Please assist an author in a timely survey.

My colleague Susan Taylor Brown is looking for answers from those involved in the publishing industry, in order to gather material for a presentation on Saturday, March 21st.

Her questions can be found at the following link:

http://susanwrites.livejournal.com/208465.html

If you find such networks as LinkedIn, Twitter, MySpace and Facebook useful to your stock-in-trade as an author, bookseller, editor, proofreader, etc., please share your experiences with Susan, either on her blog or via e-mail.

Please note… answers will be taken *after* the 21st, as this may provide material for an ongoing class. But the sooner she gets responses for this first presentation, the better.

Thanks!

—pmc2

Picture, thousand words, blah blah blah.

To the litbloggers, authors, readers and fans out there…

Just my opinion, and not a terribly humble opinion at that. Your mileage can, will, and should distinctly vary.

—pmc2

[Button by NancyButtons.com, purchased at Philcon 2006. Opinion expressed by use of said button is my own.]

Awards nominees, award winners, and awards that really SHOULD be awarded.

I swear, I get more done, industry-reading-wise and scanning-the-networking-environment-wise, on “sick days”, fevered brain and all.

Catching up on some of the news stories going around…

1] THE CYBILS AWARDS

The winners were announced several weeks ago, but their works should still be picked up at your public library, purchased from your favorite independent bookstore, and hugged and loved. Internet hugs and love from me to the authors and to this year’s judges… I was one once, and I ***know*** how hard the choices were, sometimes! [Real hugs from me right now would be disease-laden.]

The complete list of Cybils Award Winners for 2008-2009.

2] BOOKISH BREAKFAST CEREALS

My colleague Alison Morris, who is a never-ending font of good ideas, has been fostering a contest to name and market literary foods. I heartily endorse this idea, since I too am one of those people who grew up reading cereal boxes and am guilty of gulping down tomes while chowing down on many a “part of a balanced breakfast”.

Name a Bookish Breakfast Cereal at PW’s “Shelf Talker”

I’m partial to GRAVITY’S RAINBOW FLAKES, myself.

—pmc2

Boskone 2009.

I will be at Boskone on Sunday only… if buses and subways behave the way they should, then I will arrive sometime between 11AM and noon, and will stay until the end of the con. I may or may not have someone else with me. Look for the long grey hair [definite], The Hat [possibly], and the Sexy Black Spy Cane [probably]. I’ll be in a black sweater and black leggings, with a silvery blue turtleneck collar and a silvery-blue glitter scarf. My only planned event is Michael A Burstein’s book reading at 3PM; otherwise, I will be networking in the Huckster area.

If you see me, say hello!

—pmc2

So many books, so few muscles.

It’s a sad, sad thing when you have to say “no” to free swag, especially free books.

My intrepid partner and I did a day trip to New York Comic Con on this Saturday past. [A full con report will be posted over at my personal blog Syzygy later today.]

We got caught in the unfortunate necessity of having to dress for winter in Massachusetts and spring in New York City. Thus, we were so laden down with coats and layers and our own backpacks that we couldn’t avail ourselves of Tor’s 10-book-giveaway.

Pity. I would have loved to have gotten Brian Francis Slattery’s LIBERATION, and F. Paul Wilson’s THE KEEP, and Eric Nylund’s MORTAL COILS, to freshen up our stock, not to mention John Scalzi’s OLD MAN’S WAR, a perennial favorite.

I learned enough from the day trip that I need to do much more planning for these events. I need to be there all three days, and I need to make use of the FedEx/Kinko’s on site at the Javits Center.

One shout-out must go out to Nadine Pirogow at Hachette Book Group; she’s got great eyes, and recognized me from previous book events such as the NEIBA trade show. I owe her a debt of gratitude for helping me turn my customers on to the Jaz Parks series. We had too short a time to catch up at NYCC, since by that point in the day I was in extremely rough shape physically. But it’s always nice to be remembered.

All in all, though, it was wonderful to see speculative fiction so well represented… and not just by Tor and Hachette. So many “major houses” and small presses, cheek by jowl. NYCC was as much a bibliophile’s delight as it was a pop culture fan’s haven.

I’m already making plans for next year – October 8-10, 2010.

—pmc2

Pounding the pavement for bibliophilia.

I have a wish list of conventions and trade shows I want to attend in 2009 and 2010.

Some of the cons on my wishlist…

* Lunacon
* Readercon
* 4Pi-Con
* Albacon
* Philcon

I had written a piece elsewhere called “Pennies For Philcon”, where I broke down the costs of attending just ONE convention. Are you interested in my reposting that here, Gentle Readers, and should I expand it to include a whole year’s worth of cons?

—pmc2

I’m getting tired of the sound of closing doors.

BookStream to shut down on Friday, January 23rd

A letter from Jack Herr and Rich Stone.

Quote: A wholesaler, however committed to or respected by its customers, cannot be a wholesaler for very long without books. Over the course of the last year, we have not been able to raise the capital necessary to fund BookStream’s inventory in a way that compensates for never having established, after three years of being in business, trade credit commensurate with the inventory needs of a wholesaler.

We are grateful for and gratified by the enthusiastic reception we have received from booksellers in the Northeast. Thank you for your support – in all the forms it has taken – over the last three years. All of us at BookStream have been pleased and honored to serve you.

BookStream has also enjoyed truly remarkable support from publisher sales organizations. The sales reps in our region enthusiastically talked us up when they called on their customers. We did not make a sales call for which sales reps had not paved the way. We could not have asked for more – either directly in overall service or generally in their commitment to the idea of BookStream – from our friends in publishing.

My bookseller-heart has already suffered a lot of damage this year, and this news puts yet another huge crack in it, for personal reasons as well as professional ones. I’ve worked with BookStream’s staff members in a variety of different circumstances over the years, outside BookStream as well as within, and every single one has been top-notch to work with… absolutely no hyperbole there.

Thank you, Jack, for bending my ear about BookStream back in September 2005 at the NEBA trade show, and for letting me bend yours in return on several other occasions. Thank you, Lily, Felice, Kim, Carol, Ken, Carolyn, and Omari for always answering my questions and filling my orders promptly. Thank you, George and Rick, for doing the unseen work.

Thank you, BookStream, for three wonderful years of working with my business.

—pmc2

New York Court Dismisses Amazon Challenge of State’s Internet Sales Tax Provision

Reprinted with permission from Bookselling This Week. This affects me directly as an online retailer and as an independent bookseller.

New York Court Dismisses Amazon Challenge of State’s Internet Sales Tax Provision

In a significant victory for New York’s independent retailers, a New York State judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Amazon.com that challenged the state’s Internet Sales Tax provision. The provision, which went into law on June 1, 2008, requires online retailers with certain selling activities in the state, such as Amazon.com, to collect and remit sales tax on sales made in New York State. A similar lawsuit by Overstock was also dismissed, according to Reuters.

In dismissing Amazon’s challenge, Judge Eileen Bransten wrote: “The neutral statute simply obligates out-of-state sellers to shoulder their fair share of the tax-collection burden when using New Yorkers to earn profit from other New Yorkers,” as reported by CNN Money. Bransten also noted that Amazon.com had failed to state a claim and that “there is no basis upon which Amazon can prevail,” according to CNN Money.

“It’s extremely gratifying that the New York State Supreme Court’s decision in this case so categorically affirms the responsibility of all retailers to obey existing sales tax law and to collect the required sales tax on Internet sales,” said ABA COO Oren Teicher. “We strongly encourage the taxing authorities in other states throughout the U.S. to follow New York’s lead on this issue and to take the necessary steps to ensure that all retailers comply with the law.”

“We are delighted with the judge’s decision,” said Eileen Dengler, executive director of the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA). “Booksellers and their trade associations worked very hard on this issue, and we hope that states will look to this ruling and know that e-fairness can be achieved.”

In early April 2008, the New York State Legislature passed a final budget that included the Internet Sales Tax provision. The provision applies to non-New York State retailers that have $10,000 or more per year in affiliate sales, assuming they do not have nexus in the state through other means (e.g., a warehouse or office).

However, just weeks after the budget was approved, Amazon.com, LLC, and Amazon Services, LLC, filed a complaint in the Supreme Court of the State of New York challenging the Internet Sales Tax provision in the state’s budget. Amazon claimed that the provision was “unconstitutional” because the statute “requires out-of-state Internet retailers, with no physical presence in New York, to collect sales and use taxes,” as reported at the time by Wired.

The legislative victory in New York was the culmination of months of intense lobbying by New York’s independent booksellers and the American Booksellers Association — a campaign that included letters, e-mails, phone calls, and personal visits to legislators in Albany, the state capital. ABA’s efforts included coordinating lobbying activities with other associations representing independent retailers in New York and working closely with NAIBA and the Retail Council of New York, which played a crucial role in face-to-face discussions with key elected officials in Albany.

Other independent trade groups participating in the campaign for e-fairness included the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association, the Coalition of Independent Music Stores, the Independent Florist Association, the National Association of College Stores, the North American Retailer Dealers Association, and the National Bicycle Dealers Association.

I’m interested in your thoughts.

—pmc2

Publishing crunch affects YEAR’S BEST.

I just got the news from Erzebet Yellowboy that there will be no YEAR’S BEST FANTASY & HORROR this year.

http://lcrw.net/wordpress/?p=768

NOT the way I wanted to start the morning.

Catchup on literary birthdays.

Please excuse the lack of HTML coding and date-ordering, and please pretend there’s Google links here, so that I can start fresh tomorrow…

From various sources…

January 6 – Wright Morris (1910 – 1998)

January 6 – Edgar Lawrence Doctorow (1931 – )

January 6 – Carl Sandburg (1878 – 1967)

January 8 – Peter Matthew Hillsman Taylor (1917 – 1994)

1/6
S. Fowler Wright, 1874
Eric Frank Russell, 1905
Ahrvid Engholm, 1959

1/7
Charles Addams, 1902
Barbi Johnson, 1923
Christine Moskowitz, 1924
Graham Stone, 1926
Hayford Peirce, 1942
Margo Bratton, 1955
Moshe Yudkowsky, 1956
Gene DiModica

1/8
William Wilkie Collins, 1824
Dennis Wheatley, 1897
Robert G. Briggs, 1930
Terry Brooks, 1944
Jack Womack, 1956

1/6
Vera Cleaver

1/7
Kay Chorao
Eleanor Clymer
Rosekrans Hoffman

1/8
Stephen Manes

1/8
Wilkie Collins (1824-1889)
Dennis Wheatley (1897-1977)
Daniel Farson (1927-1997)
Boris Vallejo (1941)
Terry Brooks (1944)
Don Bendell (1947)

JANUARY 6
Kay Reynolds (1951)
Bruce Douglas Patterson (1953)

JANUARY 7
Werner Wejp-Olsen (1938)
Jay Lynch (1945)
Kevin J. Dooley (1953)
Bob Wiacek (1953)
Karl Kesel (1959)
Aaron A. Lopresti (1964)

JANUARY 8
John Wellington
Boris Vallejo (1941)
Ken Steacy (1955)
James Pruett (1966)
Joe Pruett (1966)
Lee J. Ames (1921)

1/6

Doctorow, Edgar Lawrence. (1931- ) American writer.
Gibran, Khalil. (1883-1931) Lebanese writer: mystic poet.
Gudmundsson, Tomas. (1901- ) Icelandic writer: poet.
Morris, Wright. (1910-1998) American writer: novelist, short-story writer, and photographer.
Sandburg, Carl. (1878-1967) American writer: poet.
Vilakazi, Benedict Wallet. (1906- ) South African Zulu writer: poet, novelist and educator.
Watts, Alan. (1915-1973) British writer.

1/7

Durrell, Gerald Malcolm. (1925-1995) British writer.
Harrington, James. (1611-1677) British writer: political author.
Hurston, Zora Neale. (1903-1960) American writer: novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist. (“Their Eyes Were Watching God,” “Dust Tracks on the Road,” and “Road, Mules and Men”).
Péguy, Charles. (1873-1914) French writer: philosopher and poet

1/8

Collins, Wilkie. (1824-1889) British writer: mystery novelist.
Jameson, Margaret Storm. (1891-1986) British writer: novelist.
Ousmane, Sembene. (1923- ) Senegalese writer: novelist and screenwriter.

January 6
Carl Sandburg, 1878
Sherlock Holmes, 1854

January 7
Kay Chorao, 1936

January 8
Arthur Ransome, 1884

January 9

Karel Capek, 1890
Algis Budrys, 1931
Joyce Worley Katz, 1939
Greg Ketter

January 10

Elizabeth Anne Hull, 1937
George Alec Effinger, 1947

January 11

Jerome Bixby, 1923
Diana Gabaldon, 1952
Jasper Fforde, 1961
John Myers Myers
Victor J. Raymond
Alethea Kontis

January 9

Clyde Robert Bulla

January 10

Remy Charlip

January 11

Robert C. O’Brien
Mary Rodgers

JANUARY 9
M.J. Cullumber
Daniel Wilson (1957)
Fred Burke (1965)

JANUARY 10
Ernest Edwards (1967)

JANUARY 11
Brad Joyce
Terry Beatty (1958)
Bob Harras (1959)
Miyako Matsuda Graham (1960)
Sam Kieth (1963)
Trevor Tamlin (1968)

January 9

Beauvoir, Simone de. (1908-1986) French writer.
Capek, Karel. (1890- ) Czech writer: novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and essayist.
Fuller, Henry Blake. (1857- ) American writer: realistic novelist.
Robertson, Thomas William. (1829-1871) British writer: comedic playwright and actor.
Warton, Thomas. (1728-1790) British writer: poet and historian.

January 10

Acton, John Dalberg. (1634-1902) British writer: historian.
Jeffers, Robinson. (1887-1962) Irish writer: poet, critic, and essayist.
Levine, Philip. (1928-) American writer: poet.
Vere, Aubrey Thomas Hunt de. (1814-1902)

January 11

James, William. (1870- ) American writer.
Paton, Alan. (1903- ) South African writer. (“Cry, the Beloved Country”).
Rice, Alice Caldwell Hegan. (1870- ) American writer: novelist.
Voto, Bernard Augustine De. (1897- ) American writer: novelist, historian and critic.

Thanks for your patience, Gentle Readers.

—pmc2