Great Lakes, Great Reads Promo Launched

by Claire Kirch -- Publishers Weekly, 10/13/2008 7:47:00 AM

The Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association is launching a regional title promotion program, calling it “Great Lakes, Great Reads.” The program, similar to the highly successful “Midwest Connections” program launched by the Midwest Booksellers Association two years ago, will include public relations and merchandising campaigns spearheaded by GLIBA, as well as author tours to the approximately 400 GLIBA member stores in the five-state Great Lakes region the association serves.

Jim Dana, GLIBA executive director, said that the program will commence “as soon as we have titles we feel comfortable with,” probably in March 2009, but perhaps as early as February. He anticipates that two or three new releases of particular interest or relevance to residents of the region will be selected each month as “Great Lakes, Great Reads,” with the selections chosen from books nominated by publishers by members of the volunteer Booksellers Advisory Group that GLIBA will be formed.

“Even though we here at GLIBA’s office read a lot, booksellers will be the best judges of the most promising titles, so we want to make sure they’re very much involved,” Dana said. He is soliciting nominations from publishers by the end of this month. The Board is still determining whether to set up a separate, quarterly regional title promotion program just for children’s titles.