Storm Won’t Stop Holiday Children’s Art Auction

Please check out the ABFFE Holiday Children's Art Auction,  Below is a link to a photo of the flooding - a great event and a great cause. 

 Picture of flooding across from the ABFFE offices

For further information, contact:

Chris Finan, ABFFE, (917) 509-0340

Storm Won’t Stop Holiday Children’s Art Auction

            NEW YORK, NY, Nov. 7, 2012 – Hurricane Sandy has driven the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) from its office building in lower Manhattan, but ABFFE is continuing its preparations for a Holiday Children’s Art Auction that will launch on eBay on Nov. 27.  The storm pushed more than four feet of water into the lobby of the building in the South Street Seaport, damaging electrical equipment.  But the ABFFE staff is continuing to solicit donations of art for the auction, which supports ABFFE’s efforts to defend the free speech rights of kids.  “Sandy was a setback, but we have a lot to be grateful for.  Our office itself was not damaged, and the art that we had already collected is safe and sound,” ABFFE President Chris Finan said.  “We are confident that we will be able to launch on time.”  The deadline for submitting art has been extended to Nov. 21.  Art can be sent to the American Booksellers Association until the ABFFE office reopens. 

            The Holiday Children’s Art Auction is the online version of the auction that is held at BookExpo America, featuring original art from the book industry’s leading artists and illustrators.

            More information about contributing to the auction is available online.  A donation form has also been posted.            Contact Finan by email, chris@abffe.org, or by phone, (917) 509-0340.

               

Sandy - Life Resumes, normalcy to follow

I was compelled on my drive to work today to listen to Bruce Sprinsteen's 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy).  I don't know why but the chorus popped in my head with the lilting chords that start the song with Bruce whispering Sandy.....it is a story of love lost that no doubt played out in Bruce's youth like so many people on any of the boardwalks and shore towns up and down the Northeast coast.  While youth is lost to time, it is the physical places that  anchored us, letting our memories to come to life when we go back to the towns, beaches, bars and stores that have been hit so hard by Sandy.  

People affected by Sandy from New Jersey through Connecticut and beyond are working hard to fix, replace, rebuild and make things the way they were before Sandy hit last week.  One place that I am particularly fond of is the Bank Street Books in Mystic.  I go up to Mystic with my family a couple of times of year and Bank Street Books is always a stop, where my boys 'borrowed' Charlie (resident dog of Bank Street) for a walk several years ago and still talk about.  Bank Street saved their inventory but still were flooded and have had to close while they have the floor replaced among other repairs.  I you can help out in anyway, please donate to the Relief Fund that has been set up for Bank Street Books.  Hopefully all repairs will be done and they are planning to re-open on Monday. 

Paypal link for Bank Street Books in Mystic, CT

Powering Up BEA with Power Readers

While BEA is still 6+ months away, planning is at its peak right now with an intense effort to insure BEA is proactively focused on what the industry needs and delivering value to all of BEA's participants.  A big transition in 2013 for BEA will be opening wider to consumers which BEA has dubbed: Power Readers.  

Before detailing plans around Power Readers, I want to emphatically point out that BEA's core remains as a trade event.  BEA will always be the B2B marketplace and biggest stage for the publishing industry in North America.   BEA has undergone significant changes over the last few years - as has the publishing industry.  BEA is not simply a reflection of those changes, but is proactively addressing the new challenges facing publishing with solutions highlighted through the conference program, a marketplace for the latest in digital innovation, opening international markets through the Global Market Forum program and being the single most impactful launching point for a new title anywhere.

Power Readers, here are the basics:  BEA will promote to consumers to attend exclusively on Saturday June 1st who will be badged as Power Readers.  Power Readers will pay to attend.  Exhibitors will be permitted to sell directly to anyone during BEA as long as they are registered with the state of NY and collect taxes (instructions for registering with be provided).   BEA will offer a solution to sell books through an approved vendor, those details are in the works.  There will still be a significant amount of booksellers and librarians that want a Saturday to attend BEA as well as it is cheaper and more convenient for them.

Power Readers will make BEA will be a pop culture event that is a compliment to the industry's trade show.  This will open new promotional opportunities for publishers. Power Readers will change how media covers BEA, bringing more focus and attention on the latest titles and highest profile authors.  Publishers will be able to  connect directly with consumers and consumers will have access to their favorite authors on a scale that was never been available to them in one place at one time.