Bookmark, the official magazine of the SA Booksellers Association, is distributed free of charge to all members as well as to all influential people in the book trade from publishers to government departments. This magazine is a mouthpiece for our members as much as it is a source of information. We are pleased to publish some of the more recent copies of this important magazine in electronic format for easy reference for our members.

Bookmark Issue 101, Q3 2020 |Download

We report back on the SABA Annual conference, and offer some insights into the impact of Covid-19 on education and the Work From Home phenomenon.

Bookmark Issue 100, April – June 2020 |Download

SABA president, Melvin Kabwe offers insights on the business of books in difficult times in our lockdown issue. And encouragement that the business of books is irrepressible. While our industry is under enormous pressure, we continue to gather current information to serve our bookselling community. We have given a detailed list of book fairs until September – most of which have gone digital due to lockdown and travel restrictions.

Bookmark Issue 99, January 2020 | Download

Our education focus this issue includes a look at some of the noise around Comprehensive Sexuality Eduction that has been on the curriculum since 2000. Homeschooling and the case for multilingual education are explored, while an overview of the educational options from school to a doctorate are charted.

Annie Olivier, publisher at Jonathan Ball, reports on the Frankfurt Book Fair, while Zukiswa Wanner gives an interesting insight on the Ake Fair in Lagos. Out to lunch with Thabiso Mahlape took place at Life Grand Café in Mall of Africa, and she outlined her publishing objectives for Blackbird Books.

Bookmark Issue 98, October 2019 | Download

The new look Bookmark features the South African Book Fair, reports on industry awards and pays tribute to industry legends lost recently.

The topic of NSFAS and its impact on bookshops is considered, and we highlight some of the concerns raised about the proposed Copyright Amendment Bill.

The dynamic new Swedish/South African cultural exchange is featured, with a special focus on poetry. We celebrate independent female publishers in this issue, and catch up with three vibrant book clubs.

Last but not least, we are proud to introduce the inaugural “Lunch with…” feature and Malebo Sephodi, our first guest, doesn’t hold back!

Issue 96, March 2019 | Download

We are almost a quarter of the way through the year and its back to business as usual after all the festivities.In an effort to diversify content and be responsive to our reader’s expressed preferences, we are introducing some new features. The careers in the industry section will explore the various career paths that are available in the book industry and the relevant qualifications that will help students establish a strong foundation .  Generally graduates tend to opt for more traditional careers in finance or medicine without much consideration or thought given for the possible professions available in the book industry. Read more and check out the other new features.

In the spring issue of the Bookmark we look at the National Book (NBW) Week and the South African Book Fair which are key annual events that go a long way in creating a consciousness of reading. This year marks the ninth annual NBW and the theme for this year’s event is #OURSTORIES. We also have an interesting interview with young writer Anathi  Nyadu a student from the University of the Free State and a mentee of FunDza editors. Printed books form part of a long-standing system that that spans decades. The distinct smell of a book, the bookmark with an inspirational message and the scribbled notes in pencil have all become part of a rich reading-a-book experience. In recent times however, e-books are a convenient cost effective method and schools are even opting to tutor with e-books preloaded on a device. We take a look at the next step in the evolution of books and so much more.

The past few months have been good to general booksellers which lifted annual book sales, largely due to the enormous interest in Zuma’s Keepers which broke all records. With “state capture” a focus of interest for politicians and most thinking South Africans, this book arrived at just the right time for retailers and our only complaint was that we could not get enough! We commented recently on the sales also of Dudu Busani-Dube’s trilogy which had drawn an unprecedented demand from readers interested in fiction reflecting life in the townships. It shows that we have a large market for books if only we can offer the right material. Also in this edition; Bumble Books reports on their attendance of the Shanghai Visiting International Publisher’s Programme fellowship (SHVIP) at the China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (CCBF) in 2017, Jacana’s latest initiative: Storied, news from Nal’ibali, Benjamin Trisk reflects on being a bookseller, the SA Booksellers Associations’ new online bookselling course and an update from LIASA.

The South African book industry was abuzz in September and November as two locally published non-fiction titles, both exposing Jacob Zuma, rocked the nation. Over 500 people attended the launch of Redi Thlabi’s book Kwezi at Exclusive Books in Hyde Park in September. Just a few weeks after this watershed moment in the SA book industry’s calendar, the top secret and embargoed The President’s Keepers – Those keeping Zuma in Power and out of Prison by investigative journalist Jacques Pauw, launched in the same venue to a crowd of nearly 1000 people, again in the concourse of the mall. For some, the launch represented a rallying point against the scourge of state corruption. For others the hype surrounding the book itself, along with the sales generated, is simply exciting. It has been an interesting year full firsts, full of change. In this edition of Bookmark we also look at the South African Literary Awards, the SA Book Fair, Frankfurt, the Blockchain, Puku Children’s Literature Foundation, Audiobooks and BELA.

Bookmark is focused on the issues faced by booksellers in their specific sectors of engagement. Copyright is a huge issue for academic booksellers, centralised procurement cuts the educational booksellers, masters in the art of hand-selling the right books to individual schools at the best price they can afford to offer, out of the equation. Budget cuts are a death knell to library suppliers. An economy in recession is making life very hard for everyone. The Chair’s reports are featured here. September is a busy and event filled time in the book industry. Find reports on the Sefika awards, National Book Week, the South African Book Fair and Open Book Festival here too.

This winter edition of Bookmark is full to the brim with new and well known events. This year the South African Book Development Council has taken ownership of the South African Book Fair and they are moving it squarely into the African narrative. The excitement it is generating amongst the new reading public is immense. The launch of the Johannesburg Review of Books is another great move for the South African book industry and a big play for international attention by all concerned. The Franschhoek Literary Festival was wonderful and we have the Cape Town Book Sale at the V&A on this weekend as well as Open Book to look forward to before the co-located AGM’s of the SA Booksellers’ Association and the Publishers Association of South Africa on the 22nd and 23rd August at Coastlands, Umhlanga in KZN. It is set to be a winter full of South African Books.

The beginning of the year is always a busy time for booksellers. Academic and education booksellers are showing much resilience and ingenuity in keeping their doors open and getting good books into the hands of scholars. Keeping with the theme of education, Sarah Ohlson de Fine from Learning Tools tells us about perception and offers some ideas and resources that will help children with reading from the very beginning. We also have three articles looking at trends in bookselling. One from Olinka Nel looking at South Africa over the Christmas period, Freda van Wyk gives us a three year review of South African publishing and bookselling and then Hazel Kenyon from Nielsen compares the UK and US book markets.

The September edition of Bookmark, we like to think, was one of our best. Discussions at the Annual General Meetings resulted in us making contact with many wonderful contributors and we are pleased to present some more of their intuitive writing to you in this Christmas edition. Members of the executive are also spending time sharing their insights and experiences with us and we truly value their input. We would like to thank all of our advertisers for their continued support and wish you all a very merry festive season.

As the year is drawing to a close Bookmark looks at the state of the book industry in 2016. We report back with valuable insight into the various book sectors: libraries, digital, general trade, education and academic. This edition also provides feedback on a very significant period for the SA Booksellers’ Association, as a lot of key events in the in the book industry took place. We have a look at the results of the Nielsen Booksellers’ Choice Awards and Sefika Awards. We take a closer look at two very popular events that took place early September, Open Book Festival and National Book Week. Bookmark’s Bookshop focus profiles the unique Bridge Books and the well-known online bookseller Takealot.com.

The first five months of the year were filled with literary events, festivals and some positive developments in the book industry. The SA Booksellers’ Association president, Guru Redhi, kicks off this edition of Bookmark with more information on the development of an official bookseller’s course which will commence in June. In the digital section, Alan Vesty asks whether our eyes are becoming more square by the day and Rhodé Odendaal asks the question ‘Is digital really all about technology?’ We have feedback on some of the literary festivals that have taken place so far and we take a look at the upcoming AGM which will take place in Cape Town on the 30th-31st of August. Don’t miss it! Please get in touch with Samantha at the office to book your place. Also of great import in the upcoming months is the Booksellers’ Choice Award, generously sponsored by Nielsen once again. The short list will be in your inboxes any day now. Please vote for the book you most enjoyed selling this year. It is a wonderful award that shines a light on the entire South African bookselling industry and should be fervently supported

The year is already in full swing and it promises to be an exciting year for the literary industry with a lot of events and festivals planned for 2016. Use our handy calendar on page 16 to plan ahead and save the dates. It was a busy time for booksellers with schools starting. We have an update on the Education in South Africa and also have a look at the opportunities and challenges educational booksellers face. In our digital section, we investigate the behemoth of the book world, Amazon and regular contributor Rhodé Odendaal discusses Digital Readiness. We have the latest statistics on book sales from SAPnet and have a look at the benefits of being a member of the SA Booksellers Association. Sadly we also have to say goodbye to a great writer and important role-player in the book industry. Chris Barnard passed away in December. We look forward to keeping you up to date with news from the literary industry.

The last few months of 2015 have seen quite a few literary events. We have a look at the success of the Open Book Festival, National Book Week and the BookBedonnerd festival. We learn more about the new kid on the block, the Eastern Cape Book Festival now in its second year and celebrate the 40th and 50th anniversaries of the Language Monument and ISBN respectively. In the library section Marie o’Brein gives us feedback on International School Library month and in education, Nal’ibali tells more about how they are changing the literacy state of SA. We celebrate all the literary awards of the year, but sadly we also have to say goodbye to a great bookseller and important role-player in the book industry. Philip Joseph, founder of Exclusive Books, passed away in October. The SA Booksellers Association would like to wish all of our members and associates a very merry Christmas and all the best in bookselling for the year ahead.

The year is drawing to an end and it’s time to have a look at the state of the book industry in 2015. The AGM took place from 25-27 August and as always was able to bring together booksellers around South Africa to identify and discuss concerns in the industry. In this edition of Bookmark we give you valuable insights in the different sectors, digital, general trade, libraries, education and academic. In the digital section regular contributor Alan Vesty explains how e-commerce websites work and we have an update on the Footnote summit that took place in July. We also have more information on the Open Book Festival and SA National Book Week, which is just days away. Read more on the success of African Education Week and celebrate two 150-year anniversaries with us. The first is of Adams Bookstore and secondly the much loved Afrikaans dictionary, HAT.

The year is in full swing with a lot of events already behind us, but still a few more important and exciting ones ahead. Bookmark is excited to bring our readers an update on World Book Day, SA Library week and other events of the past five months. With literary festivals and events popping-up all over the country, we also take a look at the importance and values of these events. Regular contributor Nicolene Finlayson reports back on the success of the Digital Summit while John Jacobs writes about the road ahead for SA book retailers. We have more information on both the SABC Education Week and South African Bookfair, which is just weeks away. We discuss the DBE’s new e-book strategy and the Book Flood Campaign. Visit sabooksellers.com for updates on this year’s AGM and please remember to diarise the date on 29 July.

The beginning of the year is a busy time for educational booksellers. Bookmark is excited to bring an update from Nal’ibali to our readers at the end of this back to school period, along with a piece from a new NGO called Reading and Writing Solutions. We publish an interview with Mohamed Kharwa, Vice President of the SA Booksellers Association and the Academic Sector Chairperson. He answers a few questions on university/college textbooks. We take a look at the Indie Book Fair, a new kid on block, and also chat to Batya Green-Bricker Programme Director of the South African Book Fair about their plans for Johannesburg this year. It looks like E-books and print are finally living in harmony even though we are all suffering from information overload according to regular contributors Nicolene Finlayson and Alan Vesty. The calendar of event on pages 8 and 9 is a handy piece to print out if you don’t have a hard copy of this magazine. The SA Booksellers Association is doing great things for World Book Day this year (23 April). Check out sabooksellers.com for more on this exciting initiative which is in line with the WBD UK ￡1 book promotion.

This Christmas edition of Bookmark is not as lighthearted as we would have liked it to be. The Draft National Policy for the Provision and Management of Learning and Teaching Support Material is still under debate and the whole industry waits with bated breath to see what the outcome of the comment process will be. We look into this situation with a specific focus on the SA Booksellers Associations’ submission and what the policy means for booksellers. Olinka Nel from Exclusive Books, our General Trade chairperson offers an insightful report on the past year for General Trade booksellers, Nicolene Finlayson looks at the online retail market and Matthew Faircliff discusses WordPress as an online retail platform. The SA Booksellers Association would like to wish all of our members and associates a very merry Christmas and all the best in bookselling for the year ahead. Enjoy your read.

The AGM edition is always very interesting as we include the annual reports from the different sectors. This gives us a comprehensive look at what is happening in the industry across the board. We have yet another excellent contribution by Alan Vesty on bookselling successfully now and in the future. Managing Director of Exclusive Books, Benjamin Trisk was a guest speaker at the SA Booksellers AGM in KwaZulu Natal. We reproduce here a small excerpt of his highly engaging and encouraging speech. He has put the support of Exclusive Books firmly behind the SA Booksellers Association and the future of the book in South Africa.

In this edition Nicolene Finlayson looks at speed reading with Spritz it, and contributor Alan Vesty talks about online advertising vs content marketing. Publishers going direct and the success thereof is also up for debate. It is the festival edition and we focus on US Wordfees, the Franschhoek Literary Festival, the London Book Fair, the South African Book Fair and World Book day. We also imagine the library of the future in all its technological glory and delve deeper into educational apps.

The beginning of every year is a busy time for educational booksellers. In this edition, Jessica Faircliff looks into all the issues facing these important retailers in the educational value chain in South Africa. We look into digital retail in South Africa, which looks set to take off and Nicolene Finlayson gives some other trends to look out for in 2014. Children’s book selling seems to be on an ever upward curve. We offer a report from the Salon du Livre et de la press jeunesse and ponder whether the trend will influence the sales of youth fiction in the future. We are as ever excited about the upcoming literary events this year. The SA Booksellers Association has something exciting planned for the South African Book Fair in particular. Diarise your dates using our 2014 calendar. In the library sector, the debate around digital lending is yet to be resolved and it seems as if it will all comes down to pricing. Enjoy your read.

The first edition of Bookmark was produced by Maureen Hargraves (then Barnes) in the summer of 1991. Three editions were produced each year until 2007 when we began to produce the magazine quarterly. That makes this the 75th issue of Bookmark. In its beautifully laid-out pages Nicolene Finlayson investigates new book selling platforms, Alan Vesty gives readers an education on how to sell books online. We consider the changes in the reading habits of children. Nicolaas Faasen gives us a photographic report of Frankfurt and Jessica Faircliff summarises the issues facing booksellers in these turbulent times. Find this and much more in the latest edition of Bookmark, the official news magazine of the South Africa Booksellers association.

The September edition of Bookmark is always the AGM report issue and contains the official reports from all executive members working within the different sectors of the trade. They make for interesting reading. e-Trade is receiving more and more attention as the effects of digital change are felt in each sector. Assistant editor Nicolene Finlayson compiled this report from the combined input of Peter Adams, Hentie Gericke and Melvin Kaabwe, it is a must-read for those keeping an eye on digital developments.. Alan Vesty’s piece on Web Analytics is also most enlightening. We feature the South African Publications Network, better known as Sapnet to most, introducing the first of our quarterly “Top Best Sellers” Reports for the General Trade, as well as updates and informative snippets about their services to the book industry. Brian Wooten gives us some insight to the future of Exclusive Books and we take note of the Books are my Bag initiative of the Booksellers Association in the UK.

How to boost peer-to-peer recommendation among casual readers who don’t own a Kindle and don’t regularly trawl bookshops but who probably own a smartphone? Find out more in our lead on viral marketing for books. Follow that up with an informative piece from Alan Vesty on the revival of email marketing. We also look at loyalty programmes as a marketing exercise worth considering and whether booksellers in shopping centres are living on borrowed time.
For many people working in public libraries, March and April of this year brought welcome changes to the e-lending debate and it seems as if finally, some progress is being made. We take an in depth look at the progress in e-lending. In education, Open Access publishing is gaining a groundswell of support we look at implications for the future of academic publishing.
This edition of Bookmark is sure to inform.

All areas of the industry continue to be challenged by the rapid changes facilitated by digital developments. Booksellers both locally and internationally are adapting to the changing landscape as well as they can. As new ways of discovering books online become more like a virtual bookshop, it is good to remember that the physical space of a bookstore is still the best known vehicle for discoverability and conversion.
Technology is however here to stay and and as a means of broadening the platforms through which content and most specifically bookish content is delivered, we are all for it. This edition of Bookmark is packed with information to keep you ahead of the crowd.

“The SA Booksellers Association is an important part of the book trade. We add value in many ways and would like to answer more of your needs. Value is enhanced when booksellers work together and I encourage traders in all areas to find ways to support each other. Use the experienced people at your national office for advice. Participate in National Book Week and World Book Day and do your bit to promote reading and literacy. Help make us a stronger industry,” says President Sydwell Molosi in his introductory letter to the December edition of Bookmark, which is now available as a fully interactive PDF here.
Jessica Faircliff and Nicolene Finlayson debate the issue of e-books and literacy in SA comparing the first-world, where e-book adoption in the children’s market is outstripping almost all other genres, to South Africa, where even the sale of Children’s print books is in decline.
Alan Vesty shares some of the steps involved in establishing a commercial website and developing a vibrant and profitable book marketing tool.
The bi-annual strategy planning session of the SA Booksellers Association was this year held at The Bend at Nottingham Road in the KZN Midlands. Frikkie Nel and Samantha Faure share the outcomes of these intensive debates.

The September edition of Bookmark is always jam packed with interesting information and reports coming out of the SA Booksellers AGM which was hosted in Johannesburg this year. Each sector was discussed at length at the meetings and for those that were not able to attend, the Chairman’s reports for the different sectors should make for interesting reading.
We also have a number of very different literary events both past and present featured in Bookmark ranging from the Kids Lit Quiz world finals t the upcoming Open Book Festival. Jay Rangiah writes a much deserved profile on Peter Adams a long serving member of the book industry and Bookmark editor Jessica Faircliff chats to Ben Williams about www.exclus1ves.com’s new retail gamification called stickers.

In this edition of Bookmark, Jay Rangiah focuses on some of the positive initiatives in the Library sector. ELITS in KZN is doing wonderful things for school libraries in that province. The World Book Day events nationwide were a great success. African Education Week, running from the 2nd to the 4th July at the Sandton Convention Centre is just around the corner.
Greame Bloch gives us some insight as to what to expect from this important event. Moving onto General Trade, we look at the reasons for the success of bargain Books in these troubled times. According to Linda Nel, it lies in the chain’s unique positioning in the South African book trade, and also not in small part to the business acumen of its founder and owner John O’ Sullivan. Of course we cover the upcoming Cape Town Book Fair and in E-books, we look at the some interesting development from Microsoft’s investment in the Nook to what the future bookstore will look like.

This year got off to a bad start for South African Booksellers as news trickled in of some of the most respected and loved bookstores in the country closing their doors. Editor Jessica Faircliff investigates why these bastions of literature were forced into taking such drastic measures as to close up shop.
Jay Rangiah, now a regular contributor to Bookmark, writes about the importance of education and reading in our country whilst looking at President Zuma’s state of the nation address and what it did and didn’t address.
Brian Wafawarowa shares his report on two new important developments in intellectual property and copyright gleaned from the WIPO conference he attended in Geneva last year.
Bookmark looks at the more interesting points raised in the Green Paper on Post-School Education and Training that was released in January and then goes on to look at the report on Digital Publishing in Developing Countries written by Octavio Kulesz, an Argentine philosopher, formerly a traditional publisher (Libros del Zorzal) now turned digital publisher (Teseo).
All in all , it makes for some very interesting reading in these tumultuous times.

In this festive edition of Bookmark we take a look at how things went down at the inaugural Open Book Festival, which was a great success. Following that we turn our attention to the 2012 Cape Town Book Fair and consider how South Africa’s publishing and bookselling sector will showcase them selves after a hiatus.
Arthur Attwell’s new business Paperight offers a legal solution to copyshops. He gives us some insight as to how bookshops could benefit from his endeavors.

In the Academic and Education sector, the CAPS process has been an ongoing engagement between publishers and the education department. Bookmark takes a look at what has been causing the debate and how the situation has been handled by PASA. Guru Redhi reports on the ADEA conference on Book Development in Africa.

Jay Rangiah pays tribute to Dr Sibusiso Nkosinathi Patrick Sishi and Deadly Reddy, two very interesting and active individuals in the library sector.

The SABA and PASA Annual General Meetings held at the Vineyard Hotel in Cape Town this year, were a hotpot of debate. The co-located AGM’s are a platform for members to table and then discuss issues pertinent to their business, be their focus education, academic, general trade, libraries or ebooks.

Approximately 50 booksellers from across the country attended the meetings this year as the executive did their level best to balance time across different priorities and give equal attention to the sectors and regions, a hard task indeed. The annual Sefika Awards were mostly won by the usual suspects and Alex Smith won the Nielson Sefika Booksellers’ Choice Award. This edition of Bookmark presents all the executive reports from the AGM for those that missed it.

We also focus on ebooks, bringing you insights from kalahari.com, On the Dot and Van Schaik.

This edition of Bookmark is a very exciting one for SABA for a number of reasons. You will notice a new format to the magazine. We now have four specific sections which reflect the areas of trade covered by the Executive Committee far more closely.

Under Education, find a transcript of a speech delivered to Very Important Booksellers at a Via Afrika event by Thobile Ntola, President of the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU). We also look at what attendees can expect from this year’s Education Week in July and we debate the state of education in South Africa before reporting on some news from the sector.

General Trade has two rather enjoyable feature articles, the first being on the Franschhoek Literary Festival and the second a thoroughly entertaining piece on the wonder of Audiobooks by Kirston Hoets of Booktalk.

Jay Rangiah, Chairman of Libraries pays tribute to Moira Kathleen Anderson of the Msunduzi Municipal Library and looks at the fascinating history of the Msunduzi Municipal Library Service featuring the Bessie Head Library.

The Digital section reports on the Van Schaik ebook conference held in May and under Important Information, find reports on the Ministerial Task Team for the Book Sector and the upcoming SABA AGM.

Enjoy.

The March edition of Bookmark is full of interesting information about the year ahead. Thanks to SABA Executive Member Jay Rangiah, we have a focus on Libraries in this edition and it makes for some fascinating reading.

Our main feature is on the KwaZulu- Natal Provincial Library Services which are doing a sterling job of making books accessible to all those in the province. We take a quick look at how libraries of the future might work and profile Mariana Du Toit who has dedicated her working life to libraries in South Africa.

Open Book Cape Town is the next new thing on South Africa’s literary calendar and from what we can tell it is going to be very exciting. We chatted to both Mervyn Sloman and Ben Williams about what they have planned. The Cape Town Book Fair is taking a breather this year as organisers look for new sponsors and it is with great sadness that we consider the prospect of winter without this wonderful event.

The December edition of Bookmark is out and should make for some enjoyable holiday reading. We especially appreciate the piece sent to us by Jenny Hobbs on the the 2010 Edinburgh International Book Festival and the story by Corina Van Der Spoel on the M&G Johannesburg Literary Festival. Professor Viv Edwards from the University of Reading UK gives an insightful look at African language publishing for Children in the main feature article.

Don’t miss reports on the annual LIASA conference, National Book Week, Education Week and the CNA Readathon. Also for those members interested in keeping on the right side of the law, a special report on the new Companies Act 2008 by Madelein Burger van-der Walt of Webber Wentzel.

Some controversial comments surrounding the Cape Town Book Fair come to light in the latest edition of Bookmark where we talk to represenatives from all sectors on the industry. It will be interesting to see how management look to addressing these industry concerns in 2011.

Also featured in this hot off the press edition, a look at Kalahari.net’s exciting new marketplace which
has taken the second hand book market by storm in SA and which is an interesting platform for booksellers to contemplate.

Don’t miss reports on the Frankfurt Book Fair Literacy Campaign, Education Week and National Book Week as well as the SABA National AGM where debates, discussions and directives find a voice.

Read about the Franschhoek Literary Festival, the Professional Editors Conference and the future of the Book in the latest edition of Bookmark published for the first time online.

The news magazine of the South African Booksellers’ Association will be published electronically as well as in hard copy from now on. We hope you enjoy the online access.

Also featured in the June edition; the London Book Fair as well as the local event that sprung into being for those that didn’t make it, plans for the upcoming Cape Town Book Fair and much more.

Bookmark interviews Brian Wafawarowa as he takes the lead at the Publishers Assoiation of South Africa (PASA). Willam Struik gives a comprehensive overview of the publishing industry from 2004-2008.

We take a quick look at the Apple iPad and what it means for content providers and preview the London Book Fair, the Franschhoek Literary Festival and the Professional Editors Group Conference.

Also featured; reports on World Book Day and the State of the Nation: What the President had to say about Education in South Africa.

Read about doing business in a recession and take a look at the book industry figures in this edition of Bookmark.

Also read up on the arrival of the Kindle in SA and continuing with the theme of technology, view an interesting discussion on which of all the newly available reading formats comes out the winner.

A report on the Library sector promises challenging times ahead and SABA member CNA scoops an award for the best loved bookstore.

Bookseller and Publisher focus’ feature MG Redhi and Jonathan Ball.

In this bumper edition of Bookmark we focus on what local literary events offer booksellers, the star of the show being the Cape Town Book Fair. Keeping with that theme we turn a spotlight on the London Book Fair, World Book Day, Library Week and National Book Week.

In a logistics feature we look at the intricacies of moving books from A to B and then we take a look at self publishing, the pro’s and con’s thereof.

Boeksentrum is our featured bookseller and small publisher Modjaji Books tells us all about how to stretch small resources.

Bookmark looks at what the South African focus of the London Book Fair is likely to mean to local publishers and booksellers alike.

Keeping with the local is lekker focus we look at an innovative literacy campaign launched by Cambridge University Press, the new and exciting Juta Bookshops that have been popping up all over tha place, Van Schaik’s attitude towards keeping business booming and CNA’s road to success.

We report on the Google agreement, the resoucre intensive OBE method of education, the Kids Lit Quiz and World Book Day.

Willem Struik asks if 2008 will be a good a yar as 2007 was for booksellers and we look at the technological advances in both bookselling and publishing in this edition of Bookmark.

A special focus on SABA brings you profiles of the SABA executive, the Annual Executive Reports and a feature on Maureen Hargraves who was awarded honorary life membership at the SABA AGM.

Also featured, the Sefika Awards, some exciting news from PASA and a closer look at libraries.

In this edition of Bookmark we investigate the online challenge for Booksellers as well as advances in technology in the Printing industry.

The next generation of publishers come into sharp focus along with three of the big Book Fairs that influence our world.

Bookmark celebrates African languages and reports on Copyright awareness and World Book Day.

The SABDC and APNET give us interesting updates on their activities.

Willem Struik talks us through the facts and figures of the bookselling landscape in 2006. Giles Mitchell, IT manager for Exclusive Books looks at the never ending debate of what booksellers need to do in order to embrace the digital age. Andrew Marthinusen looks at the environmental impact of paper.

Hentie Gericke tells us what prompted him to open his own bookstore after 20 years in the trade.

APNET reports on the Frankfurt Book Fair and we look at the Library division, the issues around supplying education and cultural development.

Bookmark looks at effective education in a vision for the future and investigates how the WCED sets an example with the success of good working relationships. We discover the secrets to success with award winning booksellers and feature the next big seller: The Golden Compass.

In our reports, the IFLA congress exceeds all expectations and libraries come into the spotlight.

In the annual focus on SABA we see what SABA does for its members, what is happening in the different sectors and are introduced to the new executive committee.

In this edition of Bookmark we learn the Publishing for Africa takes some creativity. The South African Book Development Council, an organisation that means business, is launched and the Cape Town Book Fair has its second coming.

Bookselling in a digital world from a UK based perspective and how the digitisation of content will affect booksellers make for interesting reading.

We report on the International Booksellers’ Federation’s Annual Conference, the festivities in Franschhoek and the profits and promotions in publishing.