PRESS RELEASE

REGIONALS JOIN FORCES TO PRODUCE HOLIDAY CATALOGS

APRIL 5, 2010 – ARLINGTON, NEW YORK, GRAND HAVEN – Three regional booksellers associations announced today that they are combining efforts to produce their 2010 holiday catalogs. GLiBA, NAIBA, and NEIBA will use a common sales executive, designer, and printer, creating a “one-stop shopping” opportunity for advertisers.

“Our collaboration creates a terrific market for publishers,” Steve Fischer, executive director of New England Independent Booksellers Association, noted. “They’ll have access to our bookstores and their customers in the whole northeast quarter of the country, from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic Ocean.”

“We’ve made the process easier, faster, cheaper,” said Eileen Dengler, head of the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association. “Our innovative plan allows publishers to use the same contract for each of the catalogs and determine which regional or regionals they want each ad to go in. Publishers will realize discounts by placing ads in multiple catalogs, and they’ll save lots of time by dealing with only one sales executive as they place their ads and supply artwork, etc.”

Jim Dana, executive director of Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association, said, “An important feature of our agreement is that our members will still have a catalog that caters to our region, just as it always has. Over 60% of the titles advertised last year appeared in just one regional catalog. We’ve combined much of the process, but we still offer publishers the same opportunity for very focused marketing.”

“We’re pleased we’ve been able to forge this partnership. We think it leads the way to exciting changes in the industry, which will benefit publishers and booksellers alike,” the three executive directors said.

The group has selected Suzanne G. Shoger to coordinate the project. ProMotion, Inc. will handle the design and printing. Suzanne has two decades’ experience in the book industry, as a bookstore owner, in senior marketing and sales positions at Ingram Book Company, and, since 1999, as producer of holiday catalogs for regional associations. ProMotion, Inc., is the publisher of BookPage, the monthly book review for consumers distributed to more than 440,000 readers through bookstores and public libraries nationwide.

Publishers wanting information about advertising, including rates, specifications, and deadlines, should contact Suzanne G. Shoger at suzanneshoger@gmail.com, 216-536-7193, or download information at www.regionalholidaycataloggroup.com.

For more information about this partnership, feel free to contact any of the three regional executive directors, Jim Dana at GLiBA (jim@gliba.org), Eileen Dengler at NAIBA (info@naiba.com), or Steve Fischer at NEIBA (steve@neba.com).