After a little more than five years as the American Booksellers Association's marketing officer, Michael Hoynes will leave the organization at the end of the year. His vacated position will not be filled. Instead, there will be a restructuring of positions within the ABA, with existing personnel taking on different responsibilities. "There are other things I'd like to do," Hoynes told PW. "I came from another industry and I feel like what I can do for Book Sense has run its course. I want to start my own consulting business for small independent businesses and, frankly, spend more time in Florida in the winter."
Hoynes was hired by the ABA in September 1998 to develop a national branding program for ABA members, and Book Sense was launched in March 1999. "When we launched, there was a lot of skepticism among publishers about getting 500 independent booksellers to do anything together," Hoynes remembered. "Early on, I told publishers, 'I don't know how good they all are as booksellers, but they're damn good at being independent.' Book Sense is now a name in the book industry, with more than 1,200 independent stores and over 80 publishing marketing partners. You have to feel pretty good about putting that together."
Hoynes said he'd like to keep his hand in with independent booksellers. "Ideally, I'd love to set up some marketing workshops for independent bookstores. Helping independents is a critically important part of this industry. A negative impact on independents is the lack of marketing skills where competitors have the resources. There's so many businesses selling books that it's a critical factor for booksellers to enhance their marketing skills, develop databases and attract new consumers to their stores."
