Happy April, everyone!  Spring has sprung, the clocks have changed, and it's time to fling open the doors of our bookstores and welcome in the cool breezes and the sunshine-seeking shoppers.

It's also time to reflect on what we learned and shared at the SCIBA Spring Meeting, held in Long Beach on March 27.  There was a lot of great programming, but I wanted to take a moment to talk specifically about the half hour we spent discussing our stores--what's been working, what's concerning us, and what we'd like the SCIBA to focus on this year. The board will be discussing all the responses at our next meeting in early May, but to recap for those of you who weren't there:

• What's been working for our stores has been a combination of increased social media presence, partnering with local businesses, revamping store programs (loyalty, events, etc.), and, crucially, keeping that personal "indie" touch in everything we do, from our stores to our websites, social media, and newsletters.
• Our stores expressed concerns about customer e-reader awareness (such as alternatives to the Kindle), landlords, Amazon (of course), and educating authors about how they can help the indies who work so hard to sell their books.
• And some of what you want the SCIBA to do for you this year is already front-and-center on our agenda: sales tax fairness, more opportunities for booksellers to network (enter our summer socials; more info to come!), and creating a Southern California media list.  What we heard loud and clear, though, was that the SCIBA website needs to be reworked, with better searchability and a greatly increased user-friendliness.

We hear you!  We'll be discussing all of this and more in May, and will let you know as things develop.  If you have any additional comments, don't hesitate to contact me. 

Sincerely,

Mary Williams, SCIBA President

Skylight Books  

Reach me at mary@skylightbooks.com.  

As reported in Bookselling This week: "... it would be naive to stay on the sidelines at such a critical juncture. To convey just how important the agency model is for the health of the book industry and a truly competitive marketplace, ABA met with DOJ in Washington, D.C., on Monday, March 19. At that meeting, ABA President Becky Anderson, Vice President Steve Bercu, association General Counsel Deanne Ottaviano, and Oren Teicher expressed to Department of Justice representatives ABA's strong support for agency model pricing of e-books.

We made very clear to DOJ that we believe the agency model has corrected a distortion in the market fostered by major online retailers, which sought to eliminate competition both on the publishing level and at the distribution level.

As we understand it, the investigation is not questioning the legality of the agency model, but, rather, whether it was arrived at in an illegal manner. The critical point we made to DOJ was that any attempts on the government's part to remedy any alleged wrongdoing must not end the agency model, which has created a more competitive marketplace."

SCIBA, along with our colleagues at regional associations across the country, has sent a version of the letter below to their congressional leaders, expressing concern over the Department of Justice's investigation.  (Special thanks to Hut Landon, NCIBA, who crafted this letter.)  SCIBA has sent our letter to Senators Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein as well as Pasadena congressman Adam Schiff.  

Dear Senator (name),

I am very concerned that the Department Of Justice's invest-igation into supposed price fixing with regard to e-books is ignoring the real story and the actual ramifications of a decision in favor of Amazon.com.

The story linked below, from Amazon's hometown newspaper, paints a vivid portrait of a company intent on abusing the book business to lure new customers into the fold. 

Whether it is demanding exclusive discounts from suppliers, selling books at a loss, or practicing sales tax avoidance with a vengeance, Amazon continues to prove itself a truly awful corporate citizen. 

And now, it seeks to sway the DOJ to do what Amazon was unable to  -- bully publishers to change the agency price model and allow Amazon to destroy the e-book market with predatory pricing. The notion that Amazon selling e-books at below-cost prices is good for consumers is nonsense. The company wants to use e-books as a loss leader to attract new business and to kill off competition. That will, of course, lead to fewer choices for consumers and, eventually, higher prices. 

I hope you will keep the DOJ on your radar and view its efforts through perhaps a different filter. This is a power grab orchestrated by Amazon, and the Seattle Times article shows why that should be troubling.

Respectfully,

Dear Friends, Family and Members of the Bookselling Community-

It's hard to believe that three years have passed since Glenn lost his life to pancreatic cancer.  Many of you reading this had known Glenn for decades through Book Soup, his book store in West Hollywood.  OUR HOUSE, a non-profit grief support  center in the Los Angeles area, has played a very important role in our lives over the last few years.   Kids, teens, and adults come to OUR HOUSE and are supported through their grief process by tremendously caring individuals.  

This year, we are participating in A Run for Hope, a day that OUR HOUSE organizes for individuals and families to run in memory of someone close to them who has died (now in its 18th year).  We are running to honor the memory of Glenn, his amazing accomplishments, and the many lives he touched,  while also raising funds for this important and special organization.  

Please support OUR HOUSE by  sponsoring us and making a contribution to our fundraising page- you can visit the following link:

http://www.crowdrise.com/OURrunforhope/fundraiser/TeamGoldman.

With love,

Andrea, Sam and Joe Goldman