Making BART Riders See Book Sense

The Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA), the Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART), and Book Sense have teamed up to create a new promotion to encourage BART riders to visit their local independent bookstores. On Tuesday, December 13, fifty thousand fliers -- which feature an area-specific Book Sense Picks List, along with a coupon for $10 off the Picks titles at participating stores -- will be distributed at six BART stations.

The flier announces "BART Rider Thank you!: A Gift From BART and Your Local Independent Booksellers," and the coupon can be redeemed at any of the 27 participating bookstores.

NCIBA Executive Director Hut Landon said he was delighted that BART chose to work with local independent bookstores. "BART [representatives were] looking for a good deal for their customers, and [NCIBA] was looking for a way to brand independent bookstores," said Landon. "The Book Sense Picks List seemed perfect for the promotion and works well as a flier to be passed out at the stations." Landon explained that only those stores near a BART line, San Francisco and East Bay NCIBA member stores, were solicited. "Twenty seven stores agreed," he said. "I was really pleased with the response."

BART Senior Marketing Representative Doug Bartlett told BTW that the transit system wanted to say "Thank You" to its riders by offering a "good deal" on books. "We were looking at what riders most like to do [on BART]," he said. "They sleep, listen to music, but an enormous majority -- 80 to 90 percent -- read." And he added, "Hopefully riders will think that we're a little more thoughtful than a run-of-the-mill transit agency."

The reason that BART turned to Bay Area bookstores is that "we consider ourselves homegrown," Bartlett said. "We'd rather work with locals, so we looked for smaller, locally owned businesses. I thought I would just love to work with some independent bookstores rather than large chains.... Our every intent is to drive riders to stores both literally and figuratively."

Initially Bartlett had some concerns about the logistics of coordinating the promotion with dozens of various independently owned stores. "I thought, Oh, this is going to be really tough," said Bartlett. "I may miss some of the stores." When he discovered NCIBA on the Internet everything fell into place. "Hut was absolutely wonderful," he said.

Landon said the regional couldn't possibly pass up the opportunity. "Everybody wanted to make this happen. I'd like to say working with ABA on this was a real pleasure. We had a turnaround time of two weeks. It just shows you how quickly things can happen."

Landon developed the idea of creating a special Picks List culled from previous Picks List reviews from participating stores. The BART/Book Sense Picks list includes The Tender Bar (J.R. Moehringer, Hyperion); Don't Get Too Comfortable (David Rakoff, Doubleday); The Devil's Teeth (Susan Casey, Holt); and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Lisa See, Random House).

"I think it's a good list of books," said Landon. "I wanted fairly recent books, because they had to be hardcover, and I wanted them to be reviewed by NCIBA-ers."

He added, "If it works, I hope all of us can think of other ways to modify and augment the Picks List to promote what we're doing." Another benefit of using a Picks List, Landon explained, was that the "consumer doesn't just get money back. They have to read the reviews and choose a book. We want to equate independent bookselling with recommending and handselling books. It's not just giving away a percentage. That's what the Book Sense Picks List is all about."

Participating bookstores are: In San Francisco -- A Clean Well Lighted Place for Books; Alexander Book Company; Black Oak Books; The Booksmith; Cody's Books; Cover to Cover Booksellers; Green Apple Books; SFSU Bookstore; and Stacey's Bookstore. In Berkeley -- Black Oak Books; Cody's Books; Cody's Books on Fourth; Pegasus Fine Books; and Pegasus Books Downtown. In Oakland -- A Great Good Place for Books; DIESEL, A Bookstore; Laurel Bookstore; and Pendragon Books. In other locales -- Benicia Bookshop in Benicia; Bay Books in Concord; Rakestraw Books in Danville; The Book Shop in Hayward; Sheila A. Grilli, Bookseller in Martinez; Orinda Books in Orinda; Bay Books and Towne Center Books in Pleasanton; and Bay Books in San Ramon. --Karen Schechner