For indie publishers, especially those who are publishing primarily ebooks, the big news of February was the announced merger of Draft2Digital and Smashwords.

The acquisition unites two pioneers in ebook publishing and distribution platforms. Both also provide print-on-demand services. Under the Draft2Digital name, the company will be headquartered in Oklahoma City. Kris Austin, co-founder and CEO of Draft2Digital, will lead the combined company as CEO. Mark Coker, founder and former CEO of Smashwords, will join the Draft2Digital management team as Chief Strategy Officer and board member.

The acquisition is expected to close on March 1, 2022. To minimize workflow disruption for authors, publishers, and sales partners, Draft2Digital promises changes “in gradual and incremental steps.”

As the new company ramps up, Draft2Digital says that they are looking for more employees. Currently job openings are listed for OK, TX, KS, CO, CA, or WA. Check the company’s website for more information at draft2digital.com/careers.

Booksellers who want to learn the publishing side of the book businesss are encouraged to apply for Denver Publishing Institute’s 2022 scholarship.

The Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc), in collaboration with Sourcebooks and the Denver Publishing Institute, is sponsoring a summer scholarship—worth up to $7000—to attend the Denver Publishing Institute. Applications will be accepted through February 24, 2022. This scholarship includes tuition, meal plan, housing, and up to $2000 to cover travel and lost wages.

The Denver Publishing Institute (DPI) is a 4-week-long summer program (July 10–,August 5, 2022) at the University of Denver. Participants can choose to attend in person or as a remote student in 2022. DPI is taught by industry professionals who work for trade, university, textbook, and independent publishers throughout the country. Course and lecture topics will include book marketing, manuscript editing, copyediting and proofreading, digital marketing strategies, the role of the bookstore, and other publishing specific courses.

Jill Smith, director of the Denver Publishing Institute said, “We are delighted to be able to join Binc and Sourcebooks to support another bookseller’s attendance at the 2022 Denver Publishing Institute. Booksellers are vitally important to the publishing community because of their direct relationships with readers. Our goal is to help them grow in their careers, whether they continue to grow their roles in retail or move into different positions within book publishing.”
 
The application process is open to booksellers who are currently employed (full- or part-time) at a brick and mortar bookstore, with a tenure of at least 90 days, and are employed by the bookstore at the time of the program.
 
The applications must be made by February 24 through the Denver Publishing Institute’s application portal. Booksellers can find out more details and apply here: https://gradadmissions.du.edu/apply/

Many conventions moved online last year and several panels ended up being Zoom chats with international audiences. Now these organizations are republishing this content. Check out the following on the job duties of various people during the publishing of a book (clicking on picture will take viewers to Dream Foundry’s video channel):

A discussion of the journey from pitched to published, discussing what happens every step of the way and the professionals that contribute to the process with:

Author/Editor/Publisher, Mythic Delirium Books Two-time World Fantasy Award finalist Mike Allen edits and publishes the Mythic Delirium Books imprint.

Laura Blackwell is a freelance copyeditor and a Pushcart-nominated writer of speculative fiction. Her stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies.

Jill Roberts has been the managing editor at Tachyon Publications since 2002. She is the editor of award-winning Tachyon books, and a columnist for Books to Watch Out For and the Thirteenth Moon. Roberts was a consultant at Streetside Stories, which teaches storytelling through writing.

Moderator Rosemary Jones is the author of several media tie-in novels: The Deadly Grimoire (Arkham Horror), Mask of Silver (Arkham Horror), City of the Dead (D&D Forgotten Realms), and Crypt of the Moaning Diamond (D&D Forgotten Realms). She has worked in publishing and communications for many years, including several years of running meetings and events for Book Publishers Northwest.

The Independent Book Publishers Association released its 15% early bird discount for the 2022 Publishing University. Regional publishers can also receive an additional 15% off if members of an IBPA affiliate association using the promo code PubU-Regional during checkout. Registration must occur before January 15, 2022, to receive both discounts and can be done at publishingu.org.

The 2022 Publishing University will include both virtual and in person events. Two days of virtual programming will be made available on April 20-21, 2022, with most of these virtual sessions recorded for attendees to view for one month following the conference. The IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award ceremony, workshops, and other gatherings will take place in person at the Renaissance Orlando in Florida on April 29-30, 2022.  Organizers also are planning full day of field trips for Sunday, May 1, 2022. All in-person events will follow the most current Florida public health guidelines. 

A preliminary schedule of events is now available on the Publishing University website.

Since 1965, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) have given annual Book Awards to recognize Northwest writers. Past awardees include such luminaries as Ivan Doig, Ursula K. Le Guin, David James Duncan, and Cheryl Strayed. For most, while writing in the Northwest, they were published by one of the large NY publishers.

While this year’s nominees include several titles published by NY corporations, the local presses were represented in the 2022 short list by:

Funeral for Flaca: Essays by Emilly Prado, published by Future Tense Books (Portland, OR)
Guard the Mysteries by Cedar Sigo, published by Wave Books (Seattle, WA)

The complete list of 2022 nominees can be seen at pnba.org.

Nine volunteer booksellers from throughout the Pacific Northwest select the finalists. This year’s committee considered more than 400 nominated titles published during 2021 for the 2022 award, according to an announcement from PNBA.

With all the moaning about empty shelves due to shipping delays, anyone who has wandered into an independent bookstore knows that the shelves are well-stocked. Most also have a variety of stocking stuffers to go with the books too.

There’s a new bookstore opening for the holidays, and one old favorite on the move, in Seattle. So grab your shopping bag and prepare to visit for Small Business Saturday or any day of the week.

DRINK BOOKS

The wonderfully named Drink Books, which just opened in Seattle at 5817 Phinney Avenue North, invites readers to pair their favorite novel with just the right red or white. In short, you can buy a book and a bottle of wine. That’s the perfect gift right there! The store was recently featured in Seattle Met.

OPEN BOOKS

Seattle’s poem emporium is on the hunt for a new location. After many years at 2414 N. 45th Street, the store has received notice that they have to move. Help them keep the boxes to the minimum by adding a little poetry to your holiday haul. Open Books will not be open on Black Friday, but their regular hours are posted on their website.

MORE STORES

Need to find a bookstore? NW Book Lovers has a great listing of independent bookstores in the Pacific Northwest. Find out more at their website.

Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association reported that their masked and vaccinated Fall Trade Show was a success. In a recent letter to members, they said attendance at the October event included “170 booksellers and librarians from 83 member entities, 150 exhibitors from 60 companies holding down 94 booths and tables, 70+ authors at the mic, signing table and on the floor, and 20 PNBA staff members and volunteers. We masked up and we mixed it up. The community was amazing!”

The association works to connect independent booksellers with publishers and authors year round through a variety of marketing programs. To find out more, check pnba.org.

Trade show attendees had an opportunity to communicate with dots. Photo courtesy of PNBA.

Independent game designers will now be able to draw on copyrighted and trademarked material with the blessing of Pacific Northwest publisher Paizo.

Launched in Washington State, Paizo publishes the award-winning Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, Pathfinder Tales novels, and Starfinder science-fantasy roleplaying game.

In September, the company has announced a new publishing program that allows game designers to use the official Pathfinder and Starfinder properties and sell these supplements via DriveThruRPG. Through Pathfinder Infinite and Starfinder Infinite programs, small publishers and third-party content creators can use the copyrighted characters, creatures, and settings of the Pathfinder and Starfinder tabletop roleplaying games in their own works.

Similar to the DMs Guild program operated by DriveThruRPG for another Northwest publisher, Wizards of the Coast, the Pathfinder and Starfinder Infinite programs will operate a 50/50 revenue split between Paizo and indie publishers.

The Paizo program will launch in mid-October.

In a recent announcement, Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association said that they will require all participants in the Fall Trade Show to be vaccinated.

In an email sent this week, they stated “PNBA will comply with any state mandated COVID protocols in force at the time of the show. We require that all show participants without religious or health exemptions be fully vaccinated. Please do not put yourself or others in a vulnerable position.“

The 2021 PNBA Tradeshow will take place Oct. 3, 4, and 5 at the Red Lion on the River in Portland, Oregon. More information about the tradeshow can be found at pnba.org.

The Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association traditionally takes donations of books at the end of its Fall Tradeshow for its rural library book drive. These donations of publishers’ samples have helped dozens of libraries with little or no book buying budget upgrade their collection.

This year, Michael Pritiken Rural Library Project coordinator Caitlin McMahan selected an Oregon library as the recipient of this year’s collection efforts. The 2020 Holiday Farm fire decimated the town of Blue River, Oregon, including the town’s O’Brien Memorial Library.

PNBA volunteers will collect books during the exhibits tear-down at the 2021 show. In addition, they will take books from publishers who are not able to make it to the show. Pack a box of single, finished copies, send it to PNBA, and the books will be delivered to Blue River. Books must be shipped to PNBA using THIS shipping label or clearly mark each box for the RURAL LIBRARY PROJECT. The deadline for physical Rural Library donations to be received at the PNBA warehouse is September 28.

Find out more about the Rural Library Project at pnba.org.