NAIPR Farewell Address

In my 10 years as President of NAIPR I've seen the book industry change dramatically. I realized that NAIPR needed to change right along with it, and adapt to new realities if it was going to remain a vibrant organization that served the essential interests of its members.

As a pass the baton to Eileen Bertelli as new President I feel very confident that NAIPR is in good hands. Other leaders have stepped forward in forging an inspiring partnership with Above The Treeline of Ann Arbor, MI. Midwest Director John Mesjak served diligently on the committee, bringing his expertise in technology and a wide knowledge of bookseller needs to the table. Robert Rooney stepped into a very difficult situation as a newly minted Executive Director, and he was instrumental in steering negotiations forward. Sean Concannon, formerly of the Parson Weems Group and ex-treasurer of the organization, served as Interim Executive Director and was a complete inspiration to me with his positive attitude, work ethic, and amazing abilities to get multiple tasks done in a timely and efficient way.

I consider these fine individuals to be my friends and colleagues and I'm very proud to have served NAIPR with them. I need to make a shout out to Paul Williams and his wife Livia Tenser. Paul was Executive Director of the organization until his untimely passing in 2010. To quote my obituary of Paul, "Paul was proactive in reforming and streamlining that organization so that it ran seamlessly. Independent reps across the country owe Paul a debt of gratitude as he shored up the finances of NAIPR and spearheaded an innovative electronic ordering system that saved countless hours for reps and booksellers alike. His legacy will live on as this system, Frontlist Plus Universal, will continue to serve the book selling community, saving time and money and being brilliant in its simplicity and execution." Now with the upgrades and integration with Above The Treeline, the Paul Williams legacy will live on. Love ya and miss ya, my man.

Livia Tenser was brilliant with the transition in the face of tragic circumstances, and NAIPR owes her big time. Livia realized how important NAIPR was to Paul, and she also understood that she was protecting a legacy of 30 years. I want to make clear that NAIPR never would have survived to continue to be the vibrant organziation it is today without Livia's help. Thank you, my dear friend.

And so I am moving on the publishing side of table after 30-plus years as a commission rep, and a charter member of NAIPR. My company, Wicker Park Press, is an associate member of NAIPR and has reps in each territory across the country. It is celebrating 10 years in business with the publication of a cookbook, Food with Attitude: Cooking the Cuban-Rican Way by Chef Papi Perez, and the anothogy All American Horror of the 21st Century: The First Decade 2000 - 2010 edited by Mort Castle.

In conclusion let me remind independent reps across the country that you can accomplish anything you put your mind to. Booksellers and publishers need our services, our expertise, and our passion for books. I believe in all of you, and will tell you to keep growing your businesses. NAIPR has your back! You can always call on anyone of our leaders for help in any situation. We have a great industry and now we are forging bravely ahead with new leadership, new ideas, and a renewed sense of purpose!

Carry on!

Eric L Miller
President Emeritus, NAIPR

Novel-in-verse INSIDE THE WHALE recalls literary epics of the past

Man against insurmountable odds has been a classic tale for much of history. "Inside the Whale" is a novel in verse. Author Joseph G. Peterson has crafted an epic poem, tapping into the memories of the legends of times gone past, but being true to the modern era. Looking into the self-destructive nature of humanity and how our lives tear us all apart, "Inside the Whale" is a strong pick for lovers of poetry and fiction, seeking a modern story with a strong influence of the epics of the past.
-- Midwest Book Review, the Poetry Shelf, June 2012

As Bloomsday approaches (June 16th), a worldwide celebration of James Joyce's Ulysses, a novel that was first serialized from 1918 - 1920 in the radical arts magazine The Little Review, it's good to look at contemporary works such as Joseph G Peterson's Inside the Whale which pays poetic homage to Joyce and other great literary masters.

Joyce created his own lexicon with Ulysses, and filled the book with puns and obscure gags, quips, and witticisms that made the book unlike anything that had been published before. Set in Dublin, Ireland during a single day (June 16th), it chronicled the odyssey of its main character Leopold Bloom as he proceeded through his day, and Joyce brilliantly draws mind-blowing parallels to Odysseus, the main character of Homer's epic poem The Odyssey.

Peterson created his own epic with his main character, Irish-American Jim O'Connor, described by poet Gregory Lawless as "a whorl of grief, reckless charm, and surly poetic ambition." Peterson is the author of two traditional novels (Beautiful Piece & Wanted Elevator Man) but this book was his cat. Same way Robert Graves, acclaimed author of I Claudius and a slew of other books, including The Greek Myths, considered poetry to be his true calling. And so Peterson broke a few rules of fiction here by recounting his plot in stanzas that, according to poet Lawless, "watch the antiheroic O'Connor churn through misadventures, ocular bursts of poetry and failed loves ..."

One more significant thing. The Little Review, the arts magazine that first serialized Joyce's Ulysses, was born in Chicago in 1914 by editor Margaret Anderson. Peterson's novel-in-verse is set in Chicago, and according to poet Lawless "Inside the Whale's most moving passages are about Chicago, captured in Peterson's beautiful coda to this boisterous yarn." Recalling the biblical story of Jonah and the whale, the Old-English epic Beowulf, and even Herman Melville's Moby Dick, Perterson's book imagines a bardic drone chanting the mnemonics of rhythm and rhyme to entertain, lyre in hand, a group of ruffians gathered around a keg of beer and the red-hot coals of a dying fire.

Read more about Peterson's Inside the Whale here http://www.wickerpark-3ibooks.com/insidethewhale.html

Boston Celtics Rally over Philadelphia 76ers in East Semi Finals

The Celtics persevered over a very tough and well-coached 76ers team. It would seem that the Celtics brought their experience and legacy to bear on a 7-game series that provided an important test of their team will. It appeared that the 76ers had the same kind of no-nonsense lunch-bucket mentality as the Celtics did, and when you saw the two teams battling it out in their games together they seemed evenly matched: -- Kevin Garnett and Elton Brand, two shrewd  veterans;  Rajon Rondo and Lou Williams, two outstanding guards. Because of this particular win it appears that Boston will be the beneficiary of this practical and tough attitude, and it could serve them well as they progress to the East Finals match against the Miami Heat.

The four teams that made it this year each seem to have their own unique personalities, and they are definitely the best teams in the NBA this year for very different reasons. The teams are the Celtics, the Heat, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Celtics have a reputation for being old, or aging to put it more politely.  They won it all in 2008 with their four horseman of the Apocalypse: Garnett, Rondo, Paul Pierce, the captain, and Ray Allen, all still there. It’s my opinion this team cannot be under-estimated, and their Coach Doc Rivers is a brilliant tactician. I know this is a cliché, but playoffs are so different from regular season play, and when you have sheer physical ability only and lack the mental fortitude of older teams, it’s usually the older team that figures out how to win, either through wily veteran moves or a tenacity born of experience. They have simply been there before and are not self-conscious and simply come to ready to play, and win.

And so the Celtics are the workingman’s team, tough and full of guile. Much like the 76ers were this time out, except Philadelphia seems more like the 2004 Champion Detroit Pistons with no real high-profile star. The team does it together in this case, and I think the Celtics are so very potent because they embody both these qualities: -- they have high-profile, superstar players AND they play cohesively as a team. That’s a winning combination.

The Heat reminded me a little bit of the New York Knicks because they go out and buy talent, very glitzy and everything, but it doesn’t serve them in winning championships. Man, the early 1970s was the last time the Knicks won it all, with Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson coming off the bench. The only title the Heat won was in 2005: -- that was with Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O'Neal and Gary Payton. Shaq and Payton are no longer there and they were important pieces of the championship puzzle. Of course, the Heat went and added LeBron “I’m Taking My Basketball Skills to South Florida” James. But between James and Wade, to say nothing of Chris Bosh who is day-to-day, there doesn’t seem to be enough ball to go around. Not to take away anything from the Heat, they are a formidable team with some excellent pieces, but my feeling is that Coach Erik Spoelstra is a suit filling in for Pat Riley, former championship coach and now team president. It almost seems like James is the Heat’s player-coach for the team. Spoelstra doesn’t seem to have much leverage with James. Yet James had an amazing season like a modern Prometheus bringing the fire every night. Man, how does he do it? Still the championship is eluding James because he needs the right pieces in place to make it happen. The Heat will do well with pyrotechnics, with lots of flash (to coin the phrase Shaq used about Wade), but watch them implode against the Celtics. At least that’s my prediction. As Mike Royko once said, I could be wrong but I doubt it.

The San Antonio Spurs have gone undefeated in this post season. Their coach, Gregg Popovich, is some kind of genius. He’s been in there since 1996, and the Spurs have won it all three times on his watch, in 1998 in an abbreviated season, in 2002, and in 2006. The triptych of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili is the key to their success: -- and like the Celtics they bring tenacity, experience, and teamwork to the hardwoods. I can’t think of a bad thing to say about them as a team. Duncan, two-time Finals MVP, apprenticed with Hall of Fame center David “The Admiral” Robertson, whom he won his first two titles with. Parker went onto to win Final MVP in 2006 with the Spurs after Robertson retired.

So based on what I’m saying above it would seem that it would be a Celtics-Spurs finals match-up for this year. Not so fast. What makes things interesting and keeps us watching as students and fans of the professional game is the Oklahoma City Thunder. This team is awesome. They recently knocked off Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers in 5 games in the West Semi Finals. They have an intriguing mix of veteran players, Derek Fisher, Nick Collison, and Kendrick Perkins, while their younger players are incredibly athletic and bring a lot to their game. The combination of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant is just astounding, and this seems to be the future of the game because they are still so young. I also love the play of Thabo Sefolosha, a Swiss guard who debuted with the Bulls.

The Thunder is the NBA’s Cinderella team this time out, the wildcard. Their coach, Scott Brooks, led an incredible 20 + game winning turnaround this season. Brooks was a three-point specialist with the Houston Rockets in 2004 when they won the title. He has very little playoff experience as a head coach, but the makeup of the team and a bevy of great players are what could carry them to the finish line this season. Nobody knows.

Let’s keep watching. The Celtics-76ers was a great series in its own right.

Giovanni Ethan Castronovo Miller

I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart who expressed condolences over the passing of my grandson at a mere 10 weeks old. The amazing thing about Giovanni is that he was so healthy, so vivacious, and so full of life that his sudden death was and continues to be a shock to our family. He was born on Washington's birthday, February 22, 2012 at 6 pounds, 8 ounces in Chicago. He passed away on May 2 of this same year.

Little Giovanni is a love child, and he taught his mother Isabel the joy and responsibility of parenthood. He taught my wife and I about being grandparents. My parents about being great grandparents. My younger daughter Talia about being an aunt. So many people whom Giovanni came in contact with loved and admired this special baby.

My friend Janet Green, a clairvoyant, told me his spirit is fine. He felt no pain. Simply by being himself he has taught me about love and what is most important in life. Even as he sleeps with angels in heaven his spirit continues to teach me about love and life, and how love is the most important thing in the world. I love you, dear reader, and all my friends and family who reached out to us at this time of grief and sorrow. But we will not give in to despair! I want to express profound gratitude for having the experience of getting to know and nurture dear Giovanni. It reaffirms my belief in life and makes me so very happy!

Giovanni was laid to rest on May 8 at Waldheim Cemetery in Forest Park, IL. He is in the children's section at the back end in a beautiful spot. We will create a marker for his grave. Rabbi Victor Merelman said the last rites and was a calming influence on those who attended. I just found out that my great grandparents are buried in this cemetery, Morris and Bethie Ruttenburg, along with a few other Ruttenburgs, who would be great great aunts and uncles to Giovanni on my mother's side. This tells me Giovanni is in the right place. It is accessible and we will never forget how his special spirit changed our lives for the better.

With love and gratitude and a look towards a bright future,

Eric Lincoln Miller
River Forest, IL

President's Message for National Association of Independent Publisher's Representatives

As I pass the baton to the next person after an unprecedented 10 years as President of NAIPR let me say thank you to the board of directors, executive directors past and present, and to the membership who have been so wonderful to work with over the years. I am moving across the aisle, so to speak, and concentrating my efforts in another area of the book world, Wicker Park Press Ltd, which I started at roughly the same time I became President of our august organization. I’m lucky that I get to keep on working with a set of wonderful independent sales groups across the country and the world. These relationships built over the years are lasting, and I will continue to do everything in my power to assist the cause of NAIPR.

I was a charter member of NAIPR in 1989. We find ourselves on the threshold of a new era as NAIPR faces the brave new world of technology with a newly-minted agreement with Ann Arbor, MI-based ABOVE THE TREELINE. This marriage was born of fire as NAIPR and TREELINE had what was originally perceived of as competing services in the world of electronic catalogs and ordering systems. As President I never saw it this way, and I always viewed NAIPR as being a candy-counter concession stand in a kind of grand movie theater that TREELINE created with it EDELWEISS ordering system. Well, “bless my homeland forever” as the song goes, we were able to come to an agreement with this fine company. Our goals and reasons-for-being are remarkably the same. NAIPR is an organization created for the benefit of its members, who inherently help publishers, their clients, and bookstore owners, their customers, in succeeding to sell more books.

TREELINE never posited a negative view of sales reps, and they came into the business to help book store owners succeed in their businesses, and by extension sales reps were an integral part of the process. By way of example, in the EDELWEISS system sales reps of any stripe (independent and house) could annotate online entries for new books. Reps could sit with book store buyers while they were making their choices and use the system to actually get a bigger order. And because the order was created within EDELWEISS it would be 100% accurate and ready to send in to publishers right away. This was a winning situation for the book store owner, the rep, and the publisher.

NAIPR’s system FRONTLIST PLUS UNIVERSAL was created and updated as an e-catalog order form. Its beauty lies in its utter simplicity. It did one thing, ordering books. And NAIPR relied on its membership and the tireless efforts of Laurie Graham, formerly of WORDSTOCK, and Bob Rooney (Sean Concannon, the late Paul C Williams, and Mark Follstad) to assemble an up-to-date, seasonal list of books, in catalog order no less, that would allow for a time savings for everybody.

And now with the integration of EDELWEISS and FRONTLIST PLUS UNIVERSAL booksellers have a greater array of choices, and NAIPR can continue its mission to provide services to the book industry.
And what are benefits that NAIPR brings to the big table? The answer is varied and multi-layered, and I’ve talked endlessly about this before, so I will leave you with a story well-told by member Jock Hayward of HAND ASSOCIATES in the Western US territory. He wrote me about Dick Kolbert of Oakland, CA, a consummate professional who is retiring at the end of this season. Here are Jock’s words:

I have followed Dick into accounts in the past. He called on Colorado stores, before we redistributed accounts a dozen years ago. To this day, many of the buyers, upon my arrival, demand that I tell them about Dick. A couple even ask me what books he's read, and one wants to know that movies he's seen!

Two years ago, Dick told me that he planned to visit Denver with his wife, Nancy. Without thinking, I mentioned to buyers that Dick would be passing through Denver. It's possible that some buyers had heart palpitations when they heard about the visit, but all demanded to visit with Dick while he was in Denver. I reported back to Dick. Dick was surprised. In some cases he was baffled. He didn't remember a close affinity with certain buyers who were determined to see him.

Then things took an ugly turn. The itinerary, when it was finalized, only allowed for part of an afternoon in Denver. At best, there might be time for a brief visit with one or two conveniently situated buyers, before driving South to stay with long-time friends. When word got out that the visit to Denver would only be a few hours, between the airport and a drive to another part of the state, there was consternation. Buyers who learned that they would not see Dick, even though he would be in Denver briefly, were frustrated and disappointed. Fortunately, everybody survived and most were quick to forgive him after the trip.

My background with Hand prepared me for this. When I joined Hand in 1979. I replaced Roger Sydnor. Roger stopped at the Grand Canyon on the way back from New Mexico to Los Angeles. He got up early one morning to take pictures. His camera was found, but his body was hundreds of feet below. When I called on his accounts the first season, there was a lot of hand-holding to do with buyers I was meeting for the first time. Several women buyers became teary-eyed, when I arrived for the appointment. I quickly learned that it wasn't because of Hastings House catalogs, or even the U of Washington Press catalog.

Next season, I will have to recount, to a dozen more new buyers, what Dick is doing. The downside is that I will have to commiserate with them on the first call. The upside is that I will instantly be a confidant with important information about a revered friend …

Eric Miller
President, NAIPR

All new collaborations with legendary author Edgar Allan Poe offers top-notch writing and an important rediscovery

There is a little-known, unfinished story that Poe wrote
towards the end of his life, called for all intents and purposes The Lighthouse. It is arguably the last thing he wrote before he died. Never having had a chance to finish this story,
two-dozen contemporary authors assist Poe in realizing his vision for the
story. Each author was given a task by the editor in Poe’s Lighthouse: take the story fragment and turn it into a complete story – in any way they wished! The only rule was to use Poe’s
language, his images, his ideas; the story had to truly work together with the
master. They are designed to be genuine collaborations. The result is a
riveting collection of all-new tales by Edgar Allan Poe, the first in 162
years!

The story behind the tale The Lighthouse is as mysterious as anything Poe ever wrote himself.
Poe died in 1849. Three pages of the narrative were owned by Poe’s literary
executor, Rufus Griswold. They were written in ink on pale blue paper. The
story fragment appeared for the first time in print in 1909 in George Edward
Woodberry’s Life of Poe. It wasn’t for another 33 years that another scholar, Thomas O. Mabbott, editor of The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe (Cambridge: Belknap
Press, 1969), would uncover a stray page of the story that had been sold at
auction in 1896. Mabbott put the pieces of the story together, and published
the entire fragment it in the British journal Notes and Queries on April 25, 1942. And the world had a “new” Poe story. It is this version that appears in Poe’s Lighthouse.

There have been some attempts by writers over the years to
complete Poe’s fragment (most notably, see The
Lighthouse in Robert Bloch’s collection The
Early Fears). There have undoubtedly been others, but it is striking how
little attention this key fragment has received over the years. Indeed, since
the piece rarely appears in standard editions of Poe’s writings most readers
have no idea it exists.

This anthology sets out to change that.

Contemporary writers such as Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Carole
Nelson Douglas, John Shirley, and Mike Resnick have been invited to collaborate
with Poe on his lighthouse story. While some of the writers produce straightforward
completions of the story itself, others use Poe’s words and ideas to spur their
own visions and imaginings. Readers of these stories will be impressed by the
breath and variety of tales represented here. Just what was Poe’s intention
with this story? The Poe fragment excites the imagination with possibilities.
Would the prevailing mood be melancholy, as in Annabel Lee, or horrific, in keeping with many Poe tales? Would this have been an essentially realistic narrative, or would have fantastic
elements come into play?

Poe took the answers to these questions to his grave.

Published for the first time in paperback, Booklist calls this book “must reading
for Poe enthusiasts.”

Editor Christopher Conlon is best known as editor of the
Bram Stoker Award-winning Richard Matheson tribute anthology He Is Legend. He has written two novels, including the Stoker Award finalist Midnight on Mourn Street, and several collections of stories and poems. He lives in Silver Spring, MD, not far from Poe-haunted Baltimore. Visit him onhis web site http://christopherconlon.com

Advance Book Information
Poe’s Lighthouse
All-New Collaborations with Edgar Allan Poe
Edited by Christopher Conlon
ISBN: 978-1-936679-03-4
Trade Paperback
278 pages
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Price: $18.95
Publication Date: June 5, 2012
Publisher: Wicker Park Press Ltd PO Box 5318 River Forest, IL 60305-5318
Web Site: http://www.wickerpark-3ibooks.com/