Claire Kirch

Duluth

Midwest Correspondent at Publishers Weekly

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Articles

Layoffs Hit Edelweiss

23 hours ago | publishersweekly.com | Claire Kirch

Approximately six months after the Montreal-based Valsoft Corporation acquired Above the Treeline, the parent company of the digital platform Edelweiss, 15% of the Edelweiss workforce has been laid off.
Between the Covers at 50: PW Talks with Jennifer Ball

5 days ago | publishersweekly.com | Claire Kirch

How did you come to own the store? I was a school librarian and teacher for years in Nashville, Tenn. Our sons moved to Telluride after college, and my husband noticed that the bookstore and coffee shop next to it, in the same building, were for sale. We asked our sons what they thought about us buying them and moving here, and they were like, do it. It was really sweet, because it’s a small town, and they’re in their 20s. So we moved out here, and bought both shops in 2021.
What’s a Bookseller to Do with BISAC Codes?

5 days ago | publishersweekly.com | Claire Kirch

To wrap up 2024, the Book Industry Study Group updated its list of Book Industry Standards and Communications (BISAC) codes, used to standardize subject categories for books in the North American market, by adding 223 new headings and adjusting 129 existing codes.
The Irresistible Allure of Books About Bookstores

5 days ago | publishersweekly.com | Claire Kirch

Earlier this year, American Booksellers Association CEO Allison Hill praised independent booksellers for “providing space for readers to discover books, passionate championing of debut and diverse authors, authentic third-place experiences, personal book recommendations, and character and personality in neighborhoods.” What she didn’t mention is that indies are inspiring authors, too—as a spate of new books across categories about bookstores and their impact can attest.
A New Bookseller Celebrates Her Bookstore’s 50th Anniversary

5 days ago | publishersweekly.com | Claire Kirch

How did you come to own the store? I was a school librarian and teacher for years in Nashville, Tenn. Our sons moved to Telluride after college, and my husband noticed that the bookstore and coffee shop next to it, in the same building, were for sale. We asked our sons what they thought about us buying them and moving here, and they were like, do it. It was really sweet, because it’s a small town, and they’re in their 20s. So we moved out here, and bought both shops in 2021.
PW Bookstore of the Year 2025: Source Booksellers

6 days ago | publishersweekly.com | Claire Kirch

Introducing the four bookstore owners participating in a keynote presentation on Black bookselling at Winter Institute 2025 in Denver, Donya Craddock, co-owner of Dock Bookshop in Fort Worth, Tex., introduced panelist Janet Webster Jones by proclaiming, “All hail to the queen, Ms. Janet.” Jones, widely admired in the bookselling world, is the owner with her daughter, Alyson Jones Turner, of Source Booksellers in Detroit—which is PW’s Bookstore of The Year.
PW Bookstore of the Year 2025 Finalist: Monkey and Dog Book Shop

6 days ago | publishersweekly.com | Claire Kirch

Shelley Lowe, a former high school Latin teacher, opened Monkey and Dog Book Shop in a 120-sq.-ft. space inside a friend’s gourmet products shop in Fort Worth, Tex., in 2013 so that she could sell children’s books. “I wanted to get more children reading books,” she says, “Fort Worth was a desert at the time. There were no independent bookstores here—except for a used bookstore.
Sourcebooks Builds Up Adult Fiction List by Promoting Editors

6 days ago | publishersweekly.com | Claire Kirch

Sourcebooks announced that to help build its adult fiction list, the publisher has promoted six key editors across four of its five adult fiction imprints. In a release, Sourcebooks stated that it is making this move to capitalize on “a remarkable growth in the adult fiction space,” that is continuing into 2025.
PW Sales Rep of the Year 2025 Finalist: Abby Fennewald

1 week ago | publishersweekly.com | Claire Kirch

Jessica Sognier, the owner of E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Ga., nominated Norton field sales rep Abby Fennewald because of the way she goes above and beyond in all aspects of her job. “She is always helpful, kind, and a champion of our store,” Sognier wrote in her nomination.
American Booksellers Association Promises Huge Celebration of Indie Bookselling

1 week ago | publishersweekly.com | Claire Kirch

As the 12th annual Independent Bookstore Day on Saturday, April 26 approaches, the American Booksellers Association promises that this year’s celebration of independent bookselling will be the largest one yet. More than 1,600 bookstores “from all 50 states and territories [are] participating with many stores offering exclusive merchandise and hosting special events," the ABA stated in a release.