NEIBA News
December 18, 2019
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Notes from the Advisory Council

Counting Down the Days
By Kathy Faber, VP Director of Sales, HarperCollins
14 Days Until the New Year (and new decade!)...
7 Days Until Christmas...
4 Days Until Hanukkah...

Every year, about this time, I’m overcome with that feeling that I’ve run out of time. And it’s not just about all the holiday stuff — buying presents, sending cards, baking cookies, getting together with friends — although that is certainly part of it. I can’t help looking back at the whole year: the things I had hoped to do, places and people I didn’t get to see, books not read, projects half-completed. Everything I didn’t get to for whatever reason... sigh, that’s right, I ran out of time! 

But of course, there’s so much to celebrate — for everything I didn’t get done, there is so much more I did — and when I look at what “we” accomplished together, especially in our beloved book world, it’s too much to recount here!

A year’s worth of work and books culminates in December. What are the books from this year that readers will choose as the must-have gift, will there be any unexpected surprises, and will we have stock to meet the demand? And as all the countless “best of”, “end of” and award lists roll out to guide shoppers, I too obsessively review them to see which of my favorite books have been recognized. This year I’m filled to the brim with pride to see  New Kid, Other Words for Home, I Can Make This Promise, The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown, With The Fire on High, On the Come Up,  and  Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All  (to name a few) hitting these lists many times over. 

I’m also feeling incredibly grateful for all of you, for supporting and handselling these favorites and so many other books. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a special shout-out with great appreciation for our adventures together publishing New Kid by Jerry Craft. Some of you will remember first having the opportunity to read an early manuscript of the book for the Children’s Buyer’s Retreat in Rhinebeck, NY, back in 2018. At the time, Harper did not have a graphic novel imprint, but we were incredibly excited about signing New Kid up and could not wait to share it and get feedback from you.

The enthusiastic feedback we received that day was shared in-house and helped to inform our roll-out and marketing of the book. From there, Jerry was pitched and invited to the NEIBA Fall show, where he met so many of you, which led to great word-of-mouth buzz, many more early reads, and lots of promotions and store events being planned throughout the NEIBA community. It inspired us to bring Jerry to Winter Institute — and the rest is familiar history. New Kid published to huge success, hit bestseller lists, won numerous awards, and then was recognized as a NEIBA Book of the Year this Fall! I hope you really, really know how much Jerry and the entire Harper team thank you for championing New Kid — and most importantly getting it into the hands of so many kids who need this story.

I can’t wait for next December to see where the book adventures of 2020 take us!

Happy New Year!
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Attend an All-Kid Lit All About the Books
Join us in Boston on January 15, 2020!
Attending Authors
Cynthia L. Copeland, author & illustrator of  Cub
Isaac Fitzgerald, author of  How to be a Pirate
Iona Hobai, author of  A Whale of a Mistake
Janae Marks, author of  From the Desk of Zoe Washington
Cammie McGovern, author of  Just Breathe
Oge Mora, illustrator of  The Oldest Student
Lesléa Newman, author of  Welcoming Elijah
Maria Padian, author of  How to Build a Heart
Diana Urban, author of   All Your Twisted Secrets
Maris Wicks, illustrator of  Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier

Afternoon Education: “How to Write Next-Level Blurbs"
Writing effective blurbs is a necessary part of every bookseller’s toolkit. Blurbs can not only move books forward—by convincing a buyer to bring a book into your store, or motivate a customer to purchase—but can serve to move a bookseller’s career forward by bringing them to the attention of the industry as a whole. But we can all agree that writing blurbs is STRESSFUL. How do you craft a high-quality, intriguing blurb in 150 words? (…or sometimes less!) What is the hook you need? What words or phrases should you avoid? In this education session, taught by both publisher staff and blurb-master booksellers, learn what publishers look for when seeking the right blurb to promote their books, and how booksellers can write interesting and concise recommendations that work both in-store and out. Please bring a review you’re working on (either a hard copy or on your phone) to workshop with the goal of improving/expanding it…and reducing anxiety about the process as a whole. 

Schedule of Events
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM — Author Readings
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM — Lunch with Authors
1:30 PM - 3:30 PM — Education Program

This meeting will take place at the Beacon Press offices
(24 Farnsworth Street) in Boston on Wednesday, January 15.

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The American Booksellers Association’s Nominating Committee has begun its search for qualified candidates to stand for election to the ABA Board of Directors in 2020. Any ABA member may  nominate a qualified candidate , and self-nominations are also welcome. A nominee for the  Board of Directors  must: 

  • Be the owner or employee of an ABA member independent bookstore with a storefront location that is operated according to sound business principles 
  • Have at least three years of recent experience as the owner or employee of a member company

Though not required, it is also desirable that nominees have at least two years’ experience as an active volunteer in ABA and/or in a regional association or other constituency organization.

Qualifications are outlined in the “ ABA Nomination and Election Guidelines ” from the  ABA Governance Policy Manual . The committee requests that nominations be submitted as soon as possible but no later than December 31, 2019, via the  online nomination form available here . Nominations should include as much information as possible about a prospective candidate. All information will be kept strictly confidential.
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Papercuts J.P. is on the Move!
NEIBA member Papercuts J.P.  in Jamaica Plain, MA plans to move about a quarter-mile away to a new, larger location in early 2020! According to owner Kate Layte, the bookstore will move from a roughly 400-square-foot space into a space more than three times as large that features windows and lots of natural light, in addition to being ADA accessible and equipped with solar panels.

The store will stay open in its current location through the rest of the holiday season. Layte hopes to have a soft opening in the new space, at 60 South Street, in February, followed by a grand opening on Independent Bookstore Day in April.

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Nominate your peers for Publishers Weekly 's
Bookstore and Sales Rep of the Year Awards
Deadline for submissions is January 6, 2020
Those ties to the book industry are invited to nominate their favorite bookstores and sales representatives for the Bookstore and Sales Rep of the Year Awards. (Please note that candidates cannot nominate themselves, nor can family members nominate them.) Finalists will be named at Winter Institute 15 in Baltimore in January 2020. Winners will receive a write-up in the pre-BookExpo issue of Publishers Weekly ’s print magazine in May 2020 and will be honored at an awards ceremony in New York City at BookExpo. 

For Bookstore of the Year: PW will honor an independently owned brick-and-mortar bookstore in the U.S. that has been in operation for at least four years. In your nomination, please note what makes the bookstore special and provide contact information, including your name and industry affiliation. Bookstores that have previously received the award cannot be considered, nor can their sister stores.

For Sales Rep of the Year: We welcome nominations for outstanding telephone and house reps as well as independent sales representatives. Please include an example of the rep’s commitment to excellence, as well as contact information, including your name and industry affiliation. Sales representatives can only win the award once.

Please e-mail nominations Judith Rosen at PWawards@publishersweekly.com by January 6.
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Use #BookstoresAreHolidays to Benefit Binc!
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Food for Thought
A round-up of pieces across publications.
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Promotions for Holiday/Re-Stock Orders
Wondering which publishers/wholesalers have special
promotions for holiday and re-stock orders?


To receive this grid by e-mail every Monday,
e-mail Ali the names and emails of those who would like to receive it.
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Social Media Spotlight
Still North Books & Bar (Hanover, NH)
@stillnorthbooks: ‼️📰 SOME NEWS 📰‼️ We have a date, folks! Our soft opening will be next ✨Thursday, Dec. 19.✨ We’ll open with retail (books! 📚) and will be adding on the rest of our food and beverage programs as we train our team and finalize our licensing. Can’t wait to see you for some celebrating and holiday shopping next Thursday!
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NEIBA 
Best Sellers   
for the week ended
Sunday December 15, 2019

Based on reporting from the independent booksellers of
NEIBA and IndieBound  

HARDCOVER FICTION
1. The Dutch House
Ann Patchett, Harper, $27.99, 9780062963673
2. Olive, Again
Elizabeth Strout, Random House, $27, 9780812996548
3. Where the Crawdads Sing
Delia Owens, Putnam, $26, 9780735219090
4. The Starless Sea
Erin Morgenstern, Doubleday, $28.95, 9780385541213
5. The Testaments
Margaret Atwood, Nan A. Talese, $28.95, 9780385543781
6. The Water Dancer
Ta-Nehisi Coates, One World, $28, 9780399590597
7. The Giver of Stars
Jojo Moyes, Pamela Dorman Books, $28, 9780399562488
8. The Guardians
John Grisham, Doubleday, $29.95, 9780385544184
9. Agent Running in the Field New!
John le Carré, Viking, $29, 9781984878878
10. The Nickel Boys
Colson Whitehead, Doubleday, $24.95, 9780385537070
11. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
Ocean Vuong, Penguin Press, $26, 9780525562023
12. Under Occupation
Alan Furst, Random House, $27, 9780399592300
13. Blue Moon
Lee Child, Delacorte Press, $28.99, 9780399593543
14. Nothing to See Here
Kevin Wilson, Ecco, $26.99, 9780062913463
15. Exhalation: Stories New!
Ted Chiang, Knopf, $25.95, 9781101947883

HARDCOVER NONFICTION
1. The Body
Bill Bryson, Doubleday, $30, 9780385539302
2. Talking to Strangers
Malcolm Gladwell, Little Brown, $30, 9780316478526
3. Blowout
Rachel Maddow, Crown, $30, 9780525575474
4. The Pioneers
David McCullough, S&S, $30, 9781501168680
5. Educated
Tara Westover, Random House, $28, 9780399590504
6. Say Nothing New!
Patrick Radden Keefe, Doubleday, $28.95, 9780385521314
7. How To
Randall Munroe, Riverhead Books, $28, 9780525537090
8. Dumpty: The Age of Trump in Verse
John Lithgow, Chronicle Prism, $19.95, 9781452182759
9. The Book of Gutsy Women
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, S&S, $35, 9781501178412
10. The Yellow House: A Memoir
Sarah M. Broom, Grove Press, $26, 9780802125088
11. Guinness World Records 2020 New!
Guinness World Records, $28.95, 9781912286836
12. The Education of an Idealist
Samantha Power, Dey Street Books, $29.99, 9780062820693
13. Strange Planet New!
Nathan W. Pyle, Morrow Gift, $14.99, 9780062970701
14. Brilliant Maps for Curious Minds: 100 New Ways to See the World New!
Ian Wright, The Experiment, $19.95, 9781615196258
15. Edison
Edmund Morris, Random House, $38, 9780812993110

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION
1. The Overstory
Richard Powers, Norton, $18.95, 9780393356687
2. Unsheltered
Barbara Kingsolver, Harper Perennial, $17.99, 9780062684738
3. A Gentleman in Moscow
Amor Towles, Penguin, $17, 9780143110439
4. Little Fires Everywhere
Celeste Ng, Penguin, $17, 9780735224315
5. The Great Alone New!
Kristin Hannah, St. Martin's Griffin, $17.99, 9781250229533
6. The Best American Short Stories 2019
Anthony Doerr, Heidi Pitlor (Eds.), Mariner, $15.99, 9781328484246
7. The Tattooist of Auschwitz
Heather Morris, Harper, $16.99, 9780062797155
8. Olive Kitteridge
Elizabeth Strout, Random House, $17, 9780812971835
9. Girl, Woman, Other
Bernardine Evaristo, Grove Press/Black Cat, $17, 9780802156983
10. Before We Were Yours
Lisa Wingate, Ballantine, $17, 9780425284704
11. There There
Tommy Orange, Vintage, $16, 9780525436140
12. The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood, Anchor, $15.95, 9780525435006
13. Nine Perfect Strangers
Liane Moriarty, Flatiron Books, $17.99, 9781250069832
14. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
Gail Honeyman, Penguin, $16, 9780735220690
15. All the Light We Cannot See New!
Anthony Doerr, Scribner, $17, 9781501173219

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION
1. No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference
Greta Thunberg, Penguin, $10, 9780143133568
2. The Old Farmer's Almanac 2020 New!
Old Farmer's Almanac, $8.95, 9781571988102
3. Born a Crime
Trevor Noah, Spiegel & Grau, $18, 9780399588198
4. Sapiens
Yuval Noah Harari, Harper Perennial, $22.99, 9780062316110
5. Upstream: Selected Essays
Mary Oliver, Penguin, $17, 9780143130086
6. The Library Book
Susan Orlean, S&S, $16.99, 9781476740195
7. Classic Krakauer: Essays on Wilderness and Risk
Jon Krakauer, Anchor, $15, 9781984897695
8. Calypso
David Sedaris, Back Bay, $17.99, 9780316392426
9. These Truths: A History of the United States
Jill Lepore, Norton, $19.95, 9780393357424
10. The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy
Michael Lewis, Norton, $16.95, 9780393357455
11. Braiding Sweetgrass
Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $18, 9781571313560
12. The Soul of an Octopus New!
Sy Montgomery, Atria, $16.99, 9781451697728
13. The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America New!
Matt Kracht, Chronicle, $15.95, 9781452174037
14. Leadership: In Turbulent Times New!
Doris Kearns Goodwin, S&S, $18, 9781476795935
15. The Spy and the Traitor New!
Ben Macintyre, Broadway Books, $18, 9781101904213

MASS MARKET
1. Dune
Frank Herbert, Ace, $10.99, 9780441172719
2. Good Omens
Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Morrow, $9.99, 9780062836977
3. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams, Del Rey, $7.99, 9780345391803
4. 1984 New!
George Orwell, Signet, $9.99, 9780451524935
5. Elevation
Stephen King, Scribner, $9.99, 9781982102326
6. The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary
Merriam-Webster, $8.50, 9780877795964
7. Past Tense New!
Lee Child, Dell, $9.99, 9780399593536
8. The Catcher in the Rye New!
J.D. Salinger, Little Brown, $8.99, 9780316769488
9. The Name of the Wind
Patrick Rothfuss, DAW, $9.99, 9780756404741
10. Doctor Sleep
Stephen King, Pocket, $10.99, 9781982138868

CHILDREN'S ILLUSTRATED
1. The Crayons' Christmas
Drew Daywalt, Oliver Jeffers (Illus.), Penguin Workshop, $19.99, 9780525515746
2. Dasher: How a Brave Little Doe Changed Christmas Forever
Matt Tavares, Candlewick, $17.99, 9781536201376
3. The Serious Goose
Jimmy Kimmel, Random House Books for Young Readers, $18.99, 9780525707752
4. The Polar Express
Chris Van Allsburg, HMH Books for Young Readers, $19.99, 9780544580145
5. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Robert Frost, Susan Jeffers (Illus.), Dutton, $16.99, 9780525467342
6. The Snowy Nap New!
Jan Brett, G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, $18.99, 9780399170737
7. The Mitten New!
Jan Brett, G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, $8.99, 9780399231094
8. The Snowy Day
Ezra Jack Keats, Viking Books for Young Readers, $19.99, 9780670012701
9. Goodnight Moon
Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd (Illus.), Harper, $8.99, 9780694003617
10. Little Blue Truck's Christmas New!
Alice Schertle, Jill McElmurry (Illus.), HMH Books for Young Readers, $14.99, 9780544320413

CHILDREN'S INTEREST
1. Guts
Raina Telgemeier, Graphix, $12.99, 9780545852500
2. The Complete Baking Book for Young Chefs New!
America's Test Kitchen Kids, Sourcebooks Explore, $19.99, 9781492677697
3. White Bird: A Wonder Story
R.J. Palacio, Knopf Books for Young Readers, $24.99, 9780525645535
4. The Fountains of Silence New!
Ruta Sepetys, Philomel Books, $18.99, 9780399160318
5. A Tale of Magic...
Chris Colfer, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $18.99, 9780316523479
6. Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks
Jason Reynolds, Alexander Nabaum (Illus.), Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, $17.99, 9781481438285
7. Best Friends New!
Shannon Hale, LeUyen Pham (Illus.), First Second, $12.99, 9781250317469
8. Sisters New!
Raina Telgemeier, Graphix, $10.99, 9780545540605
9. Smile New!
Raina Telgemeier, Graphix, $10.99, 9780545132060
10. The Girl Who Drank the Moon New!
Kelly Barnhill, Algonquin Young Readers, $9.95, 9781616207465

CHILDREN'S SERIES TITLES
1. Dog Man: Fetch-22 New!
Dav Pilkey, Graphix, $12.99, 9781338323214
2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball
Jeff Kinney, Abrams, $14.99, 9781419739033
3. Sofia Valdez, Future Prez (The Questioneers)
Andrea Beaty, David Roberts (Illus.), Abrams, $18.99, 9781419737046
4. Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Legacy of Orisha, #2)
Tomi Adeyemi, Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), $19.99, 9781250170996
5. Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls
Dav Pilkey, Graphix, $12.99, 9781338236590
6. Dog Man New!
Dav Pilkey, Graphix, $9.99, 9780545581608
7. The Secret Commonwealth (Book of Dust, Volume 2)
Philip Pullman, Knopf Books for Young Readers, $22.99, 9780553510669
8. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: The Illustrated Edition
J.K. Rowling, Jim Kay (Illus.), Arthur A. Levine Books, $47.99, 9780545791427
9. His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass (Book 1) New!
Philip Pullman, Laurel-Leaf, $8.99, 9780440238133
10. The Bad Guys (The Bad Guys, #1) New!
Aaron Blabey, Scholastic, $5.99, 9780545912402
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