We are so excited to hear about Jessica Stockton Bagnulo’s new bookstore in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Check out Greenlight’s blog: http://abookstoreinbrooklyn.blogspot.com/

It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for: the lease is finalized, the contractors are on their way, and we’ve got an opening date target for Fort Greene’s own independent bookstore! At last we can reveal the mystery location:

On June 1, Greenlight Bookstore became the official tenant of 686 Fulton Street, at the corner of South Portland — right in the heart of Fort Greene.

The space is about 2000 square feet — just right for stocking a wide variety of books in many categories, and for hosting great author readings and other events, while still feeling cozy. The funky layout has both wide open spaces and nooks and crannies, perfect for a quiet browse, for reading a picture book with a child, or for chatting with friends and neighbors over a cup of coffee from Marquet, right next door.

Follow Jessica on Twitter: http://twitter.com/booknerdnyc

In a taxi on the way to the Today Show. Wish my hair could look like this every day.

Fresh off the road for my new book BOYOLOGY, I pulled together a list of the 5 things every author should know before going on tour. Here they are:

1. Twittering is MUCH easier than blogging on the road. Thanks to my trusty iPhone, I wasn’t worryied about finding a wifi connection for my laptop so I could write an “official” blog post. Instead, I used twitter and dealt with the blog stuff when I got home.

2. Online event listings really do pull people out to events. I had a bunch of people mention that they saw my events online and that’s why they came. And other local media (TV, radio, print) is really important. Hard to get, but worth the effort of trying.

3. Be Nice. Remember that the booksellers are putting in extra hours (likely unpaid) to be at your events, your publicist is pulling her hair out to get you another radio interview in the market, and your mother has already purchased 5 copies of your book. (She can’t drive your Amazon ranking by herself). A thank you note after each event for the bookseller, and a little gift for your publicist will go a long way in showing your appreciation for all their hard work. You’ll have to figure out how to thank your mother on your own.

4. The perfect pre-tour gift is a Starbucks card. If you’re ever thinking about giving your author a “good luck on the road” present, get them $20 to Starbucks. One of my friends gave me one and I was so grateful to have it since most of my meals ended up being at Starbucks. And with my early morning 6:00am flights every morning, I started each day with a lot of coffee!

5. Do Not, I repeat, DO NOT, take red-eye flights.

Extra Credit: Buy some books! No one has better reading recommendations than a local bookseller. Take their advice on what’s hot and support them by getting it at their store. Can you believe I had never read John Green’s Looking for Alaska and I’m a teen author? I ended up bringing 11 books home. Not only will I be smarter, but I think I’m actually a little bit stronger from lugging my suitcase around.

“It was a hard day at work” will never sound the same after reading another one of Theresa Brown’s moving pieces in the New York Times about her work as a critical care nurse. We will be publishing Theresa’s extraordinary book about nursing, Critical Care, next June.

For those of you that want to transition to e-books, but are simply too in love with that unique scent of books, Smell of Books is just what you’re looking for.  Described as an “aerosol e-book enhancer,” it is meant to bring a whole new experience to digital reading.  There are multiple aromas to choose from, including “Classic Musty Smell” and “New Book Smell,” and don’t worry about the scent not working on certain devices – it has been tested across the board.

My favorite essay in BURN THIS BOOK is called “Why Write” by John Updike, which Nick Owchar recently quoted on the LAT blog Jacket Copy:

“Why write? As soon ask, why rivet? Because a number of personal accidents drifts us toward the occupation of riveter, which preexists, and, most importantly, the riveting gun exists, and we love it.

Think of a pencil. What a quiet, nimble, slender, and then stubby wonder-worker he is! At his touch, worlds leap into being; a tiger with no danger, a steamroller with no weight, a palace at no cost. All children are alive to the spell of pencil and crayons, of making something, as it were, from nothing; a few children never move out from under this spell, and try to become artists. I was once a rapturous child drawing at the dining-room table, under a stained-glass chandelier that sat like a hat on the swollen orb of my excitement.”

This short little letter Updike sent back in October is now its own piece of literary nostalgia (as is the much talked about interview with Cheever)

Last night Toni Morrison spoke to an intimate gathering of publishers, writers, and other supporters about the problem of censorship and the role of the artist. The event was put on by the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) in support of the on-going fight against book bans across the country and also to celebrate Morrison’s new anthology, Burn This Book, published by HarperStudio. Check out this short clip from last night’s conversation.

I spent the last two days at the 2nd annual Mediabistro Circus in New York. As with last year, common themes about community, engagement and authenticity started to emerge from the 20-or-so speakers. Last year the conference was held in a no-frills warehouse downtown. This year they moved it to the fancier Times Center in mid-town.

A few observations:

1) Attendance: I’m just guessing here, but there seemed to be fewer people overall than last year. Maybe it’s the economy, not sure. The good news though is that I saw many more book publishing people. That’s a really good thing as far as I’m concerned. In fact, if I were boss , I’d send dozens of people from all different departments to conferences such as these — especially when in New York. I’d make it mandatory. Editorial, sales, marketing, publicity — could all benefit from hearing these speakers. To my mind, it would be money well spent.

2) Twitter had a much bigger role this year (obviously). I was on Twitter last year for the conference, but not really working it — though I did have one of those ah-ha moments last year when I saw Robert Scoble demonstrated on the big screen that people were watching the conference live and responding around the world in real-time. This year everyone was on Twitter, there was a hashtag (#mbcircus), and you could get live responses during the conference. For instance, day one, there was not an outlet in sight. Crazy. I mentioned this on Twitter — and the next day they had outlets everywhere. Love that! Thank you Mediabistro.

3) Steve Rubel from Edelman was a standout again this year. He talked about how companies can successfully use social media by appointing “corporate all-stars” and empowering them to connect with customers through social media. This is better than any advertising or marketing that money can buy. Great examples are @comcastcares from Comcast, @scottmonty from Ford, and Kelly from Quicken @quickenloans.

4) John Byrne from Business Week was another standout. John spoke about Business Week’s “Engagement Strategy” where they encourage their journalists to connect with the commenters on the site and let the conversation inform their stories. They also reward their top commenters by naming the Top 100, and even inviting the Top 10 to New York to have dinner with the editors. As far as I can see, John Byrne is creating the future of journalism and I trust any future being forged by him. He seems to “get it” in a visceral way. I’d hitch my wagon to John’s if I were in journalism.

5) Valeria Maltoni from Conversationagent.com and Eileen Gittins from Blurb.com were also inspiring. If I wanted to publish a book, I would seriously consider using Blurb and Conversationagent.

6) Carmen Ruest from Cirque du Soleil came and spoke, and then some of the performers did a unicycle act. I’m not sure what the connection was to the conference (I had to step out to take a call and missed most of her talk) — but the performance was an enjoyable end of the day touch.

I’m attending the Mediabistro conference for a few days. Wrap up to come when it’s over. One take away from yesterday though is Comcast’s use of Twitter for customer service. I’d heard the stories before, but I never took the time to go check them out.

Wow. I love them! Every service company should take note. And lessons.

Mark my words, next year there will be MUCH more of this type of thing.

Check out Comcast Cares on Twitter: http://twitter.com/comcastcares

and Comcast Bill: http://twitter.com/ComcastBill

and Comcast Bonnie: http://twitter.com/ComcastBonnie

Apple, Verizon, Cablevision, UPS, AT&T……take note!