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/

Gearing up for last day at Milwaukee Ave Art Festival

While critical paperwork piles up at home and in my office, going out and meeting people and showing the things we have to offer - books, healthy coffee, art-poetry broadsides, custom stationery products, book distribution, Send Out Cards, and our book publishing consulting business, I see the challenge of being involved in too many things. It's hard to be good at one or two things when you have a world of stuff going on: -- it can also be a turn-off for some people. But not all people. It's a question of finding the right people, and not becoming too involved in the outcome. Some people you can engage, others not. If you can inspire one or two of them you get what is called leverage. They work for the good of themselves, and while they build their own business they are helping you as well. The quest for applied leverage continues ...

My regular job is to sell books for clients to bookstores. Bookstore people in the Midwest are my long-standing customers. I have a commitment to them and to my client publishers to do a good job. My network of bookstores is the one that crosses all the paths of everything I do, all the stuff listed above. It's always been like that. The bookstore network, the one-on-one customer service, the engagement, the approach to understanding what the bookseller's needs are and what kind of books they can sell best, the development of a trusting relationship between us is what drives my business. It has always been the case through 26 years as a book traveler in the Midwest territory.

And dealing with the general public, the book buying public, has never been a strength of mine. My core audience has always been business owners, especially bookstore owners, managers, and buyers. And so the shindig at the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival is a new skill set for me. I've been trying to build up an e-mail list. A mailing list, direct mail and greeting cards, is the ultimate goal, but you need to take small steps. The goal is to develop an audience; people who are interested in what you do and what you have to offer. I'm working on it. It's a balancing act.

Showing up is half the battle. Everything else is in your positive attitude, save 2% which is intangibles and sheer luck. "You're a good man," a fellow who stopped by my table at the Milwaukee Avenue Art Festival told me. Raising that kind of awareness and increasing engagement with these kinds of people is the key to success over time. You need to be in it to win it!

Live from Milwaukee Avenue Art Festival

3ibooks has its kiosk just inside the entrance of 2515 N. Milwuakee Ave. The building is a converted roofing contractor's warehouse. Inside it's bloody hot, the lighting and ventilation are poor at best, and the cracked concrete floor is murder on the feet and it has a permanent layer of dust. But the flow of interesting people is nonstop, and we are right next to LSLR: -- The Logan Square Literary Review. This is a very high quality journal "hand crafted in Logan Square" -- www.loganliterary.com -- and edited by a triumvirate of Eleanor Black, Patrick Dahl, and Daniel Majid. There is a definite synergy to both our approaches to all-things-local literature, and I definitely think we will be collaborating on some projects together in the future.

One of the exhibits just behind our table is LSLR's showcase of MILWAUKEE AVENUE: THE MILLENNIAL SHIFT. This is a fascinating display of artwork, posters, photographs, broadsides, advertisements, rock concert handouts, circulars going way back, and these super-cool venue flyers for current places doing great work up and down the avenue. Young Chicago Authors at 1180 N Milwaukee is one notable organization that used to have a home on W Division Street, and was referred to me by past 1st Ward alderman Manny Flores. They sponsor the largest youth poetry festival in the city, the latest event being called Louder than a Bomb.

I met up with a very vivacious young woman named Katie Palmer, an actress who has come to Chicago by way of Orlando, FL. She originally hails from Connecticut, and she is involved with one of the venues featured in the Milwaukee Avenue showcase, the Gorilla Tango Theater at 1919 N Milwaukee Avenue -- http://www.gorillatango.com/ -- and Ms. Palmer is starring in a current stage version of the classic film THE OMEGA MAN. Ms. Palmer told me it was a burlesque, and being billed as a Hestonian Opera, in honor of screen actor Charlton Heston. I'm partial to THE TEN COMMANDMENTS and SOILENT GREEN myself, but I always dug Omega Man too. I really enjoyed talking to Ms. Palmer and her boyfriend, and I think this play might be worth checking out.

We are here in this outside-the-box venue as guests of Any Squared 2328 N Milwaukee Avenue. This is an art collective that grew out of the ashes of ARTillary, and they put on art shows such as this one in places that don't normally do them. They did an amazing job with it. There is a deejay spinning disks, real vinyl, and innovative sound performance artists coming in at regular intervals, and some really cool exhibits. The one that caught my eye was LOSS OF SPACE from the Espacio Perdido Gallery, curated by Abdi Y. Maya & Eliazabeth Farias. I had a chance to talk to Liz and went through some of the pieces from the show, a mixture of paintings, lithographs, photos, and multimedia collage. One set of photographs that was really arresting were ones by local photographer Luis Hernandez. He has this Indian Muse character, really photogenic, who inhabits three different settings. It draws the viewer in and makes you want more information.

All in all, Saturday at the Art Festival was fun and productive.

SEND OUT CARDS is a game changer for business people

www.sendoutcards.com/ericlmiller

Jordan Adler calls it "the law of reciprocation" -- people experience it all the time because they took the time to send a card to somebody. It's a great business tool, a distinct way to enhance relationships and differentiate yourself from the pack.

Frank has had explosive growth at Metropolitan Bank down the street, and he was wondering out loud what he was going to do for an encore next quarter or next fiscal year. "It's in the cards!" I told him.

JUICE PLUS is an incredible system to get the fruits and vegetables you need to be essentially healthy. And SEND OUT CARDS has a variety of JUICE PLUS images to go on cards that distributors can send out to the customers, clients, and friends. This helps to effectively spread the needed message of JUICE PLUS. Karen can also use it to motivate her national team to achieve new heights in volume.

Erica told a story about how she sent a client a card and it made the recipient's week. Just imagine what could happen if you send out 1 - 3 cards daily! Over the course of a year, almost 1,000 people are positively impacted by expressions of gratitude. The end result: -- an increase in business!

A way for Jim to separate himself out from all these brokers hawking loans is to reach out to his customers and show them that he cares beyond making a fast sale. He's a holistic broker and a real cool character, and he's looking to build and maintain relationships with young people and help them achieve their dreams of home ownership. Through the cards, they become generational customers.

John could make himself memorable by sending cards to his customers and prospects thanking them for the opportunity to evaluate their property. He could send "looking forward to seeing you" cards, "forget-me-not"cards, and holiday cards that carry the message that he cares and will go the extra mile for people.

Handymen are a dime a dozen in this town, and you wouldn't want someone on your home that you didn't trust. Word of mouth is all it takes, and there is a never-ending stream of work where a majority of the houses are falling apart around here. Card sending is a way to widen the network of people you know. With sending out cards, Tom could demonstrate beyond his handyman skills that he's a cut above the rest.

The importance of a well thought-out estate plan can't be under-estimated. People lose thousands of dollars every year because they procrastinated and didn't set up a plan whilst they were healthy. And Gwen could find her potential clients using the SEND OUT CARDS system; the reach out is personal, immediate, and powerful.

In reality every business owner and professional needs to use SEND OUT CARDS. They mostly do a bad or uneven job of connecting with their customers and clients on a personal level. You, dear reader, need to experience it. Go to this web site (www.sendoutcards.com/ericlmiller) and click on number 2 to send a free card. Send the card out and see this amazing system in action!

Top 25 Forthcoming Books from the Great Lakes Region

The following books represent the cream of the crop of Great Lakes regional publishing. Diverse authors, diverse subjects, diverse publishers! Happy reading!!

Univ. of Utah Pr./Poetry Foundation - BLUEPRINTS: BRINGING POETRY INTO THE COMMUNITIES
edited by Katherine Coles paperback $8.95 trade 978-1-60781-147-3 Available - Poetry

Academy Chicago - COUNTY: LIFE, DEATH, AND POLITICS AT CHICAGO'S PUBLIC HOSPITAL by David Ansell MD cloth $32.50 978-0-89733-620-8 trade Available Memoir/Medicine

Univ of Georgia Pr. - LAST DAY ON EARTH: A PORTRAIT OF THE NIU SCHOOL SHOOTER by David Vann cloth $24.95 trade 978-0-8203-3839-2 October 2011 True Crime

Intelink Pub Group - 9/11: 10 YEARS LATER by David Ray Griffin paper $18 trade 978-1-56656-868-5 September 2011 Current Affairs/Politics

Johns Hopkins Univ Pr - INVENTING IRON MAN: THE POSSIBIBILITY OF A HUMAN MACHINE by E. Paul Zehr cloth $24.95 trade 978-1-4214-0226-0 - Science

Univ. Pr. of Kansas - DEFENDING CONGRESS AND THE CONSTITUTION by Louis Fisher paper $24.95 trade 978-0-7006-1799-9 - Politics

Univ Pr. of Kansas - FISHES OF THE CENTRAL UNITED STATES 2nd edition Revised & Expanded
by Joseph R. Tomelleri paper $24.95 trade 978-0-7006-1816-3 Nature/Picture Book

Univ. Pr. of Kentucky A VOICE IN A BOX: MY LIFE IN RADIO by Bob Edwards cloth $21.95 trade 978-0-8131-3451-2 Memoir/Media

Univ Pr. of Mississippi ALAN MOORE: CONVERSATIONS edited by Eric T. Berlatsky paper $25 trade 978-1-61703-159-5 Graphic Novels/Comics

Minnesota Historical Soc Pr. THE1968 PROJECT: A NATION COMING OF AGE by Brad Zellar paper $24.95 trade 978-0-87351-842-0 US History

Univ. of Texas Pr. - GREEBACK PLANET: HOW THE DOLLAR CONQUERED THE WORLD ... by H.W. Brands cloth $24.95 trade 978-0-292-72341-2 History/Economics

Tupelo Pr. - TRAFFIC WITH MACBETH: POEMS by Larissa Szporluk (at Bowling Green St U, Ohio) paper $16.95 trade 978-1-936797-02-8 Poetry

Wayne State Univ Pr. - DETROIT LAND by Ricahrd Bak paper $24.95 tarde 978-0-8143-3499-7 Regional History

Wayne State Univ Pr. - THE STOOGES - HEAD ON by Brett Callwood Foreword by Alice Cooper paper $19.95 trade 978-0-8143-3484-3 Music/Regional

Wicker Park Pr./Lake Street Pr. BEYOND THE PEWS: BREAKING WITH TRADITON AND LETING GO OF RELIGIOUS LOCKDOWN by Jillian Maas Backman paper $16.95 trade 978-1-936181-34-6 Religion/Spirituality

NIU Pr. – CHICAGO’S TRUNK MURDER by Elizabeth Dale cloth $32 trade 978-087580-440-8 True Crime/Regional

Michigan State Univ. Pr. – LAUGHING WHITEFISH by Robert Traver paper 19.95 trade 978-1-61186-014-6 Historical Fiction/Native American

Ohio Univ. Pr. – THE MIDWESTERN NATIVE GARDEN by Charlotte Adelman paper $26.95 trade 978-0-8214-1937-3 Gardening/Regional

Ohio Univ. Pr. – THE LOCAVORE’S KITCHEN by Marilou K. Suszko (from Ohio) paper $32.95 trade 978-0-8214-1938-0 Cooking/Regional

Ohio Univ. Pr. – MARIEMONT: A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF A MODEL TOWN by Millard F. Rogers, Jr. cloth $59.95 trade 978—0-8214-1972-4

Univ. of Minnesota Pr. - WHISKEY BREAKFAST: MY SWEDISH FAMILY, MY AMERICAN LIFE by Richard C. Lindberg (set in Chicago) paper $22.95 trade 978-0-8166-4684-5 Memoir

Univ. of Michigan Pr. – FAITHFUL ONTO DEATH by Becky Thacker Paper $22.95 trade 978-0-472-03469-7 Available Fiction/Regional History

Univ. of Michigan Pr. – THE WINDWARD SHORE: A WINTER ON THE GREAT LAKES by Jerry Dennis cloth $22.95 trade 978-0-472-11816-8

Univ. of Michigan Pr. – THE ART OF COOKING MORELS by Ruth Mossok Johnson – cloth $29.95 trade 978-0-472-11784-0 Cooking

Kent State Univ. Pr. - 1950’S RADIO IN COLOR (Photos of Tommy Edwards)
By Christopher Kennedy cloth $49 trade 978-160635-072-0 Music/Photo

3iBooks is offering Chicago Poetry Center Broadsides for sale

3iBooks is a moon-unit of Wicker Park Press Ltd of River Forest, IL. In an effort to re-invent itself every so often this luminous body has gone thinking outside the box yet again and has power-partnered with the Chicago Poetry Center (www.poetrycenter.org) to offer a wide variety of rare limited edition broadsides featuring prominent Poets & Writers of the modern, post-modern, and post-human era.

The Broadside is an art form dating back to the 17th century, and they were printed as a political statement or bold opinion to the citizenry. The original meaning, a barrage of cannon fire launched by one ship to another, eventually led to the connotation to "let loose" or write a strongly-worded opinion, the most famous of which were the Dunlap Broadsides, first published copies if the Declaration of Independence. This tradition led to printing poems from the oral tradition of the ballad.

Today's broadsides are printed on letterpress, illustrated by an artist, and signed and numbered by the poet and the artist.

Some of the poets with broadsides: Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Mark Strand, Billy Collins, Louise Gluck, Liesel Muller, Ted Kooser, Kay Ryan, Natalie Merchant, and Billy Corgan

Some of the painters with broadsides: Ed Paschke, Tony Fitzpatrick, Laura Letinsky, Marcos Raya, and Stanley Tigerman