Cool idea of the day: for $7.50 each, the Great Lakes Booksellers Association is selling "Buy Local First" T-shirts that have the slogan "Local booksellers are members of your community. They care and they contribute." As GLBA puts it, the T-shirts are "great for staff uniforms at sidewalk sales or other store events."

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Today's Wall Street Journal cheerfully explores how three "risqué" videos promoting The Average American Male by Chad Kultgen run on YouTube and spread elsewhere on the Web have helped the Harper Perennial novel go back to press three times and reach 30,000 copies in print. The reason for the nontraditional marketing approach? The "salacious tale of how men daydream about women turned out to be too steamy for most newspaper and magazine editors to touch." 

But there's a special problem involving the audience for Average American Male: "Only a fraction of the million views has so far turned into sales, likely because the people watching the videos aren't frequent book buyers."

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Another Barnes & Noble College store is moving to a location that will serve the local community as well as the campus. The B&N bookstore at Pacific University, Forest Grove, Ore., will open in a 4,000-sq.-ft. site downtown on July 1 and will "continue to sell student textbooks while expanding its selection of trade materials for the public," the Hillsboro Argus reported.

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Effective April 12, Borders will begin shelling out "Borders Bucks" as part of its Borders Rewards loyalty program. Members will earn "Borders Bucks" in increments of $5 for each $150 they spend on qualifying purchases in a calendar year at Borders and Waldenbooks stores in the U.S. When customers reach the $150 level, they will receive a $5 certificate via e-mail at the beginning of a month that must be spent by the end of that month.

The company is also adding what it calls Bonus Rewards Events, under which members get special deals periodically.

Borders Rewards members will continue to receive weekly coupons and savings opportunities through the Borders "Shortlist," an e-mail newsletter that highlights the hottest titles each week. However, Borders's old holiday savings rewards and personal shopping days are ending.

In a story titled, "Borders Slashes Buyer Rewards, Cuts Discounts," today's Wall Street Journal argues that the old plan could be much more advantageous to consumers. "Members were given Personal Shopping Days, which enabled those who had spent $50 in a month to apply a 10% discount on all purchases made on a specific day in the following month. Gift cards were the exception. Customers also received a credit equal to 5% of their store purchases made through Nov. 14 in a special Holiday Savings account. That credit could then be used on purchases made from Nov. 15 through Jan. 31. The only caveat was that customers had to have at least $10 in their account--which meant they had to have spent a minimum of $200 to qualify."

Under the old program, Borders "had to absorb all of the Holiday Savings account spending during its fourth quarter, a period when shoppers would have been in the stores anyway buying gifts. Under the new program, the impact on the company will be more regulated by enabling customers to claim their Borders Bucks year-round."

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Today's Wall Street Journal also surveyed analyst reaction to Borders's new strategic plan, announced last week, and bookselling in general. Some analysts applauded the new plan and said they believed that "a more profitable core" will "yield substantial free cash flow." In addition, continued speculation about a takeover or merger has perked Wall Street interest in the company.

But some noted that, as the Journal put it, "The climate for booksellers continues to get more challenging, and that hurts the likelihood of a successful turnaround." Problems include "sluggish reading trends, inroads made by used booksellers, and increased competition. The retail book business hasn't shown any growth in recent years, as other leisure activities besides reading increasingly eat up people's free time."

One analyst wrote bleakly: "Longer term, we see an ultra-competitive landscape offering razor-thin margins on books and music."
 

This morning on the Early Show: Lisa Scottoline whose new book is Daddy's Girl (HarperCollins, $25.95, 9780060833145/0060833149).

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This morning's Book Report, the weekly AM radio book-related show organized by Windows a bookshop, Monroe, La., has the theme "Excavating the Past" and features interviews with two authors:

• Ruth Beaumont Cook, author of Guests Behind the Barbed Wire: German POWs in America (Crane Hill Publishers, $27.95, 9781575872605/1575872609)
• Mary Anna Evans, author of Effigies (Poisoned Pen Press, $24.95, 9781590583425/1590583426)

The show airs at 8 a.m. Central Time and can be heard live at thebookreport.net; the archived edition will be posted this afternoon.

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Today the Martha Stewart Show taps into the talents of two authors:

• Horticulturist Byron Martin, co-author of Logee's Greenhouses Spectacular Container Plants (Willow Creek Press, $25, 9781595430632/1595430636).
• Lifestyle expert Carolyne Roehm, whose most recent book is A Passion for Parties (Broadway, $50, 9780767925235/0767925238).

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Today on Democracy Now with Amy Goodman: André Schiffrin, founder of the New Press, longtime publisher of Pantheon Books and author of the memoir A Political Education: Coming of Age in Paris and New York (Melville House, $24.95, 9781933633152/1933633158).  

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Today the Rachael Ray Show spices things up with chef Daisy Martinez, author of Daisy Cooks!: Latin Flavors That Will Rock Your World (Hyperion, $29.95, 9781401301606/1401301606).

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Today on the Oprah Winfrey Show: the Book Club pays tribute to Sidney Poitier, author of its latest selection, The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (HarperSanFrancisco, $14.95, 9780061357909/0061357901). Also on the show, Oprah divulges her next book pick!

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Tonight on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart: New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, author of Between Worlds: The Making of an American Life (Plume, $16, 9780452288645/0452288649), now out in paperback.

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Tonight on the Colbert Report: Jabari Asim, author of The N Word: Who Can Say It, Who Shouldn't, and Why (Houghton Mifflin, $26, 9780618197170/0618197176).

Selected titles with a pub date of next Tuesday, April 3:

Angelica by Arthur Phillips (Random House, $25.95, 9781400062515/1400062519). The author of The Egyptologist and Prague crafts a ghostly tale set in Victorian-era London.

Heartstopper by Joy Fielding (Atria, $24.95, 9780743295987/0743295986). From the author of Mad River Road, this thriller is set in a seemingly picturesque Florida town, where a killer is preying on teenage girls.

Kingdom Come: The Final Victory by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (Tyndale House, $25.99, 9780842360616/0842360611). The final book in the Left Behind series.

I Heard that Song Before by Mary Higgins Clark (S&S, $25.95, 9780743264914/0743264916). In this new psychological thriller from the queen of suspense, one woman searching for the truth discovers that memories may be the most dangerous things of all.

Laced by Carol Higgins Clark (Scribner, $24, 9780743289436/0743289439). P.I. Regan Reilly contends with a pair of international jewel thieves, a ghost and a hotel fire while on her honeymoon in Ireland.  

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (Harcourt, $22, 9780151013043/0151013047). A young Pakistani man reflects on his life pre- and post-9/11 in this novel from the author of Moth Smoke.

Lone Creek by Neil McMahon (HarperCollins, $24.95, 9780060792213/0060792213). In this thriller/mystery, Hugh Davoren returns to Helena, Mont., and begins working at the Pettyjohn Ranch, home of many childhood memories, but he quickly discovers two dead stallions--and stumbles onto a series of shattering secrets.

Skin by Ted Dekker (Westbow, $24.99, 9781595542779/1595542779). As a serial killer blazes into Summerville, Nev., this novel asks: are we all born ugly to the core with no power to make ourselves beautiful?

White Night: A Novel of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (Roc, $23.95, 9780451461407/0451461401). In this new installment in the Dresden Files series, professional wizard Harry Dresden investigates a series of deaths in Chicago--and the evidence indicates his half-brother, Thomas, might be the murderer.

The 3-Hour Diet Cookbook by Jorge Cruise (Collins, $24.95, 9780060793180/006079318X). The companion book to Cruise's The 3-Hour Diet is full of more than 200 time-friendly recipes presented with the fitness guru's easy-to-follow instructions.

Everyday Pasta by Giada De Laurentiis (Clarkson Potter, $32.50, 9780307346582/0307346587). The Food Network star serves up more than 100 recipes for pasta dishes, as well as complementary sauces, salads and sides.

Paula Deen: It Ain't All About the Cookin' by Paula Deen with Sherry Suib Cohen (S&S, $25, 9780743292856/0743292855). The Southern chef extraordinaire shares the intimate details of her often bumpy road to fame and fortune (along with an array of recipes).

The Power of Simple Prayer: How to Talk to God about Everything by Joyce Meyer (Warner Faith, $22.99, 9780446531962/0446531960). The author of Approval Addiction and Battlefield of the Mind explores how prayer can transform lives.


On sale April 2:

Boomsday by Christopher Buckley (Twelve, $24.99, 9780446579810/0446579815). In Buckley's latest political satire, a charismatic 29-year-old blogger incites massive cultural warfare when she promotes euthanasia for senior citizens as a way to avoid economic disaster when Baby Boomers start retiring.


On sale April 5:

The Mistress's Daughter by A.M. Homes (Viking, $24.95, 9780670038381/ 0670038385). In this memoir, novelist Homes shares the story of what happened when, 30 years after she was adopted as a newborn, her birth parents came looking for her.


On sale in paperback April 3:

At Risk by Patricia Cornwell (Berkley, $7.99, 9780425214763/0425214761).  

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcom Gladwell (Back Bay, $15.99, 9780316010665/0316010669).

A Fine Night for Dying by Jack Higgins (Berkley, $9.99, 9780425214770/042521477X).

BookBrowse.com, the book review and recommendation Web site, has announced winners of its 2007 book awards, chosen by more than 3,000 members and subscribers:

• The BookBrowse Diamond Award for Best Book Overall: Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
• The BookBrowse Ruby Award for Best Children's Book: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Karl Pohrt of Shaman Drum, Ann Arbor, Mich., continues his account of the South Awareness Tour, honoring the late Larry Brown and his new novel, A Miracle of Catfish (Algonquin).

March 23

We've been invited by John T. Edge to his home not far from downtown Oxford for breakfast. John T. is author of the forthcoming Southern Belly: The Ultimate Food Lover's Companion to the South and he's the director of the Southern Foodways Alliance.

John T. has also written Donuts: An American Passion, Hamburgers & Fries: An American Story and Fried Chicken: An American Story. These titles send a sharp little frisson of fear up my spine. I am of an age where conversations with my friends often revolve around our cholesterol levels, and I catch myself frequently scanning magazines for tips on how I might ramp up my modest dietary attempts to slow my fast slide into Fatsoland.

John T. and his wife Blair Hobbs have prepared a wonderful breakfast of fresh fruit, grits, hot biscuits, honey and what he tells us is the best bacon in America (it's true). He is a gracious, smart host.  

Should I question John T. about what I suspect are the negative health consequences of some Southern cuisine? I decide it would be rude to voice my doubts. I will throw caution to the wind and just go with the flow, as the Zen people advise. After all, John T. looks good--he's compact and trim for a guy with a fried foods and donut jones.

These private thoughts are interrupted when Stan Hynds, normally a taciturn, reserved fellow, becomes alarmingly animated when the talk turns to grits. It turns out that Stan grew up in Columbia, South Carolina, home of the finest grits maker anywhere. John T. backs up Stan's claim.

After breakfast we check into the Oxford Inn (site of an adulterous assignation between Jimmy's momma Johnette and her lover in Catfish) and then walk down to Square Books, where I spend too much money. Yesterday Craig and Kevin were talking about Lewis Nordan, whom I have not read. I purchase Nordan's Music of the Swamp, along with a number of other books.

For lunch I have Wild Hog Pizza (kind of an Italian-Southern fusion thing) at the Old Venice restaurant, then we're off to the afternoon sessions of the Conference for the Book.

I attend four panels--Larry Brown on Stage and Screen, Writing About Larry Brown, Teaching Larry Brown and Editing Larry Brown. I won't begin to attempt to summarize these sessions except to say that I notice how deeply Brown impressed the very different sensibilities of the various panelists.

Debra Winger and Arliss Howard, who acted in and directed the film adaptation of Brown's Big Bad Love, spoke about their friendship with Larry and his wife Mary Annie, as did Gary Hawkins, who made the Rough South of Larry Brown documentary.

Kay Bonetti Callison, a formidable lady who interviewed Brown for her Conversations with American Novelists, made some very helpful remarks about Larry's reverence for the world of work. "He is telling you what he sees, documenting what he sees," she said. Callison linked Brown to the proletariat writers of the 1930s, especially to Erskine Caldwell. This hadn't occurred to me, but I think she is right.

The afternoon ended with a talk by Shannon Ravenel, Larry's longtime editor at Algonquin Books. Ms. Ravenel's relationship with Brown was complicated but also deeply respectful, and she made him vivid to everyone in the auditorium. She told us in closing that her work with Brown was the highlight of her professional career. Her talk was the emotional highpoint of the day.

I catch a ride back to the hotel with Mayor Howorth, who tears up when he talks about Larry Brown.

At John T.'s suggestion we dine at the Ajax Restaurant on the Square. The South Awareness crew is joined by folks from Algonquin Books and Square Books. The conversation is lively and the food is wonderful.

This evening reminds me again how lucky I am to be in the book business.