Book Association Throws the Book at Pickles

[CatWoman]

Throwing the Book at the First Lady?

By Lloyd Grove
Tuesday, July 8, 2003; Page C03


We would have expected literacy advocates to be applauding Laura Bush for her recent appearance on the CBS "Early Show" to promote summer reading and recite to preschoolers from "Book! Book! Book!," a whimsical ode to the joys of reading by children's writer Deborah Bruss and illustrator Tiphanie Beeke.

But the American Booksellers Association -- which represents the nation's independent bookstores -- is attacking the first lady instead, complaining that Amazon, the mammoth online bookseller, is the sole outlet touted on the CBS show's Early Readers Club Web site. President Ann Christophersen has fired off a letter chiding Bush for allegedly lending her clout to a retailer trying to steal market share from the independents. "Wouldn't it be better for every library and every outlet that sells books to have the same opportunity to disseminate the information?" Christophersen wrote.

Some of the booksellers are also steamed that a member of the first lady's staff, who initially paid $16.67 for "Book! Book! Book!" at A Likely Story, an independent in Alexandria, returned it the day after Bush's June 25 "Early Show" appearance and received a full refund.

"I guess this falls under the category of 'no good deed goes unpunished,' " a White House official told us yesterday. The official said the staffer, a regular customer of A Likely Story, bought the book with her own money in case the first lady needed an extra copy for a Cincinnati appearance unrelated to the CBS show. The staffer returned it, the official said, when the copy proved unnecessary.

As for CBS's arrangement with Amazon., they both told us Bush has no connection to it. "The only connection Mrs. Bush had to the Early Readers Club is to help kick it off," said CBS News spokeswoman Sandy Genelius. "She is the first of many authors and readers that we will feature throughout the summer on the broadcast." The White House type said: "These people" -- the booksellers association -- "are trying to get publicity for their issue based on groundless claims."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23351-2003Jul7.html

[ianbruce]

1. Call it the "Watch what you Read"-ers Club