The Written Nerd

* As the world of indie booksellers knows, this coming weekend is the eagerly awaited Fourth Annual Winter Institute ! Due to the uncertainty of my own plans months ago during registration, I won't be there in person... but I'll be jealously following the schedule of every educational session, party and rep picks meal throughout the weekend. If anyone is live blogging, let me know... * And if you're at WI and of the under-40 persuasion, don't miss the Emerging Leaders Reception, Friday night at 9 PM in the charmingly titled Deer Valley room. Your intrepid Emerging Leaders Council will be meeting throughout the weekend to plan upcoming projects and programming, but on Friday night they'll do what they do best: drinking. I mean, networking with fellow booksellers, of course. The event is hosted by Unbridled Books , an emerging up-and-coming publisher itself, and will feature two of their promising new authors. The winners of the Emerging Leaders scholarships fr...

Happy Inauguration Day! I'm psyched that at the last minute we've decided to screen the event at McNally Jackson. It's the sort of thing you want to be around other people for -- the excitement just isn't the same by oneself. I'm also pleased that those who come to the store will get a chance to take a look at the new display some of our staff have been working hard to compile. Titled "How History Was Made: Books That Inspired A President," the display encompasses two groaning tables of political theory, fiction, history, memoir, and classics of world literature that make you wish you'd taken more cross-disciplinary critical thought-type classes in college. The books come specifically from a period in Barack Obama's 20s when he read voraciously and when much of his political thought was formed. My coworker John McGregor has done a ton of research to put this together, and it shows. Starting with Laura Miller's Salon article "Barack By...

I'm still reeling from the amazing Fort Greene bookstore party on Tuesday (look, ma, I'm in the New York Times! ) Much follow-up to be done with the wonderful booklovers who put their support in writing, which Rebecca and I are furiously working on. But bookselling life goes on, and how. Wednesday morning I spoke on a panel with Lance Fensterman and Ruth Liebman at the Association of American Publishers ' Intro to Publishing course. It was a cool conversation about selling books all the way through to the consumer (i.e. through editorial, publicity, marketing, sales rep, etc.) and what that implies for cover design, flap copy, blurbs, etc. Lance is the most self-deprecating, energetic powerhouse of a book person I know, and Ruth is incredibly gracious and one of the reasons indie bookstores get the cred and attention they do; I was humbled by both of them. Hope the assembled young and eager publishing folks got something out of it; they're the emerging leaders of t...

If you have zero to do today, or you're one of those people who can listen to talk radio and work at the same time, here's a little something: BookExpoCast: "What’s Hot, What’s Good, What’s Next in Graphic Novels" This is a panel I sat on at BEA with others far more expert than I: Nick Smith, a librarian with the Pasadena Public Library, Atom Freeman, the extremely knowledgeable owner of Brave New World Comics in L.A. County, and Tom Flinn with comics/pop culture trade rag ICv2 . Milton Griepp of ICv2 was the moderator. Aside from hearing the slightly annoying (lispy/boyish) sound of my voice, you might learn a thing or two about what's been doing well in various comics markets, and what to look forward to. This was where I learned about the Starman Omnibus , which I read with pleasure this summer, and it cemented my desire to read Scott Pilgrim , which has become a teensy obsession. Happy Friday!

Call me lazy, but I'm posting the whole darn press release from the Brooklyn Literary Council right here -- there's so much information I don't want you to miss anything. And I've just found out that your own Book Nerd will be moderating a panel at the BBF: the 3:00 slot on graphic novels at the "youth stoop" stage, with Ariel Shrag, Ivan Velez Jr., and Brian Wood. Hope to see you there! * * * On Sunday, September 14, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, the Brooklyn Literary Council and Brooklyn Tourism host the annual Brooklyn Book Festival, a huge, free event presenting an array of literary stars and emerging authors who represent the exciting world of literature today. The Brooklyn Book Festival is one of America’s premier literary and literacy events—a hip, smart, diverse gathering attracting thousands of book lovers of all ages. The festival is organized around themed readings and devoted to timely and lively panel discussions. The inclusion of...

Like birthdays, I think BEA should just go on and on... so my coverage will continue throughout this week. Graphic novels were a bigger deal at BEA 2008 than they've ever, ever been before. There's been buzz about this crazy new category for several years, but this year comics really came into their own; they didn't need to apologize, they owned the show. It started for me at our Emerging Leaders party on Wednesday night, when I met comics icon/guru Scott McCloud , who opened all our eyes with Understanding Comics and has continued to expound upon the format with humor and erudition. He signed my copy of Making Comics provided by HarperCollins, and by the time I wandered away to continue mingling he and Diamond rep John Shableski (who blogs as The Graphic Novels Guy on Buzz, Balls, and Hype) were both talking a mile a minute about their mutual passion. (Diamond, if you don't know them yet, is the biggest distributor of comics to comic shops and bookstores -- they...

I've had graphic novels even more on the brain than usual since last weekend's SPLAT! symposium at the New York Center for Independent Publishing . Not only did I get to speak on a panel with some of my book industry heroes -- Rocketship owner Alex Cox, Diamond rep John Shableski, PW Comics Week editor Calvin Reid, Jim Killen, the graphic novels buyer for Barnes & Noble, and freelancer/friend/fellow geek Evan Narcisse -- I also got to listen to Scott McCloud wax poetic with guys from the superhero and manga worlds, AND sit in on Brian Wood 's session on place in graphic novels (where he talked about, among other things, using Park Slope in his Local series). Favorite quote from Scott McCloud: "For years it was like we were beating a dead horse with this comics thing, just beating it and insisting 'no, there's life in that horse!' And then one day the horse opened its eyes and got up! And then SEVEN THOUSAND HORSES came running over the hill!...

I'm both feeling ill AND extraordinarily busy today, dear readers, so no time for the thougtful review I was hoping for. Instead, here's some of what I've got coming up -- maybe I'll see you around... I'm headed to the New England Independent Booksellers Association (NEIBA) trade show in Providence on Friday, where I've been invited to speak on an ABA panel titled "Doing Digital Right." Robert Gray of Fresh Eyes and Shelf Awareness and Heather Gain of Harvard Bookstore will be my illustrious co-panelists, and the inimitable Len Vlahos is moderating; it's at 3:00 PM. Next, of course, is the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association trade show (or NAIBA-Con ) in Baltimore -- hooray! On Sunday, October 14, I'll be joining Robert Gray (again) and Felicia Sullivan on a panel tentatively titled "Getting the Most out of the Internet" at 3:45 PM. Hope to see you there! Then, closer to home, I'm honored to participate in the ...