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ABA Donates $100K to BINC, Offers Strong Support
American Booksellers Association CEO Allison Hill said the organization had donated $100,000 to the Binc Foundation. In addition, it is reducing membership fees, paying out for e-commerce faster, and running a daily open forum for members.
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Half Price Books Closes All 126 Stores Temporarily
Half Price Books became the largest U.S. bookstore chain to close its doors as a result of the pandemic. The company, which has 126 stores in 17 states, said there would be no layoffs among its 3,000 employees.
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More Bookstore Layoffs as Pandemic Worsens
Denver's Tattered Cover and Posman Books in NYC and Atlanta are the latest bookstores to close temporarily and put employees on leave.
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Canada's Indigo Closing Until End of March
Indigo Books and Music, Canada's dominant bookstore chain, is closing all of its 199 retail locations from the end of business today until March 27.
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Major Indie Bookstores Lay Off Hundreds
Three prominent bookstores, McNally Jackson in New York City, Powell's Books in Portland, Ore., and Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C., have together laid off more than 600 employees as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
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Independent Bookstore Day Has Been Postponed
Independent Bookstore Day, which was scheduled for April 25, has been postponed. The American Booksellers Association, which manages the promotion, said the event would be rescheduled.
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Amazon Deprioritizes Book Sales Amid Coronavirus Crisis
As it works to meet the surge in demand for "household staples, medical supplies, and other high demand products," Amazon has sent a letter to other suppliers, including publishers, telling then to expect reduced purchase orders and extended delivery windows for existing purchase orders through April 5.
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January Bookstore Sales Fell 4.8%
Bookstore sales dropped from $1.14 billion in January 2019 to $1.02 billion in 2020, according to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
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Hachette Offers Indies Discount for Deliveries
Hachette is offering independent booksellers a 5% discount off of MSRP for any title that is sold and delivered to customers in their local community by staff or courier.
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Regionals Tweaking Spring Forum Formats, Scheduling
While some regional indie bookseller organizations have canceled spring forum meetings, others are creatively tweaking schedules to put on unique events, ranging from virtual gatherings to mini-forums.
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B&N, BAM Remain Open
Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million are currently continuing to operate all of their stores, although both noted they are closely monitoring new developments related to Covid-19.
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Seattle's Elliott Bay Book Company Unionizes
Booksellers of the Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle voted to unionize on Friday. The independent rank-and-file union is called the Book Workers Union.
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Chronicle Books Offering Extra Discount to Indies
Effective immediately, Chronicle Books is giving indie retailers an extra 5% discount and 90-day dating on its standard 10-unit minimum.
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Sales Skyrocket at Libro.fm and Bookshop.org
As a result of the coronavirus crisis, sales at digital audiobook store Libro.fm and online bookstore Bookshop.org have soared.
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Indie Bookstores Begin Temporary Closures
In less than a week, brisk early March sales at bookstores in many regions have given way to temporary closures and modified business practices in response to the widening effects of the new coronavirus outbreak.
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This Week's Bestsellers: March 16, 2020
Carrie Underwood has the #1 book in the country with ‘Find Your Path,’ a diet and exercise plan. Plus ‘House of Earth and Blood,’ YA fantasy author Sarah J. Maas’s adult debut, is #2 in the country, and Reese Witherspoon and Jenna Bush Hager make their book club picks.
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Print Unit Sales Fell 3.2% in Early March
Unit sales of print books fell 3.2% in the week ended Mar. 7, 2020, compared to the similar week in 2019, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan.
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Coronavirus Impact Begins to Spread
The growing impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the publishing industry came into view this week as some independent bookstores reported slowing sales and the number of book festival and author tour cancellations rose.
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Breathing New Life into Old Books: PW Talks with 'The Booksellers' Director D.W. Young
We spoke to the director of a new documentary on the world of antiquarian bookselling about how the movie came about, what the future of the rare book world looks like to him, and more.
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For Midwest Booksellers, It's Business as Usual Despite Coronavirus Fears
Midwest booksellers and the two regionals representing them report that business is usual despite coronavirus fears, although booksellers are minimizing physical contact between visiting authors and their fans.



