite events management for all three of Seattle's TPB's locations. Just a few weeks back we learned that Wendy Ceballos, Director of Events and
Chambliss a Grandpa! Former PNBA E.D. Thom Chambliss is the proud grandfather of Cooper Kai Chambliss, born to his son Sam and daughter-in-law Lisa in March. You can send the board books and onesies to the PNBA office or drop
Brian a line about getting in touch with Thom.
Bookseller Brain Archive Challenge #14 This one recently came over the PNBA wire: "Hi, I am trying to remember the title of a book written by a NW author in the middle to late 1970s. All that I can remember is that the author was female, the book was fiction, but loosely based on the Ted Bundy murders. The word "violet" or "violets" appeared in the title. I believe the author lived in Manchester, Washington at the time the book was written. It was published in paperback (not Anne Rule)."
April was an especially busy month for getting me out of the confines of the Eugene office.
The first stint took me just a couple hours north, to Portland, where I participated in a meeting, a forum and an institute, across four consecutive days. Most of my time was spent within the familiar setting of a hotel/convention space.
I saw many of you there and recapped some of the highlights in last month's newsletter.
The second trip, just ten days later, turned me loose into much broader range--the wilds of eastern Washington and northern Idaho!
Okay, maybe not wilds, but I'd never been to Spokane.
The idea started at last year's fall show when I met authors Samuel Ligon and Kate Lebo at the Home Brewed Happy Hour party. The writers live, work, and teach in Spokane and are a reliable force behind the city-wide annual Get Lit Festival, presented by Eastern Washington University.
The Festival alone sounded fun, but it was a package of public relations, show scouting, and membership maintenance that really brought the possibilities into focus.
Many authors and presses participate in Get Lit. Spokane has a convention facility. PNBA has a number of member stores within a couple hours of the Spokane hub. The trip made sense.
And it was fun! I want to thank Kate Lebo and Sam Ligon for the idea spark and for giving me a great seat at Pie & Whiskey. (Booksellers, get ready for the P & W greatest hits anthology out from Sasquatch and featured in your holiday catalog this fall.)
And to all of the booksellers who gave me tours, and water, and made many introductions, and filled that little bit of slack in my suitcase with shirts and books I couldn't resist, thank you for welcoming me into your lovely spaces.
Auntie's Bookstore, BookPeople of Moscow, 2nd Look Books, The Well-Read Moose, Vanderford's Book and Office! Please, keep on doing what you're doing.
Top to bottom: team BookPeople (Moscow, ID); Vanderford's (Sandpoint, ID); Lebo and Ligon, Jess Walter, Pie & Whiskey stage
(Spokane, WA);
Well-Read Moose (Coeur d' Alene, ID); operations central, Auntie's
Annie Proulx with her 2017 PNBA Award, presented by Elliott Bay's Rick Simonson at a May 5 event with Seattle Public Library.
Photo by SPL's Stesha Brandon
Diversity Task Force Help Survey Seeks Bookseller Input
From Bookselling This Week, May 10:
The Diversity Task Force was created by the American Booksellers Association in response to recent calls for issues of diversity to be directly addressed by ABA and the book industry as a whole. As bookstore owners, managers, and employees ourselves, we, the members of the task force, are excited and honored to be helping ABA with this project. We recognize that this is an issue that is far larger than any small group of individuals can tackle on its own.
As we approach our meeting at BookExpo and to begin discussing these issues, we encourage you to make your voices heard by taking this survey. Please distribute this confidential survey to anyone on your staff who may be interested. We look forward to hearing from you!
--The ABA Diversity Task Force
In Case You Missed It
* Vintage Books' Becky Milner
interviewedThe Leavers author Lisa Ko for BookWeb and it's a good one, so we brought it to NWBL.
* Relive Indie Bookstore Day in and around Seattle through the eyes of
The Champs, Team Snack Pack!
* For less frenzied Seattle travels, join James Crossley on a walk via the recommendations of David B. Williams and his
Seattle Walks guidebook.
Regional Award Winners Oregon Book Awards and E.B. White
The 2017 OBAs were recently announced and several names well known to PNBA booksellers were called to the podium.
Additionally, ABA just released the winners of its 2017 Indies Choice Book Awards and the E.B. White Read-Aloud Awards. Du Iz Tak by Portland author and illustrator Carson Ellis was named this year's E.B. White winner in the Picture Book category.
Member Notes
Sindelar Wins Popular Vote Bookstore members of the American Booksellers Association
recently elected three new directors to the board as well as a new president and vice president/secretary. The new POTABA is our own Robert Sindelar, Managing Partner of Third Place Books. It's nice to feel good about an election. Real good.
Speacial of the Day: Green Bean Northeast Portland's Green Bean Books, a wildly popular stop on the the recent Children's Institute Bookstore Tour, was featured in the April 28 edtion of
Shelf Awareness.
Big Day on Broadway Portland's Broadway Books will celebrate the store's 25th anniversary this Saturday, May 20. Discounts, commemorative book bag and book plates, cake AND cupcakes!
Make Your Mark as a Store Owner Anacortes, Washington's Watermark Book Company is
for sale. After 35 years in the biz, 28 as owner of Watermark, Pattie Pattee has "decided it's time to retire and pursue other passions."
Six Decades of Good Country Living Bozeman's Country Bookshelf doubled up the fun on Indie Bookstore Day with a
60th Anniversary celebration.
Real News on Moscow BookPeople of Moscow was voted "Best Local Shop" for the Spring 2017 "Best of Moscow" lineup in the University of Idaho's
The Argonaut newspaper.
Red Box Alert ABA members, be on the lookout for a Sandra Boynton designed poster encouraging support of Binc. Please hang it in an employee frequented area if you're able.
"
I can't find the words to express how much I have appreciated my time on the BOD and working through the transition of EDs. I remain totally amazed with the quality, passion and dedication of the other Directors with which I had the honor of serving. We are truly blessed as an industry!"
-- "Milkshake" Jack Wolcott (Grass Roots Books, Corvallis, OR), after his final
meeting of a four-year stint on the PNBA Board of Directors
Redmond, Washington's Brick & Mortar Books opened its doors to the public for a soft-opening period starting May 30 after a long and dedicated planning period.
Bookseller school, site analytics, expert consultation, PNBA, Winter Institute and Children's Institute tradeshows--Dan Ullom and his family team left as little to chance as possible when they decided to match their passion for books with a community void and bring a major bookstore back to Redmond.
The Seattle Review of Books, Bookselling This Week and the Redmond Reporter each published recent stories on the store and the family behind it. The Brick & Mortar website features a photo spread of the former retail graveyard that has been transformed into, as conveyed by one Facebook follower, "a warmth you feel from the space immediately--the smell of wood, paper from new books, incredibly friendly staff, it's a good energy."
The store's official Grand Opening is June 23, featuring a christening from uber-star author Marissa Meyer.
Binc Announcements Scholars and Disaster Dollars
Recurring requests over the past few years and the results of Binc's 2016 Bookseller Survey led to the creation of a new pilot program, Disaster Recovery Assistance for Bookstores.
This program is intended to help the store make repairs, replace inventory, pay utility bills and other related expenses that are not the responsibility of the landlord and are not covered by insurance. The assistance grant will typically cover the difference between what the store's insurance pays and the demonstrated financial need to reopen the bookstore.
Also announced, the
Binc Scholarship winners for the 2017-2018 academic year, including PNBA's Laura Wathen, of Chapter One Bookstore, Hamilton, Montana. Winning bookseller store affiliation bios and educational goals can be viewed
here.
In Case You Missed It
* Island Books' James Crossley accidentally discovered a unique program of
inventory control/customer relations and he shared in in his latest installment of "A Cup of News."
* What should you do should you encounter a
Wildman from the Pacific Northwest within the mechanical confines of a New York City Book Expo? Give the guy some coverage, of course--particularly when he's responsible for over $4,000 in donations to ALA and a whole lot of unit sales through indies.
* Went back in time to read this again. Returned to confirm it to be a column worth your time.
Let's Do the Time Warp Again, courtesy of Billie Bloebaum.
Member Notes
Sindelar's First Letter from the Helm Fresh out of the package ABA President Robert Sindelar produced his
first bi-monthly letter to ABA members, recapping Book Expo, bidding farewell to colleagues leaving the Board and welcoming those newly arrived.
We like this president.
Green Bean Dresses Up Storytime Green Bean's Drag Queen Story Time was created "to inspire creativity, jump starts kids' imagination, and encourage open and accepting minds."
Carina Borealis presented books including
Be Who You Are by Todd Parr,
My Princess Boy by Cheryl Kilodavis, and
Du Iz Tak? by Carson Ellis to encourage "a world where people can present as they wish."
Moscow Power Play BookPeople of Moscow's Carol Spurling, PNBA's current Vice President, was recently
elected to the Moscow Chamber of Commerce.
"I'm trying to be a independent business advocate in my community and the Chamber is sorely in need of that perspective!"
Ever wondered if William Gibson
dresses like a cyberpunk? Or if Phil Knight wears a Nike suit? Come to breakfast at the show and see for yourself!
How about dining with Rene Denfeld? And you might just like to cause trouble with Maggie Stiefvater and Adam Rex at the Kids' Table too. Who wouldn't!
Cap one night with a glass of wine with Corinna Lyuken (If she spills she'll just turn it into something cool). And the next at a Pie & Whiskey flavored dessert party with Willy Vlautin.
Tip of the iceberg, folks. Attendee registration goes live on the 24th, but you are encouraged to
book your room any time you're ready.
Bring Us Your Librarians! Conference to Tie In to PNBA Show
The first ever Great NW Readers' Advisory Unconference is coming to the Portland area and it's scheduled to dovetail right into PNBA educational program at this year's show.
The event is sponsored by Library Reads, the publisher and librarian initiative designed to to help connect their favorite books to as many readers as possible, and will feature programming from and for readers' advisory experts from across the country.
The Unconference is October 7, at the nearby Hillsboro Public Library, allowing attendees to scoot over to the Red Lion the following day to attend, and in some instances, deliver educational sessions.
As always, PNBA member librarians are encouraged to attend any part of the Tradeshow. This year, we'll also be offering a special entrance deal to non-members who have attended the Readers' Advisory event. Stay tuned for details.
ABA Suggestion Box New Components for Sharing Ideas
The American Booksellers Association urges programming input from members via
two new BookWeb forms.
Booksellers can make year around proposals for ABA programming opportunities at Winter Institute, Children's Institute, BookExpo, Spring Forums, and regional tradeshows.
In Case You Missed It
* Even when he's disappointing, he's never disappointing.
Sherman Alexie on cutting his memoir tour short.
* This book (come on, the cover alone!) keeps popping up, and A Good Book has taken notice.
Made for Love.
* Billie Blobaum tries not to loose her
$#!+ when a graphic novel gets the customer poo-poo.
It IS Reading, people!
Member Notes
New Face in the Village Mary Vermillion has
joined Village Books as Marketing Director for both the Bellingham and Lynden stores. Be sure to ask about her koi!
Only Getting Started Island Books owner Laurie Raisys wrote a
giddy tribute to her first two years at the helm in the store's July newsletter.
ARCs for Education As part of their neighborhood's Northeast Broadway Summer Super Sale, Portland's Broadway Books annually offers this fundraising promotion that could serve as a model for your store.
This is the one time of the year when we sell Advance Reader's Copies (ARCs), which are special pre-publication editions that we receive from the publishers. These one-time-only ARCs are on sale for $4 each or 3 for $10. We donate the proceeds from these sales to Literary Arts' Writers in the Schools program.
With the Exhibitor Floor all but locked in, almost every one of 100+ invited authors confirmed and an Education Day schedule in the fine-tuning stage, it is becoming very clear that this block of days we've had marked on the calendar for so long really is going to feature a PNBA Tradeshow!
As we announced to prospective attendees a couple of weeks back, we've even progressed so far as to have started pointing Show attendees to our overflow hotel (featured on the Tradeshow homepage), which is so close it's really just a separate guest house on the same property.
We've also received word that a handful of rooms will be returning to our Red Lion block as early as this weekend, so if you've been holding out for that possibility, give them a try! The automatic click-through may not reflect the newly available rooms, so give the desk a call just to be sure.
One way or another, we'll get you settled in for an outstanding riverfront show!
Take a look at the preliminary schedule and event lineups to see what and who you can expect, and keep checking back as we fill in the final holes over the next week or two. We're sure the effort will give rise to your anticipation.
LBs seek RL!
Serious Inquiries Only
Lonely books seek rural library. Do you know a rural library, volunteer library, or other non-profit that puts the gift of literacy into the hands of its community?
At the end of the fall trade show, the Michael Pritiken Rural Library Project coordinator and a volunteer crew stay to the end, packing up donated books for just such an organization. This usually translates to more than $10K in new books. To help a library or organization near you get these books, here's what has to happen:
A PNBA member store sends a brief email nomination to RLP coordinator Colin Rea. It's that easy!
Once the recipient library is chosen, the PNBA store that made the nomination gets to deliver the good news. The only caveat is that the group receiving the donation must arrange to transport the books from the show (usually something close to 30 boxes). In most cases a volunteer from the store or the library travels to the show with a truck and the RLP crew helps load up.
Please send your nominations by Friday, September 1.
Scholarship Sextet Chances to Pay for Your Show
This year's PNBA Tradeshow provides occasion for five awards that can reimburse you for your show expenses.
The 2017 Macmillan Booksellers Professional Development Scholarships, in coordination with Binc, will be announced any day now. One winner will be selected for each regional show. Thank you to the healthy pool of NW booksellers who threw a hat into the ring.
The PNBA Board of Directors is offering a new scholarship this year, the Fall Show First-Timer award. Applications are due Sept. 1 and will be reviewed by the Board's scholarship committee. The recipient will be contacted and announced in mid-Sept.
Three of the grant opportunities will arise on Tuesday at the show as part of the Exhibitor Exclamation! raffle on the show floor. Once again, Binc will offer a $500 scholarship to cover the expenses of one of this year's Tradeshow attendees (previous Binc and PNBA raffle scholarship winners from the past three years are ineligible for 2017 awards).
Additionally, PNBA will award two scholarships, maximum of $700, one to reimburse expenses from this year's Show and a second to cover the 2018 Show, in Tacoma (same three year restriction applies).
And this bonus news just in! ABA plans to pull a Wi13 scholarship winner from business cards collected at the show. Not only do you have the chance to reimburse yourself for 2017, you can get a head start on 2018 too! Winter Institute will be held in Memphis, Jan 22 - 25. (The general Wi13 scholarship application is also now available.)
And that makes six.
Exhibitor Exclamation! Let's Get Ready to Raffle
If you are holding down a table or booth on Tuesday at the Show, there's absolutely no reason not to take advantage of day two's Exhibitor Exclamation! promotion.
This interactive raffle keeps booksellers energized within the exhibits and your participation will draw their attention to you!
We're keeping this promo open as long as we can still list your prizes in the show program, but that deadline is nearing. Tell us what you want to give away and we'll spotlight it.
Deals, Deals, Deals! Take Advantage and Save
ABA President Robert Sindelar, Managing Partner of Third Place Books, wants his fellow booksellers to stay tuned in and save money by knowing what publisher deals are out there on a weekly basis.
"More and more publishers are offering backlist specials that can make an impact on your bottom line. Here are two great ways to find out about them."
His easy starter kit consists of two items:
1) The ABA Book Buyers Handbook now features a link to new Backlist Offers*, which has a running list of deals.
2) Each Monday PNBA will send a weekly roundup of publisher promos compiled by our friends at New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association.
*ABA's Educational offering at this year's Tradeshow is titled "Maximizing Backlist: Proven ways to market, promote, and sell backlist titles."
Thanks, Robert!
Straight out of the campsite and into the bookstore. PNBA's Director
drops in on Karen Emmerling, at Seaside's Beach Books
Member Notes
Big Thanks to Literary Arts Members of the PNBA Education Committee recently rallied in Portland to finalize the fall Show lineup, and the congress was made not only possible but entirley comfortable by the generosity of Literary Arts. L.A. staff made their space available during off-hours, and we are grateful.
New ABA MRM for PNBA ABA has recently hired two new Member Relations Managers and the PNBA representative started just this week. We welcome
Daniel O'Brien, who will serve PNBA, as well as MPIBA, NCIBA, SCIBA, and SIBA.
After six years as PNBA's MRM,
Nathan Halter recently returned to Doylestown, PA to become a manager at the Doylestown Bookshop. Hope we see you at a show, Nathan!
Island Scare A small island may not seem the wisest place to carry out an armed robbery, but that didn't stop an attack on Mercer's Island Books, July 21. Staff was shaken, but no one was hurt.
Stronger Than Ever.
We Are Not Closing--We Are Just For Sale No mystery, it's pretty clear what's going on at
Seattle Mystery Bookshop. A recent blog post began: "It is our hope that someone who cares deeply about this shop will help SMB continue past its 27th year." Anyone in mind? Please
let them know.
Tools of the Tradeshow Have Fun AND Get Things Done
The Show program is now available to inform you where you need to be and who you're going to see at the Red Lion on the River, in Portland, Oct 8, 9, 10.
One of the places you'll surely be Monday and Tuesday is the exhibits floor, where you should most definitely take advantage of publisher Show Specials.
Additionally, you'll need to up your orders for titles to be featured in your 2017 Holiday Books campaign. The Buyer's Sheet groups books according to publisher or distributor to make your booster orders über easy.
Ingram and Baker & Taylor will also promote special terms for books in the catalog lineup.
Thank You to Our Show Sponsors!
Baker & Taylor
Authors on the Map
Exhibits, Show Floor Book Bags Ingram
The Nightcapper
Exhibits Penguin Random House
Education Day HarperCollins
Feast of Authors Sasquatch
Sweet & Greet Scholastic
Dinner at the Kids' Table Assoc. of Book Publishers of B.C.
7 Coming-Up Binc
Bookseller Scholarship Publishers Weekly
Registration
LibraryReads
Library Programming
Sokol Blosser Winery
Nightcapper Vino
Storey Publishing
Nightcapper Cider
BuzzBooks 2017 Cast
Preview these new titles Monday on the Show floor, share your favorite, and you'll be in the running for one of three $100 cash prizes to be delivered at the show!
Emily Patterson: The Heroic Life of a Milltown Nurse Lisa Anne Smith Ronsdale Press
When Emily Patterson arrives in the Northwest with her husband and children in 1862, she finds herself worlds away from Bath, Maine, the staunchly pious township of her birth. From the remote reaches of Vancouver Island to Oregon's fertile Willamette and Columbia River regions, Emily learns much about self-reliance and resolve while in search of home.
Klee Wyck Journal: The Making of a Wilderness Retreat Lou Mckee Epicenter Press
After years kayaking the waterways of the Pacific Northwest coast, author and artist Lou McKee built a tiny wilderness cabin. This journal showcases the cabin's construction and local flora and fauna in exquisite, full color ink and pencil drawings.
Love of Finished Years Gregory Erich Phillips Sillan Pace Brown Publishing
Elsa did not choose to come to America or to work in the garment sweatshops of lower Manhattan instead of attending school. She did not choose to become deeply enveloped in the high society drama of her new employer's family. As the First World War casts its shadow, the precarious friendship with her new mistress proves more complex than Elsa could ever have imagined.
Portland Then & Now Dan Haneckow Pavilion Books Group/IPG
Pairs historic photographs with specially commissioned views of the same scenes as they appear today to show how Portland evolved from a humble frontier village to the thriving city we know today.
Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation Monique Gray Smith Orca Book Publishers
Takes readers on a journey toward reconciliation as we come to terms with the long-term effects of Residential (Boarding) Schools. Healing requires education and increased understanding of the impacts still being felt by Survivors and their families.
Akira Hamada, a beautiful Japanese geisha, failed at killing Kaito Mitsui two years ago--the same yakuza gang leader who destroyed her lover and forced her to become an assassin. Now, Akira has ten days at sea to identify her target and complete her assignment as her penance, or face her own death.
We All Have Souls And I Think We Can Prove It Tom Blaschko Idyll Arbor, Inc.
Angels, ghosts, shamans, soul-mates. The physical world isn't everything! Your world will be kinder and more fulfilling when you embrace the worlds of soul reality. This book shows readers how.
The Weiser Book of Occult Detectives: 13 Stories of Supernatural Sleuthing edited by Judika Illes Red Wheel/Weiser
A compilation of vintage occult detective stories by masters of the genre, whose detectives explore paranormal mysteries or use their own supernatural gifts to solve crimes. Features classic authors and stories that inspired what is now a bestsellilng genre in movies, TV, books, and video games.
Rural Library Project Plans
Donations to be Sorted and Shared
RLP coordinator Colin Rea has a multi-branched plan for this year's exhibitor donations on the Tradeshow floor.
Here's how he reports the plan:
Every now and again, PNBA booksellers are so busy ordering and selling fall titles that they forget to nominate a rural library. When that happens, we get creative!
This year the bulk of the teen and adult titles will go to a deserving high school library, Kalapuya High School in Eugene, Oregon. Kaplapuya is an alternative high school providing a unique path to education for students having difficulty succeeding in the traditional HS environment.
Duplicate donations will go to Salem's Chemawa Indian School, as introduced to PNBA (Footnotes, Dec. 2016) by Show volunteer Lana Luke, and the Yachats Public Library, courtesy of Show volunteer Charles Juenemann, whose friend lives in Yachats and volunteers regularly at the central Oregon coast library.
As both schools only serve grades 10-12, books for younger kids will go to the Children's Book Bank, in Portland. Since becoming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2008, Children's Book Bank has organized over 10,000 community volunteers to channel over 650,000 books into the hands and homes of over 50,000 children in need in the Portland area.
Many thanks to two employees at Eugene's Duck Store for jumping in to sponsor and inspire these choices. Laura White, the event coordinator, agreed to nominate Kaplauya High School after the need was presented. And a special shout out goes to Arne Olsen, a warehouse supervisor whose love of the Portland Timbers led me to Booked!, The Library and Literary Outreach Project of the team's fan base, the Timbers Army.
Booked! partners with The Children's Book Bank to collect new and gently used books from soccer fans, often with the help and support of Timbers player Diego Valeri and his daughter Constanza, who champion reading and literacy. So thank you to Laura and Arne, and to the tweets of Diego Valeri who inspired the choice of Booked! and the Children's Book Bank!
Scholarship Winners Macmillan and PNBA
Two scholarships announced, four to go at the show!
Nine booksellers from communities across the country will be attending regional tradeshows courtesy of Macmillan Publishers, in cooperation with the Book Industry Charitable Foundation.
The Macmillan Booksellers Professional Development Scholarship is a pilot program providing professional development to booksellers traditionally under-represented within the industry.
The recipient in the PNBA region is Avery Peregrine from Third Place Books, in Seattle.
Congratulations, Avery!
The winner of the PNBA Board of Directors First-Timer award, designed to benefit a bookseller who has not had the pleasure of Tradeshow attendance, is Kayla Newton, who recently became Events and Social Engagement Coordinator at Auntie's Bookstore, Spokane.
"Oh, goodness. I am so honored and sincerely appreciate this opportunity. I'm excited to represent Auntie's Bookstore at PNBA 2017 and look forward to meeting you all as well!"
Us too, Kayla.
2017 PNBA Award winner Robert Moor had to wait until his U.S. paperback tour,
but he finally has his plaque! Moor's honor was recently recognized at both
Powell's and Elliott Bay.
On Trails is currently the #13 Paperback Non-Ficton
title on the Pacific Northwest Independent Bestseller List.
Member Notes
Welcome Aboard, Seth Ingram has announced
Seth Marko as the new client publisher distribution rep for Ingram Publisher Services in Oregon and Washington
.
Trent Shaw remains the Ingram Book Company wholesale rep for the Pacific Northwest. Please direct all wholesale inquiries to his attention. Cindy Heidemann continues to rep PGW and Two Rivers (formerly Perseus) Distribution. There are no changes to Consortium representation in the territory.
For questions about stores in AK, ID and MT or any other queries, please contact
Elise Cannon.
Wendy Rhymes with Indie
Well, almost. Longtime Third Place Events Coordinator and buyer Wendy Ceballos, who recently relocated to NYC, has joined the Abrams sales department in the newly created position of sales manager, indie ambassador
.
Her duties at Abrams will include overseeing the commission rep force and coordinating with in-house marketing and publicity staff to make sure the company is maximizing opportunities as well as working closely with the American Booksellers Association and its member stores.
We kind of got her back!
Seattle Mystery No More
Shelf Awareness reports that Seattle Mystery Bookshop owner J.B. Dickey announced the shop's closure on the store website.
"We're all heartbroken to close the shop... But we all fought hard to keep it going for years but the sharp bottom line is people have not been buying enough books from us to keep it working for a long time. Time to say goodbye."
The store's last day will be Sept. 30.
The Store is Still for Sale! Watermark Book Co. reports, "We are still looking for a buyer who will take over Watermark Book Company and keep it alive as a bookstore. If you, or anyone you know, is interested in becoming an important part of a thriving community (and living everyone's dream of owning a bookstore),
contact us."
New Venue, Great Show Things Flow Well on the River
So much is a book-filled blur, but add to the memories you brought home with this supplemental coverage of the Show.
Publishers Weekly has run several pieces in the days since we departed Portland; some stats and general overview, a focus on diversity and creativity in children's books, and an on-the-spot decision by the Board of Directors to double the Association's 2017 donation to Binc.
And take a trip through exhibits, parties and hallways of the Red Lion courtesy of this photo spread from Forest Avenue's Laura Stanfill, who was thrilled to share. "I really do take photos for everyone, to celebrate the occasion."
Celebrate away.
Big Thanks to Our 2017 Show Sponsors!
Baker & Taylor
Authors on the Map
Exhibits, Show Floor Book Bags Ingram
The Nightcapper
Exhibits Penguin Random House
Education Day HarperCollins
Feast of Authors Sasquatch
Sweet & Greet Scholastic
Dinner at the Kids' Table Assoc. of Book Publishers of B.C.
7 Coming-Up Binc
Bookseller Scholarship Publishers Weekly
Registration
LibraryReads
Library Programming
Sokol Blosser Winery
Nightcapper Vino
Storey Publishing
Nightcapper Cider
No Show without these guys
BuzzBooks Contest
2017 Winners
Monique Gray Smith's Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation, Orca Book Publishers, was voted BuzzBooks winner by booksellers and librarians during the Monday show floor contest.
For more than 150 years, thousands of indigenous children were forced by the Canadian government to attend schools designed to eradicate the cultural identities of indigenous peoples.This book takes readers on a journey toward reconciliation as we come to terms with the long-term effects of Residential (Boarding) Schools. Healing requires education and increased understanding of the impacts still being felt by Survivors and their families.
Three booksellers received extra special thanks for their participation, winning $100 each in a blind drawing from the completed punch cards:
Kristen Morse, Village Books, Bellingham, WA Donica Sharpe, A Book for All Seasons, Leavenworth, WA Emily Adams, Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, WA
Thanks to all the attendees, pubs and reps who played the game and played it well!
Ending with Emphasis Exhibitor Exclamation--Staying Pays
Attendees who stayed for Tuesday's exhibits and 7 Coming-Up author showcase put themselves in the running for a bevy of prizes, ranging from gift baskets, to entire booth exhibits, to Show scholarships.
Thanks to all who made Tuesday fruitful and fun--publishers, reps, booksellers, librarians, authors and then some!
Holiday House, Microcosm Publshing, Ripple Grove Press, Earth Sky + Water, Galaxy Press, Not a Pipe Publishing,
IPG, Pomegranate, Assoc. Book Publishers of B.C.,
Baker & Taylor, Graphic Arts Books, Shorefast Editions,
Taku Graphics, Binc
"We are speechless ... and grateful! The compassion in your region is remarkable."
--Binc Director of Development Kathy Bartson, in response to the PNBA Board authorizing an additional $5,000 donation to effectively double the Binc Badge total collected at the 2017 Show.
RLP Recipient Reports
Appreciation Exclaimed
One of four recipients of publisher donations at this year's Show, The Children's Book Bank, Portland, shared this response from the group's box opening party.
Partnership Manager Todd Diskin sent this note to Michael Pritiken Rural Library Project coordinator Colin Rea.
"We just finally finished counting up the books from the PNBA and the words "amazing," "incredible," and "outstanding" were uttered while going through them. These are not the usual words we use when we go through a donation so I just wanted to thank you and everyone at PNBA for the incredible donation."
That's why we do it.
She's still the boss
Member Notes
ABA President Fresh from the Shows Third Place's Robert Sindelar checks in atop the latest edition of
Bookselling This Week, taking on topics from next-gen booksellers to can't miss Indies First offers to the lack of "y'all"s at the PNBA Show.
First-Timer Scholarship a Hit and a Hook
Kayla Newton, Events Coordinator at Auntie's Books and winner of this year's special PNBA Board of Directors show dividend, had a great time and we're willing to bet she's already planning to be a second-timer next year.
"Grand job on PNBA 2017. My first time will be one of the most memorable during my career in the book industry, and I greatly appreciated the opportunity to attend. Thank you so much!
"
The responses were numerous, from reps and booksellers, from memory and the internet. J. A. Jance, Gary Alexander, Aaron Elkins and Charlotte Elkins, Philip Margolin, G.M. Ford, Frederick Huebner and Janet L. Smith.
Sindelar Wins Popular Vote
Emily Patterson: The Heroic Life 
Klee Wyck Journal: The Making of 
Love of Finished Years
Portland Then & Now
Speaking Our Truth: A Journey 
Twisted Threads 
We All Have Souls And I Think 
The Weiser Book of Occult Detectives: 
Welcome Aboard, Seth
BuzzBooks Contest
First-Timer Scholarship a Hit and a Hook