IT’S ALL BEEN HAPPENING THIS WEEK: from Thomas Nelson publishing being swallowed up by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp to CLC Wholesale announcing plans for a trade website. In the meantime, with the busiest time of year upon us, it’s more important than ever to make the most of every opportunity to connect with customers and to make sure that other sites such as UKCBD and the Good Bookstall that link to yours are up to date: latest news from both below, with much more sandwiched in between:
- The Good Bookstall Newsletter featured on Bishop’s Blog
- It’s Official: Storehouse is the new name for Living Oasis Watford
- New author Jo Patterson joins Jarom Books
- No more music CDs after 2012?
- Shop local — anywhere in Europe!
- Social Media Update
- UKCBD Winter Updates
Bishop's Blog: The Good Bookstall Newsletter
The Good Bookstall Newsletter featured on Bishop’s Blog
CONGRATULATIONS to the Good Bookstall on seeing their latest newsletter featured by twittering Bishop of Huntingdon, the Rt Revd David Thomson, on his blog: The Good BookStall Newsletter.
Like UKCBD, TGB’s mission is supporting Christian bookshops, and the site includes news, reviews (books and music), as well as a bookshops directory. Is your shop listed? Is it up to date? With the busiest time of year upon us, it’s more important than ever to make sure your shop’s details are correct.
See below for a note about UKCBD updates.
Storehouse Watford
It’s Official: Storehouse is the new name for Living Oasis Watford
CONGRATULATIONS to the recently rebranded Living Oasis Watford on their official name change to Storehouse (Watford), formally registered with Companies House this week on Tuesday November 1st, 2011.
Watford was a franchise rather than owned by NCT, which allowed the store to survive the collapse of NCT in August. The only other surviving stores appear to be Inverness, reopened by CLC earlier in the year amidst some controversy but very clearly now the right move by CLC, and Weston-super-Mare, under new ownership as Life WsM.
Sadly neither Leeds nor Liverpool have been successful in taking on the leases dropped by NCT, although Liverpool appear to remain optimistic that something can be achieved. Requests for continuing prayers for all involved have been posted by both groups:
New author Jo Patterson joins Jarom Books
CONGRATULATIONS to Jacques More and Jarom Books on the arrival of new author Jo Patterson. In a brief announcement posted on November 2nd, 2011, Jacques writes:
NEW AUTHOR:
Jo Patterson, wife of Al and mother of three has written a novel in the Christian fiction genre that speaks into teenage pregnancy issues. This work – as well as being a good read “I’ve cried every time I’ve read it” – will be a valuable resource to equip the local saints in youthwork activity and in all pro-life efforts.
The new title is planned for a launch later in 2012.
No more music CDs after 2012?
ANYONE OUT THERE still got their heads buried in the sand over the impact of digitisation? Then go read this wake-up call from Paul Wilkinson of Canada’s Christian Book Shop Talk:
Christian Book Shop Talk: Music Industry Moving to End CD Format in 2012
Shop local — anywhere in Europe!
IN WHAT MUST SURELY QUALIFY as one of the most bizarre rulings emerging out of the UK’s commitment to remain in Europe, Graham Allen of Leamington Christian Resource Centre has been advised by one of his school customers that supporting local businesses is classed as discriminatory under EU regulations, which specify that the whole of Europe is now ‘local’:
Hello Graham,
Schools purchasing comes under the remit of the County council and I cannot comment on their policy as I am not familiar with it.However, you should be aware that Councils and other public bodies are unable to select to purchase on the basis of location as this discriminatory. As much as we would like to do this we have to find other ways to place our business locally – including information events and tender support (all of which the district council does in conjunction with the chamber of commerce). We have had success with this approach on the basis that the more local suppliers that bid the better the chance of us being able to place the business within the district.
The public sector is also bound by EU regulations that have strict thresholds for purchases of goods, services and works, and these also restrict the ability to purchase ‘locally’ as locally is considered to be Europe wide. The threshold levels are not high and relate to commodities over a contract term. This makes it easy for public bodies to breach the regulations unless strict controls are put in place.
Thank heavens for that little loophole at the end: just don’t tell the powers-that-be in Brussels or they’ll no doubt apply their concept of local to all purchases…
- Reproduced with permission from a discussion in the Christian Authors, Booksellers and Publishers facebook group.
Social Media Update
THERE’S RARELY A WEEK GOES BY when I don’t discover yet another Christian bookshop or publisher facebook page to like or twitter feed to follow. Here’s a random snapshot of just some of the Christian bookshops now using facebook to connect with colleagues and customers:
Christian Bookshops on Facebook: a random selection from the UKCBD facebook page sidebar - click through to discover more!
Those I’ve stumbled across this week are:
- Leamington Christian Resource Centre on facebook, where, amongst other things, they’ve come up with the bright idea of offering free pens with their Christmas cards.
- Liverpool Cathedral Shop on facebook and twitter:
- Follow @LivCathShop
And last but not least: a social media experiment, The UK Christian Bookshops Daily, autogenerated courtesy of @smallrivers from twitter and facebook keyword searches for Christian Bookshop and the UKCBD blog RSS feed. The keyword search isn’t quite as smart as it might be, so don’t be surprised if some content seems out of place: let’s say we’re in beta phase. Best of all, however: the virtual paper system allows me to update the paper on the fly as I come across stories around the web — if you’d like to see your news or website featured, give me a shout here or mention @UKCBD in a tweet.
UKCBD Winter Updates
IT’S ALWAYS A CHALLENGE trying to keep the Directory up to date, but for those who may be wondering, you can now find the 10 most recent updates conveniently listed on the homepage:
Latest Updates (most recent first)
The House on the Rock, Bury Updated 3/11/2011
Storehouse: The new name for Living Oasis, Watford Updated 3/11/2011
The Hub Christian Resource Centre, Walsall Updated 1/11/2011
The Sycamore Tree Christian Bookshop, Nuneaton Updated 31/10/2011
CLC Bookshop, London Updated 30/10/2011
Turning Point Garments Ltd, Bathgate Updated 30/10/2011
Jubilate Christian Bookshop, Stratford-upon-Avon Updated 25/10/2011
Ashburnham Christian Trust Bookshop, Battle Updated 08/10/2011
Glorious Beginnings, Willesden Updated 29/9/2011
The Good Book Shop, Belfast Updated 7/9/2011
If your entry needs updating, please give me a shout. It can take anything from a few days to a few weeks for me to get there, depending on other commitments: please be patient and remember that UKCBD is a 100% voluntary project. In the meantime feel free to leave a comment — or invite your customers to leave feedback — on your entry’s standalone page: simply click through from the main Directory where it says, “Out of Date?” — bottom right of every entry that’s been updated in the last couple of years.
All updated entries now include a facebook ‘Like’ button: reach more people by asking your facebook friends to hit it!
Thank you.
