Cool idea of the day. Or maybe it's the hot idea of the day. Modern Times Bookstore in San Francisco recently hosted a burlesque show-and-drawing event: Molly Crabapple, an illustrator, dancer and co-author of Dr. Sketchy's Official Rainy Day Colouring Book, and "San Francisco burlesque queen Sparkly Devil" danced in the back of the store and were sketched by a group hoping to win "silly prizes," according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The audience was mostly women, the paper said. Crabapple said burlesque appeals to women because "women enjoy being glamorous, and burlesque is a glamour that women can aspire to because it includes different body types, a sense of humor and performers who are approachable. Plus, I think that women like looking at other women. Look at the covers of Cosmopolitan and Glamour--you don't see men."

---

Congratulations to Kristen McLean, executive director of the Association of Booksellers for Children, on the organization's newest, youngest member: Lola Faye Mofsky-McLean, born on March 28, 8 lbs., 1.6 oz.; 19". McLean reports that Lola Faye is "totally gorgeous. Mom, dad and baby doing fine."

---

The Avid Reader is less than two weeks away from opening its new store in the old Tower Books flagship store in Sacramento, Calif., and is "creating a lighter, friendlier environment," co-owner Stan Forbes told the Sacramento Bee.

Among changes: "The ancient linoleum floor is gone, replaced by tile and bright carpets. Wall paneling has been removed, revealing the original brick. New overhead lighting is in place, setting off the yet-to-be-installed ceiling made of translucent gold scrim. The place is freshly painted." In addition, the store will serve coffee, and the main sales counter is being moved to the center of the store "so clerks can greet customers as they enter."

The Avid Reader has closed its other store downtown but is keeping its Davis outlet. 

---

The U.S. Postal Service's decision to stop sending goods internationally via cargo ships for individual customers could sink sales for many online booksellers who ship significant numbers of used and hard-to-find books abroad via "surface" mail, today's New York Times reported. A spokesperson for the Postal Service said that the service is developing "customized agreements" for higher-volume shippers that will be "enhanced over the next several months to address the needs of small business."

---

Business book buyers are "seeking advice on the nitty-gritty tasks of running companies, analyzing complex data to make smart decisions and expanding undervalued assets," columnist Carol Hymowitz wrote in today's Wall Street Journal. Business books championing "the superhero top executive" are less popular.

David Hathaway, a book buyer at Barnes & Noble, told the paper: "We're in a back-to-basics era with the names of many of the same authors still on bestseller lists. There's no book by a big personality like Jack Welch on the horizon, and it's a challenge trying to find the next big hit."

Among popular titles: True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership by Bill George and Peter Sims (125 executives talk about how their failures and personal tragedies shaped them as leaders); Know-How: The 8 Skills That Separate People Who Perform From Those Who Don't by Ram Charan ("great leadership depends less on charisma or having a commanding presence than it does on knowing customer needs, changing ahead of rivals, and being willing to learn new things"); and Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath (which emphasizes "innovation over execution").

 

For many college stores, a major issue at the CAMEX meeting last month in Orlando, Fla., was the prospect of being bypassed in the sale of textbooks--whether by publishers selling printed or digital texts directly to students or at lower prices to online retailers.

The NACS board of trustees approved a resolution urging publishers to "continue to utilize college bookstores as the primary distribution channel for textbook and other course materials sales to students." The board called some publisher practices--while legal--"a breach of the long-standing partnership between college stores and textbook publishers." These practices include promotion of direct sales to students on publisher websites; selling textbooks to college stores at prices higher than those offered students direct or through Internet retailers; and engaging "in ethically questionable behavior such as compensating faculty or college or university academic departments for selecting their books or bypassing the college or university bookstore."

In a tense but constructive "town hall" meeting, booksellers' frustration focused on the iChapters program of Thomson Learning. Stephen Hochheiser of Thomson defended aspects of the online sales program, saying that while it hadn't been "as transparent as it could have been," it was never "a secret." He admitted that some marketing efforts for iChapters were "not good," particularly the inclusion of coupons in textbooks. But the coupons, which are not being used anymore, worked "only for supplements," he said, and couldn't be used "to buy the book somewhere else." In part to answer criticism from college booksellers, Thomson has established an iChapter store advisory group.

As for selling print titles on the Thomson website, Hochheiser said that the company had sold via 800 numbers "for decades" and has always sold a vast majority of such titles at "10% off an inflated list price, so it would seem your prices were lower." (About 13% of the titles are discounted at 25%; most of these are deep backlist.) He added that in trying to sell digital titles online, the publisher offers printed versions of texts because "research showed most students want the print option. Students feel more empowered."

Thomson's online selling "gave us the opportunity to accelerate or accommodate the migration to digital sales," Hochheiser went on. "We didn't mean to exclude stores." In fact, he said the publisher is "working with stores to design an e-book program."

Several publishers, including Hochheiser, stated that college stores would remain their primary distribution point for printed texts but not necessarily for digital materials. The reason for the distinction: most stores aren't able yet to sell digital course material, and currently half of all college stores do not even have an e-commerce component for their websites, if they have a website. This last point was a concern for several booksellers as well as NACS's own digital content strategist, Mark Nelson, who, speaking at another session, said, "We have to address this." He noted, too, that Amazon.com is "the No. 1 place students are buying texts online. The No. 2 place is their local store's website."

At the town meeting, David Serbun of Houghton Mifflin pointed out that "there is a lot of change" occurring in the textbook business. "We're market driven, and we're trying to respond to this."

Another publisher mentioned a way that stores can become an important link in the digital-text chain: if stores register digital text sales, that would help publishers in their efforts to communicate with purchasers of their materials for supplements and updates.--John Mutter

Today Good Morning America catches up with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, author of Chasing Life: New Discoveries in the Search for Immortality to Help You Age Less Today (Warner Wellness, $24.99, 9780446526500/0446526509). The good doctor also appears today on CNN American Morning and the Late Show with David Letterman.

---

This morning on the Today Show, it's la dolce vita for Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, whose new book is Lidia's Italy: 140 Simple and Delicious Recipes from the Ten Places in Italy Lidia Loves Most (Knopf, $35, 9781400040360/1400040361).

Also on the Today Show: regular Joy Bauer talks about her new book, written with Carol Svec, Joy Bauer's Food Cures: Easy 4-Step Nutrition Programs for Improving Your Body (Rodale, $18.95, 9781594864667/1594864667).

---

Today Oprah obsesses about addiction and mentions the companion book to the HBO documentary, Addiction: Why Can't They Just Stop? edited by John Hoffman and Susan Froemke (Rodale, $25.95, 9781594867156/1594867151).

---

This evening on Larry King Live: Oprah's personal trainer, Bob Greene, author of The Best Life Diet (S&S, $26, 9781416540663/1416540660).

---

Tonight on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Bill Bradley, former Senator, former presidential candidate and author of The New American Story (Random House, $25.95, 9781400065073/1400065070).

---

Tonight on the Late Show with David Letterman: Senator Barack Obama, author of The Audacity of Hope (Crown, $25, 9780307237699/0307237699).

This is the first in a series of articles about what can happen when booksellers go the extra mile to champion a title--and coincidentally features three Penguin paperback titles.

---

Near the entrance of each of Powell's Books' three stores at Portland International Airport is a display intended to entice travelers into buying a last-minute read. Dubbed "Best Jet Bets," the spinner rack holds 16 mystery, thriller and suspense titles--one of which is Mo Hayder's The Devil of Nanking, the story of a young Englishwoman who undertakes a harrowing search in Tokyo to find lost film footage of the 1937 Nanking Massacre.

Hayder's suspense novel sells as many as 50 copies per week between the three Powell's airport stores. "It's an undiscovered gem," said buyer Billie Bloebaum, who made the decision to include the book on the Best Jet Bets display. Featured titles are hand-picked by Bloebaum and other staff members, and there is one criterion. "Nothing ends up on that spinner unless somebody loves it," she said. (Ian Rankin's Resurrection Men is another favorite with customers.)

A fan of Mo Hayder's previous novels, Bloebaum read The Devil of Nanking when it was first published. "But in airport stores, it's hard to move a book in hardcover," she said. So when the book was released last June as a mass market (priced at $7.99), Bloebaum "figured it was perfect" for the Best Jet Bets display. But it took six more months for The Devil of Nanking to land on the display, because sales of another title had to slow down enough to warrant replacing it. The suspense tale "is a little darker than what we usually do," said Bloebaum, "but it's a completely 'unputdownable' book so it seemed to be a natural fit."

The book took off after it was added to the spinner rack in early December, and Bloebaum attributes its success to several factors: the Asian setting, the historical aspect and the package. "I think the cover is what first draws people's attention," she said. The book seems to appeal equally to men and women, Bloebaum noted.

Every title on the Best Jet Bets display benefits from a shelf talker containing a description written by Bloebaum or another staffer. And what words did Bloebaum pen to aid in selling The Devil of Nanking?

"Simply put, this is one of the most unique, intelligent, and emotionally-harrowing crime novels I have ever read. A challenging, draining book, but well worth every second spent with it. STUNNING!"--Shannon McKenna

It's pelting rain outside, but daffodils are blooming, tulips are considering the prospect and the magnolia trees are looking pretty darn magnificent. Spring seems to engender a restlessness in some people that only travel can assuage, and Beth Whitman has written just the book for both veteran travelers and rookies. She visited the Shelf Awareness office on another rainy day recently to chat about Wanderlust and Lipstick: The Essential Guide for Women Traveling Solo. Beth teaches travel classes called For Women Traveling Solo, and has amassed tips and information from both her own travels and from hundreds of women who have participated in the workshops.  Obviously she is enthusiastic about travel and wants to empower women to get out of town.

Why travel solo? Many reasons--no coordinating agendas, no fretting over when and where to eat, no arguing over the stamp museum vs. the flea market or Mongolia vs. Disneyland. You are more approachable (usually in a good way), you learn to handle situations and you gain confidence. "While traveling solo can present numerous challenges, it also magnifies the richness of these experiences." But what about danger, vulnerability, being lonely? She devotes a chapter to getting beyond excuses: "Much of what we anticipate is nothing more than our own fears spinning tales of disaster in our heads, while other fears are bona fide concerns. With adequate preparations . . . you'll discover which ones are fantasy fears, and how to overcome the others." What kind of travel would be good for a first solo trip?  She details different types--adventure, experiential (or "soft adventure"), hiking, biking, group tours. Group tours are good for several things: One, if you're a first-time traveler, you'll have a safety net. Two, organized tours can get you into areas that are difficult or off-limits to individuals.

Many of the tips Whitman includes are simple but very effective; some may seem obvious, others will be of the "why didn't I think of that?" sort: Create a standard packing list on your computer instead of trying to recreate one each trip. Dress conservatively. Wear the same clothes a lot--no one will notice or care. No bling. Steer clear of logo T-shirts, white sneakers and baseball caps, unless you want to (adversely) advertise your nationality. Learn a few words and phrases in the local language, particularly if you have dietary restrictions--it's polite, it's useful, and it's an ice-breaker. In an unfamiliar situation, sit back and watch the locals for a bit--you'll still be a tourist, but hopefully a less-intrusive and better-mannered tourist. Don't take guidebooks too seriously. Carry a rubber door-stop to prevent intruders from entering your room. Whitman even has advice for coping with reverse culture shock at the end of a trip.  

Often the suggestions involve specific resources, and there is an extensive appendix with website listings, from places to check out local cuisine to companies that make travel gear to cheap airfare sites. The book is filled with anecdotes, guidance, information and encouragement--an excellent resource for anyone. And even if you are a seasoned traveler, maybe you need an extra push to go farther afield. Beth Whitman will give it to you. "Most of us stumble through life without a dream or without knowing what we want. The fact that you picked up this book, however, means you, too, harbor a dream, even if you haven't yet given it voice. Where have you always wanted to go? Dream it. Write it down. And figure out how to get there."--Marilyn Dahl