As we turn the corner of November into December as the holiday suggests, I take stock of what I am thankful for. There are many things, of course—not working in the sub-prime mortgage industry for instance—but here are a few others that are high on my list:

1. I’m thankful that “Black Friday” is finally here. For anyone who finishes their shopping by Halloween, Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving when the holiday shopping season officially begins. For publishers it is when we start to breathe easier as we begin to see the long anticipated up-tick in sales on the many wonderful books that have been piled up in stores since October just waiting for some shoppers. It is reassuring to know that people, other than those in publishing, also think books make great gifts.
2. I’m thankful to work for a company who cares. Macmillan supports many worthy charities throughout the year—some literary and some not. We give away books, sponsor tables and write checks. But at the suggestion of our CEO, a week from now we will be holding our spring 2008 sales conference in New Orleans. We’ll be bringing about 200 people down over the course of week and doing our best to support the local economy, which by all accounts is still hurting. Normally at this meeting we would offer our sales people a free afternoon, time to golf or relax by a pool, or just get some sleep. But this year our “free afternoon” is going to be spent volunteering at a middle school in the Recovery School District. In New Orleans 80 schools are currently open and 57 remain closed due to Katrina. There is much work still to be done.Oh, and we’ve sent down a whole bunch of books, which are still needed, as have some generous friends in book retailing and at other publishing companies.
3. Finally, whether it is literature or history, fantasy or biography, manga or mystery, I’m thankful for readers, every one.

Alison Lazarus is the President of Sales for Macmillan