Harry Potter ...
Harry Potter out sold the box office gross for The Hulk last weekend which was an estimated 62 million dollars.  J.K Rowling has all adults in awe by writing a book that has children reading rather than watching movies.  Stephen King said it best, “these books are for everyone.  They will be around 50 or 100 years from now; they will be part of our literary lexicon.”
Source:  http://publisherweekly.com   


SARS Attacks ALA, Financially
Many feared that the ALA show that was scheduled in Toronto would severely suffer due to the SARS scare.  With surprise many found a normal crowd of 16,558 attendees who were calm and showed no signs of crisis.  Despite the anxiety the attendance only fell 2,576 people from last year’s show in Atlanta.  Though the crowd was normal and many of the attendees reported that there was good traffic and good quality, Keith Fiels estimates that the association revenue will be down 1.75 million this fiscal year from the show.  In hopes to make sure that those who cancelled will return to the 2004 show in Orlando. ALA is offering credit to those who cancelled after the deadline for full returns. For more information click on link and go to archives. 
Source: http://publishersweekly.com
 
Lemstone Has New Owners
Lemstone, the only franchise operation in the Christian bookstore market, has new owners.  Franchises can be purchased now for a one time franchise fee of $30,000, 4% of monthly sales, and 1% advertising fee.  Rusty Bland, vice-president of the company’s operation says that he sees “no barriers to how large we can become.”   Scott Macdonald has been the point man for the new owners, and is now the CEO and president of the company.  He had previously held senior positions in sales, marketing and management at several small companies.  The former owner of Lemstone, Jim Lemon, has been named chairman emeritus.  Most of Lemstone’s staff and management will hold their former positions.  Scott Macdonald’s goal for Lemstone is to open 15 stores annually.  The company now has 40 stores in 24 states.  Macdonald hopes to rapidly increase the outlets.  He says that there is “a growing demand in our culture for access to Christian products.”
Source:  http://publisherweekly.com/
 
America Wants Used Books
Why should you know about used books, you may ask?  It is an important part of each company’s strategic planning to fully understand what drives all consumer book buying.  Nearly one-third of book buying households purchased both a new and a used book during the last nine months of 2002.  Among used book buyers, most of whom purchase both used and new books, at least one out of every three book purchases was for used books. Used books account for roughly 13% of unit volume and 5% of dollars spent on trade books, not including children’s books.  Ipsos BookTrends estimated that American consumers bought about 145 million used books last year, for about $533 million.  Recent statistics show that about 10% of the U.S households bought at least one used book between April and December of last year.  In total these households purchased roughly 110 million used books for about $400 million, according to data released at BookExpo America by Ipsos BookTrends.  See full story at www.ipsos-pa.com/
 
Chicago Awaits Two Berean Stores
Berean Christian stores are known for their ‘in-store’ experience.  There are currently 18 stores in 7 states, and plans are to open two before the end of the year in the Chicago area. Berean president, Roger Feenstra said “it’s important to us and the customers we serve that we provide appropriate coverage of the Chicago market.”  Both Berean stores will offer cutting-edge music listening stations, a reading lounge area, and a church-ministry area.  It hopes to be a focal point to the religious community of Chicago. 
Source:  http://publisherweekly.com/

Nelson Revenue Up
Thomas Nelson, a Nashville based Christian Publisher, reported a 20% increase in revenue this past quarter.  Sam Moore, CEO, acknowledged a soft retail market but added, “Nelson has been able to increase market share and has dominated the Christian best seller list.
Source:  www.cbaonline.org
 
Improving BEA
In an effort to improve next year’s BookExpo America, the American Booksellers Association is sending out a survey for all members who pre-registered for this year's show.  ABA is encouraging bookseller members who attended BEA, but were not pre-registered to complete the survey.  It only takes a few minutes and will help ABA plan future BEA’s.  The website and source is http://www.bookweb.org/ 
 
More Carriers Looking to Next Day Service
Roadway, Yellow and Old Dominion Freight Lines are exploring the fastest growing segment of the LTL market.  According to Pittsburgh based consultant, Satish Jindel, the regional LTL (less-than-truckload) market grew by nearly 60% with the majority of those shipments being overnight deliveries.  “At the end of the day, the ability to compete in the next day market is very important,” said Yellow CEO William Zollars.

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