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Trade Show Makes a Move, Thrives in New Venue
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| After more than two decades in Oakland, the NCIBA Trade Show moved to South San Francisco and, by all accounts, delivered for exhibitors and attendees alike. Reducing the show from three days to two also proved advantageous, as it reduced hotel and transportation expenses for many.
Our venue, the South San Francisco Convention Center, is perched on a frontage road next to Highway 101 about a mile north of San Francisco International Airport. It's hardly an urban oasis, to be sure, but once inside the facility itself, the setting was less of an issue. The exhibit floor featured islands of tables, each with a different skirt color, which made an unfamiliar layout easier to navigate. Free parking and the ability for exhibitors to bring in their own freight also helped set an upbeat tone.
"SSF was a vibrant space, much better suited to the size of the event."
- Ty Wilson, PGW/Perseus Book Group
We experimented for the first time with opening the show floor for a three-hour "preview" on the first evening, and it proved a pleasant surprise. It helped to schedule our Welcome Reception at the same time, as a glass of wine seemed to put everyone in a jolly mood. The Reception benefited from the presence of author and bookseller Amy Stewart, who was on hand to introduce her forthcoming book, The Drunken Botanist, from Algonquin. The book looks at plants that have been transformed into alcohol, and Amy oversaw the preparation of two recipe samples that added to the good cheer.
Our education sessions were among the best-attended in years and featured four diverse workshops and two well-attended rep picks presentations, one for small and academic presses and a second for children's books. The workshops kicked off with an informative session on author events from a publisher's perspective, featuring Macmillan's Melissa Bullock and Lara Phan from Random House. A Twitter program with booksellers Celia Sack from Omnivore Books, Amy Stephenson of The Booksmith, and Karen Wickre from Twitter Communications received great buzz.
"From my perspective, I really liked the venue. The people were friendly, and the in-and-out was very easy."
- David Terry, Collins/Terry
We were also appreciative of ABA programming delivered at the show. Lauren Savage from The Reading Bug and the ABA's Joy Dallanegra-Sanger led an engaging discussion on children's literacy programs, while Dan Cullen and Kaitlin Pitcher, joined by Joy, filled in a packed room about the new Kobo partnership.
Authors were, as always, a big attraction at the show, and two of our author events drew SRO audiences. It began with our Author Buzz Lunch, an event introduced last year and designed to showcase seven authors with new Winter/Spring releases. The 2011 lunch attracted 65 booksellers, while this year's event had us scrambling to seat the 110 who showed up. But that was nothing compared to the Children's Author Tea that afternoon. It was formerly presented as a breakfast program, but we decided to try something new time-wise and hoped that we'd attract our usual 100-110 attendees. Instead, 140 fans arrived en masse to hear an all-star lineup that included Maggie Stiefvater, Ally Condie, Jon Klassen, and Daniel Handler.
The lone disappointment was attendance at our Friday author breakfast, which suffered from traffic delays that made an 8am arrival time problematic (next year, brunch!). Those who did attend were treated to a motivating trio of women - Whitney Otto, Rhoda Janzen, and Lisa Genova - whose talks were funny, moving, and inspirational.
"Loved having the authors of future books at the Buzz lunch - probably the best author event at a show I've attended."
- Valerie Walley, Random House
As usual, our Author Reception proved one of the show's most popular event. With 32 authors on hand and a roomful of happy, engaged attendees, this proved to be the perfect close to the festivities. Also at the Reception, we bid a formal farewell to NCIBA Administrator Carol Seajay with a heartfelt toast and many cheers.
Thanks go to the dozens of exhibitors who responded to our post-show request for feedback. The overwhelming consensus was that the show worked in South San Francisco, and most of the challenges mentioned are easy to solve. With that in mind, we have a tentative date of October 3-4, 2013 set for next year - same place, even better show.
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NCIBA Bookstores Team
With Goodreads
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We're excited to announce a new partnership with Goodreads to promote its annual Goodreads Choice Awards. A total of 35 independent bookstores will be creating displays from the winning titles in more than 20 categories, while Goodreads will encourage its Northern California members, via email and a special web page, to visit those stores and enter a raffle to win free books.
Most of you know about Goodreads but for those who don't, it is the largest site for readers and book recommendations in the world, now with 12 million  members who have added more than 400,000,000 books to their shelves and written 19 million reviews. Goodreads users recommend books, compare what they are reading, keep track of what they've read and would like to read, find their next favorite book, form book clubs, and much more.
The Goodreads Choice Awards (GRCA) are the only major book awards chosen by readers. Books are nominated in more than 20 categories,including Fiction, Nonfiction, Mystery, Memoir, Fantasy, and Children's, and voting is open to all 12 million members. Last year, 640,000 votes were cast. Winners of the 4th Annual Goodreads Choice Awards will be announced on December 4, 2012. Participating stores will showcase at least six titles in their displays and will feature special GRCA posters created by Goodreads.
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Rakestraw Books On the Move, But Not Far
| | Landlord issues and an unexpected and fortuitous vacancy has led to a new home for Michael Barnard's Rakestraw Books in Danville. The new, cozier location won't be difficult for Rakestraw customers to find; it's right next door to the old location. That's one reason the move went so quickly and smoothly - only a two-day affair. This photo is from the first full morning in the new space; looks pretty inviting for day one! 
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Eat Read Give Catalog Hitting Bookstores, Newspapers
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This year's holiday (and beyond) catalog, with more than 100 featured titles in its 12 full-color pages, is being delivered in the next week to 10 days. The catalog will be inserted in local newspapers throughout the region,
as well as in alternative weeklies and the San Francisco Chronicle, which will distribute copies to 100,000 subscribers.
This year's cover is a piece of original artwork by local artist Eleanor Burke, whose self-published book Sketching San Francisco Neighborhoods is sold by many area stores.
By the way, we love what Maria's Bookshop in Durango, Colorado, does with their region's catalog. Members of the staff choose the title they think will sell the most copies during the holidays, and the winning bookseller gets a prize. Sounds like a great way to get catalog buy-in from your staff.
A complete list of catalog titles, with ISBNs, can be accessed by clicking here. We have also discovered one mistake that we want to bring to your attention. The ISBN and price for THE FIFTY YEAR SWORD is incorrect in the catalog. The correct ISBN and price is as follows:
ISBN: 978-0307907721. Price: $26.00
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Bookstore Congratulations!
| | | Lyon Books & Learning Center has been named Best of Chico in the bookstore category for the second year in a row by the Chico News and Review. The bookstore again beat out Chico's Barnes & Noble, prompting the headline
Indie "David" beats out "Goliath" Barnes and Noble.
Lyon Books owner Heather Lyon said of the award, "It's gratifying to know that our community values our dedication to good books and to local authors, musicians, and artists. And maybe I shouldn't say so, but I'm delighted to beat out Chico's Barnes & Noble because their store is approximately 10 times the size of ours. David topples Goliath with our local-first slingshot!"
Meanwhile, San Francisco's Borderlands Books, the Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror Bookstore, is celebrating its 15th anniversary, as well as the third anniversary of the adjoining Borderlands Cafe. Congrats to Alan Beatts and the fabulous Borderlands staff.
Also in the news is Diesel, A Bookstore, which will open a fourth store in the Marin Country Mart (formerly Larkspur Landing) by the Larkspur Ferry Terminal in Marin. Co-owner John Evans is unsure of the opening date but says it will occur sometime in the spring of 2013. In related news, Evans also announced the appointment of a new Event Coordinator handling events at all
three, soon to be four, Diesel bookstores:
"Her name is Lynn Aime and she works out of our Malibu store. Lynn is a wonderful bookseller as well as having been a VP of Marketing and Publicity for a film company
specializing in marketing and distributing films by Paramount and Universal internationally. She has extensive experience working on events, large and small, and was a company liaison to producers, directors, and actors. She brings her considerable publicity and
marketing chops to her expanded bookseller role as Event Coordinator at Diesel. "
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World Book Night 2013 - Don't Miss Out!
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It's Time to for Indie Bookstore Sign Up for
World Book Night 2013!
Sign and Return the Agreement by December 1!
WORLD BOOK NIGHT (WBN) is a celebration of reading,  giving, and community. On Tuesday, April 23, 2013, 25,000 book givers in the U.S. will each give away 20 copies of a specially-printed, not-for-resale WBN edition of a book to light readers or non-readers who likely don't have the means or access to printed books. For this event, bookstores and libraries are the essential grassroots and nationwide advocacy and distribution network.
Download the bookstore agreement here.
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| Holiday Children's Art Auction Kicks Off Nov. 27 |
ABFFE will kick off its online auction of original children's art on Nov. 27. The week-long eBay auction will feature work by the leading artists and illustrators working in book publishing today. It is the online version of the
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Wendell Minor's sketch for Galapagos George up for bids in ABFFE's Holiday Children's
Art Auction.
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children's art auction that is held during BookExpo America. Both auctions support ABFFE's defense of the free speech rights of kids. "The auction will give people around the country a chance to support free speech by purchasing wonderful holiday gifts," ABFFE President Chris Finan said. ABFFE is continuing to solicit art for the auction. The deadline for submission is Nov. 16. More information about contributing to the auction is available online. A donation form has also been posted.
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| NCIBA Listserve Being Used More - Sign Up Now! | | |
In order to spur more conversation, we're going to begin posting questions about subjects of interest to booksellers. If you'd like to be part of the discussion, now is the time to join the NCIBA listserve. You can also ask your own questions, share information, list job needs, etc.
To subscribe, simply send an email to:
ncibamembers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Once you're signed up, email messages to:
ncibamembers@yahoogroups.com
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