Spring Fest West Planned
Virtual Team-up with PNBA/CALIBA
Two indie regionals, twice the value for you! The NW and California indie booksellers organizations will co-produce two days of virtual entertainment and education for our members, April 5 and 6.
A publisher-aimed call for authors will go out next week, followed by the call for rep picks, and then the attendee registration.
Each day will feature a lineup of author events, rep pitch forums, and educational programs. Day one, hosted by PNBA, will focus on books for adults. CALIBA will take on the kids list on day two.
Spring Fest West extras include a virtual Galley Gallery and the Western Round-up mixer to cap off the first day.
ABA News
Notes of Importance
Affordable Health Coverage
If you missed the 2021 Open Enrollment Period for Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage, you still have options in 2021 as things have changed under the Biden Administration.
February 15 through May 15, the federal health insurance marketplace, and most state exchanges, will reopen for a Special Enrollment Period due to the pandemic.
Schedule an appointment with a licensed advisor with
LIG Solutions
. 866-732-3028
IndieCommerc Institute
Registration is now open for ABA's March 17, 18 I
ndieCommerce Institute.
This year's interactive, classroom-style workshop is migrating to a virtual setting. The live, one-time-only programming is free and limited to the first 200 registrants.
The Best Bookstores and Reps
PW Awards Nomination Call
Authors, booksellers, publishers, distributors, and others with ties to the book industry are invited to nominate their favorite bookstores and sales reps for the Bookstore and Sales Rep of the Year Awards. The winners will be announced at the inaugural U.S. Book Show in May, will be featured in a story in
Publishers Weekly
, and will be honored at an awards ceremony in the fall.
Click here
for nomination requirements and submission instructions.
In Case You Missed It
*
They're getting the team back together! Catch the Indie All-Stars from 2020's Winter institute in a
live virtual reunion event
. The team's closer, Madison Books' James Crossley, issues the invite for this Friday.
*
It's a resource and reading inspiration, check out the
Black Freedom Collection
from Portland's Third Eye Books.
*
She's an author; she's a publisher; she's a bookseller!
South Sound Magazine
featured PNBA member publisher and bookseller
Christina Butcher
.
Consider increasing the breadth of voices making pitches in your store by sharing the reviews of your PNBA colleagues. Copy and paste reviews into the NWBL
Face Out shelftalker
template from the Bookseller Resources page on the PNBA site--title, author, blurb, attribution, print, stick, sale!
Bozeman for Black Literacy
"We are probably the most excited to join our indie bookstore colleagues from Chicago in celebrating
Black Literacy Day
! The brainchild of Chicago's Semicolon Bookstore, Black Literacy Day aims to support literacy efforts for Black communities, recognizing that literacy is the cornerstone of individual and social growth, and that the book community isn't just for white folks.
"
-Country Bookshelf (Bozeman, MT). The store is committing to the effort 20% of sales from selections from Montana Racial Equity Project's upcoming book club
.
Hernandez Joins ABA DEIC
Third Place Books' (Lake Forest Park, WA) Rosa Hernandez has been selected to join
ABA's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee
. Rosa is a member of the PNBA Book Awards Committee and helped produce the recent virtual PNBA Awards celebration.
Edelweiss 360 Demo
ABA hosted a Feb. 4 Marketing Meetup featuring Waucoma Bookstore's (Hood River, OR) Jenny Cohen among a panel of booksellers
putting Edelweiss 360 services to use
in their stores.
Missed the Bloomsbury Buzz?
If you missed the Feb. 4 pitch session with Bloomsbury marketing pros Laura Keefe and Erica Barmash, we preserved the experience for your
video
viewing.
Riverwalk Boss in Health Battle
Libby Manthey, owner of Riverwalk Books (Chelan, WA) and a past president of PNBA, has taken a tough turn into the new year. After a cancer recurrence diagnosis in early December, she was hospitalized for an unrelated emergency at Christmas. The Chelan community has rallied for a
GoFundMe
effort to help cover Libby's extensive medical costs while she recovers and continues treatment. If you are not in a position to contribute at this time but would still like to support Libby you can mail a card to: Riverwalk Books, PO Box 686, Chelan, WA 98816. If you have any questions for the Manthey family please reach out via the
Riverwalk Books Facebook
account. The family thanks the "very special" bookstore community, of which Libby has been a part for more than 25 years, for all its support.
Keeping Staff in the Loop
Do you need to add new employees to the PNBA member mailing list? Make multiple updates on one
simple form
and broaden the flow of PNBA info into your store-
-Footnotes
, Bookseller Blast ARC offers, Indie NW Bestseller List, event and program information, and more.
Welcome Aboard New 2021 Bookstores
Main Street Books Monroe (Monroe, WA), BookIt Nook (Poulsbo, WA), Comics Adventure (Milwaukie, OR), Once Upon a Fairytale Books (Coeur d'Alene, ID), The Wise Owl Books and Music (Shoreline, WA), The Clever Fox Bookshop (pending, Portland, OR), Pasture Bedtime Books (pending, Tillamook, OR).
Book Awards Announced
Including Community Celebration Invite
The winners of PNBA's
2021 Book Awards
were announced January 12 along with an invitation for all PNBA booksellers and their customers to join in the celebration. The winners, including Klindt's Booksellers' Tina Ontiveros, will appear at a February 10 showcase open to all book lovers in the region. Please, spread the word!
The deadline to submit Give Books reimbursement information has been extended to January 27. Instructions for this year's Give Books insertion and distribution reimbursements are posted on the
Holiday Catalog page
of the PNBA website.
PNBA will pay a portion of your cost for insertion of the holiday catalog in your local paper or other publication. Refer to
the form
for reimbursement instructions.
ABA News
On Tap in the New Year
Financial Survey Extended
The deadline to participate in the ABA
financial data survey
to determine how stores are doing and what ABA can do to help has been extended through January 25. The survey takes just five minutes to complete.
In-Person Children's Institute
ABA has announced intentions to host Children's Institute 2021 in person, in Tucson, August 30 - September 1. The event was originally scheduled for mid-June.
IndieCommerce Waiting List
Need a Website? There has been a seismic shift in how customers are shopping for books, and the IndieCommerce team is here to help your store manage these changes.
Sign up
to learn more about IndieCommerce and IndieLite.
Wi16
The ABA's 2021 Winter Institute will now be held virtually from Thursday, February 18, through Saturday, February 20.
Register
now.
In Case You Missed It
*Do-Si-Don't Even
: An Original Essay by 2021 PNBA Award Winner Donna Barba Higuera.
*
Broadway Books' made a statement in 2017 and did the same this year--only with a different tone. Read about their budding tradition, the
Inauguration Day Book Giveaway
.
Consider increasing the breadth of voices making pitches in your store by sharing the reviews of your PNBA colleagues. Copy and paste reviews into the NWBL
Face Out shelftalker
template from the Bookseller Resources page on the PNBA site--title, author, blurb, attribution, print, stick, sale!
Seattle City of Lit Adds to Board
Five At-Large Spots to Fill
Seattle City of Literature is adding five at-large seats to its board of directors. The new positions are designated for representatives from book and literature related groups, businesses, and community organizations in five geographic areas across the Seattle area: north, south, east, west, and central.
New directors in these one-year posisitons will participate fully in all board decisions. The board meets (virtually) once a month for 90 minutes to two hours. Committees meet as needed.
These new positions were created to ensure that the UNESCO designation is fully representative of and connected to the work happening in the community. It is crucial that the decision-making directly reflect the communities who earned the city that designation in the first place.
For more information
contact
Seattle City of Literature. Go here to complete the one-page
application
.
Honoring Barry Lopez
From Jane Kirkpatrick
An icon of the writing world passed away recently. National Book Award Winner Barry Lopez. He wrote of landscapes and nature wrapped in wisdom and heart. I had the privilege some years ago to be on stage with him and National Book Award winner Ivan Doig. Both men were mentors or rather I admired both greatly. I'm sure they'd never heard of me nor knew of how they affected my writing. The event was booked as "Best in the Northwest" and I was thrilled to be there sitting between these two great writers. We were asked questions by Brad Smith, the former owner of Paulina Springs Books and Herringbone Books. Paulina Springs, in Sisters, OR hosted my very first book signing for
Homestead
way back in the 90s. I think Brad was the reason why I was there, actually. He was the president of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association and when I spoke at his bookstores he once said that if he was ever President of the United States he would name me to a new cabinet position as the Secretary of Stories. I loved that idea. It was an enlightening evening. And with the death of Mr. Lopez, I am now the only participant on that stage that is still alive. Brad succumbed to cancer three years ago and Ivan Doig in 2015. So I'll bear witness to these men whose lives touched so many-as we all bear witness to those we've lost this past year. And I encourage you to read their body of works, including my favorites:
Arctic Dreams
, Barry's and
English Creek
, Ivan Doig's treasured Montana story.
This tribute appeared in Jane's Story Sparks newsletter. The event she remembers was the Northwest Classic Authors dinner, held at the 2013 PNBA Tradeshow, at the Holiday Inn Portland Airport. We're sure both men knew just who Jane was.
Port Book and News (Port Angeles, WA) received this gift from a local artist. "On a day when we needed beauty, this brought so much joy to all of us at the bookstore."
PNBA Member Notes:
Remembering Bill Virgin
Jenny Cole of Page 2 Books (Burien, WA) reported the sad news of her husband and co-owner Bill Virgin's death on Dec. 19.
"Bill and I bought Page 2 Books in 2013 and he loved being a part of the bookstore world. He wasn't in the store as often as he would have liked because he was busy with his own writing career. Bill had been working as a writer since he was a student at Ohio State University. Although he sometimes wrote for magazines and other publications, Bill was very much a newspaper man. He worked for papers on both coasts and readers of the
Seattle Post Intelligencer
and the
Tacoma News Tribune
have long enjoyed the columns of Bill Virgin."
Here are a couple of Bill's recent articles from this past fall, one on the development of
work from home culture
, the other regarding
changes in advertising
.
Riverwalk Boss in Health Battle
Libby Manthey, owner of Riverwalk Books (Chelan, WA) and a past president of PNBA, has taken a tough turn into the new year. After a cancer recurrence diagnosis in early December, she was hospitalized for an unrelated emergency at Christmas. The Chelan community has rallied for a
GoFundMe
effort to help cover Libby's extensive medical costs while she recovers and continues treatment. If you are not in a position to contribute at this time but would still like to support Libby you can mail a card to: Riverwalk Books, PO Box 686, Chelan, WA 98816. If you have any questions for the Manthey family please reach out via the
Riverwalk Books Facebook
account. The family thanks the "very special" bookstore community, of which Libby has been a part for more than 25 years, for all its support.
Powell's Responds to Protest
Portland's Powell's Books
issued a statement
in response to local activist objections to the store's website promotion of a controversial anti-Antifa book by conservative journalist Andy Ngo.
PW
laid out the backdrop alongside comments from owner Emily Powell.
Resource Highlight
Shared by our friends at CALIBA: The South Asian Kidlit newsletter was created to help booksellers, librarians, and bloggers become aware of the upcoming season's South Asian Kidlit titles. The featured books are from traditional publishers and span Picture Books through Young Adult. The newsletter will come once a season and no more than four times a year.
Sign up
to get on the list.
Pandemic Holiday Bookselling at the Beach
Time Enough Books (Ilwaco, WA) and Beach Books (Seaside, OR) were featured in a review from
Coast River Business Journal
, covering the business scene on the North Oregon and South Washington Coast.
Bookstore Management Gig in the Gorge
Columbia Gorge Community College (The Dalles, OR) is looking to expand and innovate it's campus bookstore operation. A housing project is underway and the updated store is envisioned as an essential piece of an integrated campus culture and community. Review the full
job description
here.
Oregon Children's Reader Opp
ORCA, the
Oregon Reader's Choice Awards
, is looking for a PNBA member bookseller or librarian to join its program selection committee. There are openings on the committee at all of the reading levels: grades 3-5, grades 6-8, and grades 9-12.
The Oregon Reader's Choice Award was founded in 2010 as way for Oregon youth to become enthusiastic and discriminating readers. Oregon students, teachers, and librarians nominate books that are then reviewed by a committee of educators and literary professionals who determine the finalists. Oregon students then choose their favorites through a real-life democratic process
The role of committee members is to read and contribute titles as potential nominees. The bulk of committee work is done early in the year, Jan - March. This year, the committee is considering books with a 2019 publication date. Committee members commit to a two-year term with the option of a second term. If interested, please contact ORCA Chair,
Lori Lieberman
.
Keeping Staff in the Loop
Do you need to add new employees to the PNBA member mailing list? Make multiple updates on one
simple form
and broaden the flow of PNBA info into your store-
-Footnotes
, Bookseller Blast ARC offers, Indie NW Bestseller List, event and program information, and more.
Keeping Your Membership Up to Date
We may not be hitting returning members up for dues this year, but we still want to touch base with you early in 2021 and make sure we have everything straight in your member profile. Look for a brief member update/survey in the next couple of weeks. We'd appreciate hearing from you.
Welcome Aboard New 2021 Bookstores
Main Street Books Monroe (Monroe, WA), BookIt Nook (Poulsbo, WA), Comics Adventure (Milwaukie, OR), Once Upon a Fairytale Books (Coeur d'Alene, ID), The Wise Owl Books and Music (Shoreline, WA), The Clever Fox Bookshop (pending, Portland, OR), Pasture Bedtime Books (pending, Tillamook, OR).
Jenny Cole of Page 2 Books (Burien, WA) reported the sad news of her husband and co-owner Bill Virgin's death on Dec. 19.
Libby Manthey, owner of Riverwalk Books (Chelan, WA) and a past president of PNBA, has taken a tough turn into the new year. After a cancer recurrence diagnosis in early December, she was hospitalized for an unrelated emergency at Christmas. The Chelan community has rallied for a
