Bookstore marketing promotions worldwide.

/0 Comments/in /by

Oren Teicher, CEO of the American Booksellers Association (ABA) — which runs the successful IndieBound initiative, says that independent bookstores are experiencing a modest renaissance of sorts. “The ‘buy local’ movement is burgeoning in the United States as people become more conscientious about buying food, clothes, etc.,” he said. “It is a simple fact today that there are millions of consumers who are making the decision to shop in a locally-owned, independent business simply because it is a locally-owned independent business,” he added.

It’s a bit of an oxymoron to talk about a global local movement, but, as Teicher points out, there are some commonalities on the “buy local” front that absolutely have applications virtually everywhere in the world. IndieBound has partnerships with colleagues in the UK and New Zealand. They share materials and adapt them to different marketing sensibilities. In addition, the International Booksellers Federation meets every year in Frankfurt (and other places) to discuss ways to synergise their efforts. The increased awareness and drive toward buying local is resonating worldwide.

Rad the full article on www.publishingperspectives.com

Competition Commission blocks Juta sale

/0 Comments/in /by

The sale of Juta and Company’s retail operations to its competitor Van Schaik Booksellers has been blocked by the Competition Commission because it would have created an opportunity for Van Schaik to exercise its power in the market for academic books due to the removal of a competitor.

The commission found that Van Schaik would have been able to manipulate the price of academic books at Stellenbosch University, University of Cape Town, University of Johannesburg and the main campus and Arcadia campus at Tshwane University of Technology by influencing supply and demand without the presence of another competitor such as Juta.

Read more on BDlive.co.za

International Literacy Day Competition

/0 Comments/in /by

For over 40 years now, UNESCO has been celebrating International Literacy Day by reminding the international community that literacy is a human right and the foundation of all learning.  Send your plans for International Literacy Day to samantha@sabooksellers.com and stand a chance to win tickets to the following Open Book Events:

Shades of feminism 2
Granta Best of Young British
Mukoma Wa Ngugi with Dennis Davis

Please visit www.openbookfestival.co.za  for more information around these events and indicate your preference for which event you would like to attend in your email. Here are a few ideas about what you can do to promote literacy in the 21st century in your community. 

  • Donate books to those that don’t have access to them
  • Donate old computers to those that don’t have access to them
  • Get a tablet or e-reader in your shop and let you staff play with it
  • Give a book as gift
  • Organise an International Literacy Day event in your shop
  • Promote reading in your community
  • Read to your children
  • Have a children’s reading day in your shop
  • Create a kiddies reading corner in your shop

Entries close on Thursday 5th September. Open Book  is happening this weekend in Cape Town. Be sure you don’t miss out. 

Celebrity backers for BAMB

/0 Comments/in /by

Celebrities including chef Jamie Oliver and actors Bill Nighy and Damian Lewis will be among those supporting the industry-wide Books Are My Bag campaign, launching on 14th September.

Other notable figures lending their face to the nationwide initiative to celebrate high street and campus bookshops include Mariella Frostrup, Delia Smith and Chris O’Dowd.

Read more on the Bookseller.com

Will children’s digital sales boom?

/0 Comments/in /by

Whither the children’s e-book market? Sam Missingham highlighted earlier this week Amazon’s new advert aimed squarely at children (and their parents).

According to Sam: “The ad aired in the Xfactor break, thus capturing huge numbers of UK families. As you can see, the ad focuses on children. As far as I know the first to do so. And to clarify, it focuses on children reading. And the joy of reading. There is no mention of ebooks, Kindles, digital or the price, just 52 seconds of children describing their relationship with books.”

According to Sam, Amazon are taking the children’s market seriously suggesting a turning point for children’s digital sales.

Philip Jones comments that “The optimism contrasts with the view put out by Nielsen BookScan last week. Its latest report ‘Going Digital’, based on consumer panel data, suggests that sales of children’s e-books and apps are not showing strong growth in the UK, and not expected to show much growth in the near future. Worth just under £20m in 2012, Nielsen expects that they will generate sales of just £27.4m by the end of 2014.”

“At that rate, the growth will barely cover the price of the ad. But with e-book sales among the first wave of adopters slowing, e-booksellers are now in the hunt for new audiences. Nielsen reports that the rate at which readers are discovering e‐books for the first time continues to slow. A figure of 163,000 new purchasers of e­‐books in May was the lowest for two years.

Read Philip’s full analysis here.

Amazon’s latest game changing service

/0 Comments/in /by

Amazon has announced a new service that will allow customers to “convert” purchased print books into Kindle editions. The new Kindle MatchBook service will launch in October with over 10,000 books ready to be converted to digital format.

Amazon customers who purchase or have purchased qualifying print books can get the Kindle edition for prices that are typically $2.99, $1.99, $0.99, or free. For book purchases dating back to 1995: Print purchases all the way back to 1995—when Amazon first opened its online bookstore—will qualify once a publisher enrolls a title in Kindle MatchBook.

According to Russ Grandinetti, vice president of Kindle Content:

“If you logged onto your CompuServe account during the Clinton administration and bought a book like Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus from Amazon, Kindle MatchBook now makes it possible for that purchase–18 years later–to be added to your Kindle library at a very low cost.”

Read more on appadvice.com

Literacies for the 21st Century

/0 Comments/in /by

September 8 was proclaimed International Literacy Day by UNESCO on November 17, 1965. It was first celebrated in 1966. Its aim is to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies. On International Literacy Day each year, UNESCO reminds the international community of the status of literacy and adult learning globally. Celebrations take place around the world.

According to Wikipedia, “Some 775 million adults lack minimum literacy skills; one in five adults is still not literate and two-thirds of them are women;60.7 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out.”

UNESCO’s Global Monitoring Report on Education for All (2006) states that “South and West Asia has the lowest regional adult literacy rate (58.6%), followed by sub-SAharan Africa (59.7%), and the Arab States (62.7%). Countries with the lowest literacy rates in the world are Burkina Faso (12.8%), Niger (14.4%) and Mali (19%). The report shows a clear connection between illiteracy and countries in severe poverty, and between illiteracy and prejudice against women.”

Celebrations of International Literacy Day have included specific themes, in line with Education For All goals and other United Nations programs such as the United Nations Literacy Decade. The celebration’s theme for 2007 and 2008 was “Literacy and Health”, with prizes awarded to organizations at the forefront of health education.This was also the thematic emphasis of the 2007-2008 biennium of the United Nations Literacy Decade.In particular, International Literacy Day 2008 had a strong emphasis on Literacy and Epidemics with a focus on communicable diseases such as HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria, some of the world’s forefront public health concerns. For 2009-2010 the emphasis was placed on “Literacy and Empowerment”, with special consideration to Gender Equality and the empowerment of women. The theme of the 2011-2012 celebrations was “Literacy and Peace”.

The theme for this years International Literacy day is: Literacies for the 21st Century. Read more

Kobo’s new fleet

/0 Comments/in /by

International e-book retailer and device-maker Kobo has launched a new fleet of e-reading and tablet devices along with an e-book store for children and a partnership with content aggregator Pocket — all aimed at helping Kobo win the fight for ‘people who have reading at the center of their lives,’ according to Kobo chief content officer, Michael Tamblyn.” – Read the full story on www.publishingperspectives.com

A new world record

/0 Comments/in /by

Central Library in Cape Town was buzzing on Tuesday the 27th September as Open Book, together with the Library set about breaking the world record for the longest book domino chain. “While we are still waiting official confirmation from Guinness, we have – unofficially – set a new record with 2586 books going down! We are over the moon and absolutely delighted that some were able to take time out of their schedules to witness it all happen!” stated a press release from the organisers.

visit www.openbookfestival.com for more information

What are you doing for International Literacy Day?

/0 Comments/in /by

Sell Literacy bracelets in your shop to support International Literacy Day.

Blue Groove Africa is a Section 21 and NPO registered organisation. Their work benefits disadvantaged children of the black population by 100%. Their vision is to “to provide the building blocks for education, through bridged and sustainable learning, environmental and feeding facilities, with skills transfer into communities throughout South Africa”.

Blue Groove’s mission is to succeed in populating 200 new libraries by 2020 serving 500 000 children and adults. Read more