Penguin Random House Integration & BookManager
We are currently waiting on final confirmation for some details, but we'll be emailing out a "timeline" for our users very, very soon. So sit tight folks! At this time, not much can be done in advance in your BookManager system. Most of the changes you need to make will be done the last week of January leading up to the official merger date. Most of you hopefully received the "timeline" documentation from Penguin Random House Canada, but here it is in case.

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Internet Explorer 8 and Windows XP
This one goes out to all you die-hards out there who are still using XP. As you may or not may not know, Windows XP support ended in April 2014 (YIKES!) Which also means that Internet Explorer 8 is no longer supported by Microsoft. And if the big nerds at Microsoft don't support your browser, I'm afraid we don't either.

Currently, your BookManager WebStore (and many other sites) are probably not functioning to their full potential, if at all really. And since you are using an operating system that is no longer supported (XP), you will not be able to update your Internet Explorer browser to the latest version (11).

What can you do? Update your browser to either Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome. Simple. That's it. These browsers are not tied into your operating system like Internet Explorer is, plus we can guarantee you will have a 100% better browsing experience overall if you pick Firefox or Chrome. The installation of either browser is easy as long as you read the messages on the screen and follow the steps. Note: during the install, you will have the option to make Firefox or Chrome your "default browser" and to import settings like passwords and bookmarks - say YES to this! Of course, if you get stuck, please give us a call and we can help.

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2015 Renewals
Just a quick note to everyone about your annual Support, Data and BackUp fees (yes, it is that time of year again) - January 31st is quickly approaching, and as per usual this month is flying by fast! We are currently working on some pretty cool Catalogues & Lists features, as well as tweaking Analytics before our big official rollout.

Michael is gearing up for the WBRA Spring Book Fair in Victoria (Feb. 14 - 17) where he will be going into a lot more detail on the above projects, plus more. Mr. "Analytics" is also in the middle of penning his annual industry rant and rave which will find it's way to your email inbox in the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, we are stuffing envelopes with those Support renewal notices which will find their way to your snail mail post box in the coming days.

But for those of you who are feeling especially keen and want to take care of your Support/Updates/BackUp fees before the actual printed notices arrive - please email or give us a call and demand your invoice ASAP!

NOTE: For most of you, your annual subscription for Support & Updates expires on January 31st. (However, for some of you, your Support service expires later in the year, and so don't feel left out - we will get your attention when you're up for renewal)

Your annual fee pays for the space, equipment and people behind BookManager so that we can provide support when its needed and continue the research, development and maintenance of our products and services. We hope that you find value in supporting us.

For those of you who are soon-to-receive these mailed out renewal notices, we have extended the payment deadline to beginning of March. Please let us know if this is unworkable. And just as a reminder, we are able to make a variety of payment arrangements to bundle all your annual subscriptions so that they always come up for renewal at the same time - most stores prefer to only deal with their subscription renewals once a year. Please let us know if this is something you would like arranged.

Hopefully this lil' head's up gives you ample time to make the appropriate payment arrangements and avoid disruptions to your WebStore, ftp ordering, system updates and Support.