On Thursday, November 17th at 7:30 p.m. ET, Rebecca Joines Schinsky and I will be hosting the first-ever FridayReads Live event. We will be discussing a new title from Crown Publishing: Enjoy Every Sandwich: Living Each Day As If It Were Your Lastby Lee Lipsenthal, MD.  It doesn’t matter if you’ve read the book, or not–come join us!

If you’re able to join us in person, come to Housing Works Bookstore at 126 Crosby Street (just south of Houston) between 7pm and 9pm, where Rebecca and I will be on our computers to host a Twitter Book Tour chat. Thanks to the good folks at Crown Publishing, we will have wine, beer, and sandwiches available. Meet me, Rebecca Schinsky, Iris Blasi, Erin Cox, and others as we chat, quaff, nibble…and tweet.

If you’re able to join us online, please connect with us online via Twitter by using the hashtag #EverySandwich. The easiest way to do this is to go to Tweetchat.com and log in using your Twitter name. Then enter the hashtag in the empty field at the top of the page and start reading and/or tweeting. (Tweetchat automatically adds the hashtag for you, so there’s no need to worry about watching the length of your tweets. If you “go over,” it will tell you “Too Long.”) If you don’t have a Twitter account, you should be able to track the #EverySandwich via Twitter’s search function here: https://twitter.com/?lang=en&logged_out=1#!/search/%23everysandwich

Before the chat, we encourage you to view the trailer for the book http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UIFbOfWwYE. We’ll be publishing a new blog post tomorrow with some suggested questions about the book/things to consider/bits of inspiration, so please watch for that, too.

If you have any questions at all, please email me: TheBookMaven at gmail dot com.

I really want FridayReads to hit 8K this week.

IF WE HIT 8K–and only if we do–I will give away three extra prizes.

Here they are:

1. A set of three slipcased, signed Indiespensables titles: Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante, State of Wonder by Ann Patchett, and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.

2. One $150 gift certificate to One More Page bookstore, my local indie. Don’t worry, they’ll be happy to take your online or phone order, wherever you live. They will special order anything you like.

3. A mega-set of Boots the Chemist bath goodies from Target, all full-size products, including three bath milks, three body butters, three body washes, and three hand lotions, plus an assortment of sponges, scrubbers, and other treats.

Interested in winning one of these prizes? Share YOUR FridayReads on Twitter or Facebook or tumblr–and tell a friend or three! Everyone who shares is eligible. For more information about FridayReads, check out our web site.

Thanks for your time and help, readers!

OK, well at least that’s what I heard from Mr. Bethanne yesterday as we untangled dog leads from tote bags and vacuumed sand out of the car after a week on Cape Cod.

All good things, like summer and vacations, must come to an end. For the past few months I’ve been busy helping Shelf Awareness—our wonderful industry information source—to launch a version of its bookseller email newsletter for readers. It’s been a lot of fun, and in particular, I’ve loved getting the chance to work alongside my colleagues Robin Lenz and John Mutter.

I’m moving on, now, although not so very far. I’ll still be contributing the feature I developed, “Further Reading,” to each issue, and I’ll also continue to write author interviews and book reviews in Shelf Awareness for Readers. If you have any questions about this new publication, you can direct them to editor in chief John Mutter: john@shelf-awareness.com.

My own dance card is happily filling up with new projects. Next week I’ll be at the 2011 Southern Independent Booksellers Association (SIBA) Conference, talking with some of the country’s best booksellers about social media with my partner in business and crime, Rebecca Joines Schinsky of The Book Lady’s Blog. We’ll also be talking up October’s Club Read retreat (can’t wait to be there with Book Club Girl Jennifer Hart!).

Of course, one of the things we’ll also discuss at both places is FridayReads, a burgeoning community of passionate readers that is also a business supported by the publishing industry (for more information on that business and on how you can take part, contact business development director Erin Cox). If you’re reading this and don’t know anything about FridayReads, check out the Twitter hashtag #fridayreads, the Facebook page (#1 on Technorati’s Best Facebook Pages for Readers!), or the FridayReads web site.

Should you be interested in talking with me for an interview about social media (here’s an example) or books (here’s an example), or to discuss a project with me, you can reach me here: thebookmaven@gmail.com.

The word “discoverability,” when used in the book publishing context, tends to focus on how readers can find authors and books that are new to them. But another part of the discoverability challenge is how readers can find authors and books that are new to the world, as in recently or soon-to-be published. As brick-and-mortar bookstores close and newspaper book review sections fold, it’s harder to stumble across publishers’ latest offerings.

A new, free online newsletter for consumers, titled Shelf Awareness: Enlightenment for Readers—from the editors ofShelf Awareness—aims to introduce everyday readers to the best new books. And while that sounds like an obvious goal, the fact is that it is much easier for consumers to learn about upcoming movies and music than it is for them to learn about new books. “Movie houses put up their trailers many months in advance and show previews every time you’re at the movies,” says Jenn Risko, Publisher of Shelf Awareness. “You start seeing ads on iTunes for upcoming albums in advance and they usually release the hit song before the whole album….I’ve wished for a long time that I knew what was cool and new [in books]. This is our answer to that.”

[...]

“The reviews will be honest, but they’ll be positively honest,” says Bethanne Patrick, consumer editor of the new publication, “not because we’re against running critical or negative reviews but because we’re trying to set up the 25 best books for people to pay attention to in their local bookstore. That’s the goal behind it. We’re not reviewing everything and we’re not trying to do critical analysis.” However, reviews of exceptional books will be starred, “in recognition that it often takes a starred review for a library or bookstore to stock a title.”

Shelf Awareness: Enlightenment for Readers also aims to differentiate itself from Kirkus and PW by the backgrounds of its over 60 freelance reviewers, who include booksellers, critics, book bloggers, and librarians with “great street cred” in a variety of genres. The reviewers are paid more than the reviewers forKirkus or PW. Patrick and book review editor Marilyn Dahl will select the books to be included each week.

Made by Words – “Brow Beat: Stanley Fish’s Top Five Sentences” in Slate Magazine What’s your favorite sentence? Stanley Fish’s new book How to Write a Sentence explores what makes your favorite sentences great. In this Slate article, he lists his favorite sentences and asks for suggestions by Slate readers.

Book Technology – Secret Belgian Binding Instructions - Have you ever wondered how to make your own books? This technique is beautiful and sturdy.

Literary Tangents – 10 Best Bookshops in the World by Independent.ie – Has winter given you the travel bug? Indpendent. ie has a list of the best bookstores in the world, including a slideshow of pictures. There are definitely a few on this list that are must-sees! See Amsterdam’s American Book Center pictured left. (Photo credit: Independent.ie)

Nuts and Bolts – 2011 Best Translated Book Awards: Fiction Longlist at Three Percent – The long list for the 2011 Best Translated Book Awards was announced back in January. You can read the entire list at Three Percent, but you can also search for the tag BTBA 2011 to find all the recent posts on the subject. Three Percent predicts and suggests winners for the award, with general commentary on translated fiction.

For Every Book Lover – Love is a Book 5×7 print by NanLawson on Etsy – Look at this print! Don’t you want it to hang on the wall right by your favorite reading spot or your favorite bookshelf? I thought so.

(Image credit: NanLawson)

First, five of you have won “bundles” from Hachette Book Group USA. Each bundle includes a paper book and an audiobook. The titles will be given out grab-bag style, but they all come the Hachette Book Group Holiday Gift Guide. Not a lemon on this lot!

The five winners are:

1. JJMcGaffey

2. debenedettos

3. msbookjunkie

4. MartiniReading

5. funkychick301

Once you’ve seen your name up here in lights, please send your snailmail addy to me: TheBookMaven at gmail dot com. Giveaway prizes must be claimed within two weeks or the prizes revert to our swag stash…

Congrats to the winners, and thanks, everyone, for another great #FridayReads!

You are:

1. Grainsnmore

2. Histifchick

3. BayBitch

4. esaevian

5. toadacious1

6. JohnGuild

7. lmsoft

8. LizzieVance

9. SteenaHomes

10. yoyology

Email your snailmail addresses to me: TheBookMaven at gmail dot com. I’ll make sure the delightful folks at Other Press get your prizes out to you quickly.

Congrats, and thanks for participating in #FridayReads!

@cris0521

@lawschoolninja

@SakuraChica

@Johnny_Pistols

@catacoma

@baisebeige

@MystNoir

@jocemiller

@Janet_Tait

@waityourarobot

@NeilSnowdon

Once you’ve seen your name here, please email me with your full snailmail address: TheBookMaven at gmail dot com. I’ll send your info on to Harper Perennial and they’ll get your goodies sent off quickly. 

Thank you all so much for your support of #FridayReads. Remember, tell your friends about our FridayReads Facebook page, because there’s a giveaway over there IF we reach a certain number…