The Written Nerd

Okay, I'm totally cheating with today's post on Emerging Leaders activities at BEA. But since Jenn Northington already gathered our copious notes into a coherent email update, why reinvent the wheel? The eight of us (minus Caroline, whose participation fell victim to some phone call incompetence on our part) sat around a table on Wednesday for about four hours, hashing out where we want to take this organization that's done so much so far. I was totally inspired by the energy and creativity of my fellow council members, and we did everything we set out to do: revisit our goals, make concrete plans, and assign tasks. Here's the email we just sent to our the EL mailing list with the recap (italics are my additions) * * * After a rousing Council meeting (not to mention a killer party - see pics at the bottom! ) at BEA, Emerging Leaders is back on track! With a revamped Mission and some new Council Members, we couldn't wait to share our plans with you. Introducing ou...

Some good ideas only work if people are aware of them. Two examples, wildly differing in importance: 1) Stimulating Reading is still in effect - click here for my explanation of the project, by which you translate the controversial "stimulus payments" into real economic impact by helping me to create a local independent bookstore. I know lots of us haven't gotten our stimulus checks yet -- and in this economic climate we may be needing them for necessities. But if you've got some to spare -- or, if you've got time and link love to spare in spreading the word -- well, support ! You'll be rewarded with good swag, and the irreplaceable feeling of doing something good in the world. 2) Indra Sinha , the author of the well-reviewed novel Animal's People about a chemical disaster in Bhopal, is putting his money where his mouth is. Dow Chemical, which owns the pesticide plant where a toxic gas leak killed thousands and continues to contaminate water and k...

I have to run to an appointment this morning, but I promise more about Emerging Leaders and greening the book industry at BEA on Friday. If you're on our EL mailing list (you can sign up here ), you should be receiving a recap of our activities from the illustrious Jenn Northington any minute now, so I'll let you read that first. In the meantime, hooray for last night's rainstorm bringing the temperature in NYC down a few notches. I watched the rain from a second-floor restaurant dining room, where my fellow booksellers and I were enjoying one of the great perks of our job: a publisher dinner. Random House author Michael Greenberg, whose memoir Hurry Down Sunshine pubs this September, was the guest of honor, and the evening was a delight. Watching sheets of rain push across the stones of Crosby Street, I suddenly thought about how much I love living in the city. What's your recent moment of secret delight?

I've been thinking for a long time I'd like to do more talking about books around here, as well as talking about the book industry. I have the perfect place to start this week, as my buddy Steve at W. W. Norton asked if I would write about one of the best novels I've read recently. Below is what I sent to him -- perhaps less a review than a love letter for one of my very favorite contemporary authors. The Size of the World goes on sale today, and you can see Joan Silber reading at McNally Robinson on June 17. * * * THE SIZE OF THE WORLD By Joan Silber (W. W. Norton, June 2008, $23.95 hardcover) I honestly think Joan Silber is one of the most under-rated writers in America (even after her National Book Award finalist nod). Perhaps her voice is both too calm and too ambitious for critics accustomed to histrionic Great (Male) Novelists… but don’t quote me on that. To tell not just one life story, but over half a dozen, in first-person voices both precisely distinct and unive...

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 got back from California on Tuesday night, and haven't had a moment to blog since then -- you know how it is. But I'm overflowing with stuff to tell you from Book Expo, so it'll have to take several posts. Part I today will be about the new ABA initiative, which is already getting talked about so much I want to put in my two cents ASAP. Part II will be about the graphic novel scene at BEA; Part III about the Emerging Leaders Project (and other party-related topics), and Part IV about green retailing (and other education-related topics). I hope you'll hold me to that, so I don't let these ride until I've forgotten what I wanted to say... INDIEBOUND ! As promised, Thursday night at the Celebration of Bookselling the ABA unveiled the initiative that they've been hinting about for months. After a swanky canape/cocktail reception and some awards and accolades for booksellers and publishers, the big Oscar-style screens at our Hollywood hotel ballroom played...

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, and perhaps my last chance to blog for a little while, so allow me to lay some updates and anticipations on you. Brooklyn Bookstore I received my PowerUp! check for $15,000 in the mail sometime last week, so yesterday I visited my new friend Juan at a great local/national bank about 20 minutes away. As he and I had discussed previously, I opened a small business money market account with the prize money, which will also be the depository for other funds raised. And he gave me the paperwork to fill out for a great big (to me) small business loan application. I'm hoping to get that in by mid-June, at the same time as I'm looking for retail spaces. In the meantime, I've made some other great business friends: the Retail Committee of the fabulous Fort Greene Association . It turns out that the beautiful, developing neighborhood of Fort Greene wants a bookstore almost as bad as I want to create one, so I'll be working with t...