NPR & NYT see the light!

The following from the trade newsletter, Bookselling This Week, is good news for Indie bookstores:

NPR & The New York Times Sites Add BookSense.com Ordering Option
October 31, 2007
BookSense.com was recently added as an online book purchasing option on both the National Public Radio and The New York Times websites. Now, when NPR or NYTimes.com readers are interested in a featured book or bestseller, they are offered an option to buy from local, independent bookstores, as well as from Amazon.com.
The American Booksellers Association worked with NPR and The New York Times for some time in an effort to provide readers with the option of supporting local independent bookstores. Additionally, over the course of the summer, a number of independent booksellers, including ABA President Russ Lawrence of Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, Montana, contacted NPR to express their continuing concerns about Amazon.com as its sole retail partner for books mentioned on the air and featured on the NPR website.
"We are pleased that BookSense.com is now offered as an option on both The New York Times and National Public Radio websites," said BookSense.com Director Len Vlahos. "There is no question that many serious readers who frequent independent bookstores often turn to NPR or The Times 'Books' sections to help them find the next great read. It's only fitting then to provide these consumers with the choice of shopping at a local bookstore by including a link to BookSense.com."
Readers on the Best Sellers pages of NYTimes.com are presented with the option of purchasing titles from "Local Booksellers" or from Amazon.com. When the "Local Booksellers" option is selected, readers link to a second page listing the bestsellers. A click on a book title then brings them to the BookSense.com Store Locator.
On the NPR website's "Books" section, readers who click on any of the "Featured Books: Available for Purchase" are presented with the choice of buying titles at BookSense.com or at Amazon.com.




I know my sales, and many other bookstore's sales, are driven by both NPR and the New York Times. (Not so much the local papers, which is a pity). It is pleasing that both institutions are sensitive to the needs of the neighborhood bookstore.