We Send a Huge THANK-YOU
To our Trade Show Sponsors!
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California Bookstore Day: Big Hit at Trade Shows, Readying Announcement
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California Bookstore Day (CBD) producer Samantha Schoech used the recent SCIBA and NCIBA trade shows to introduce CBD t-shirts, book bags, and decals to enthusiastic attendees from all over the state. The bags were particularly popular, and several bookstores ordered dozens (and in  one instance hundreds) to resell in their stores. Samantha also used the shows to tout CBD's new website, cabookstoreday.com, and to "tease" some of the special, one-of-a-kind items being produced for the event. At the NCIBA's annual Membership Meeting, Samantha's mention of books and merchandise from the likes of George Saunders, Brian Selznick, Neil Gaiman, and others drew audible gasps from the excited audience. Now, we want all member bookstores to be on the lookout for an email blast in the next few days that will include the first formal list of items that will be available for sale only in participating bookstores on the day of the event. We will also be posting an order form on the website and asking bookstores to sign a letter of agreement that outlines expectations for booksellers as well as terms and conditions for the purchasing and selling of the items. |
Attendees, Exhibitors Praise Smooth-Running Trade Show
| | How was the show? That's the question we asked booksellers and exhibitors. Here's some of what they had to say:
BOOKSELLERS
I really enjoyed the show and the venue. The author events were great, the food surprisingly good. I would
love to see sidelines represented at show again but realize that those companies have their cost constraints.
Maybe it's just that I'm getting the hang of it, but everything felt very smooth and manageable this year.
 Keynote speaker Nancy Horan (left) with Book Passage's Janel Feierabend, who introduced Horan. Photo by Bridget Kinsella.
EXHIBITORS
I thought the show was great this year. I love having the children's rep picks prior to the tea - getting to pull from the same audience. I didn't make it to the tea last year but thought that ran smoothly. I am also am a fan of the evening showroom for a few hours. That was very busy for us and had a celebratory feel (probably the alcohol).
I think the show went very smoothly. I saw a lot of the people I most admire in this world. I saw a lot of exciting new titles. The exhibitors were happy, the booksellers were happy, the food was good, and I found a place to park near the hall that the seagulls have not yet discovered. What more could a guy ask for at a trade show?
I loved the energy and the foot traffic on Thursday night as people really didn't want to leave. I think the pre-opening social event is just wonderful! Books no longer go missing - I think those folks no longer come to the show. Orders came in a good pace. Overall, I would rate the show a 98 out of 100.
A busy Friday trade show floor
We also received some terrific constructive feedback that will help us make the show better next year, and we appreciate everyone who took the time to offer thoughtful observations and comments.
And special thanks to Jock Hayward of Hand Associates, who, in a desperate attempt to find fault with something at the show, made our day with the following:
Since you are looking for complaints, so you can make improvements, I've racked my brain trying to think of something to criticize. After a considerable amount of time I finally came up with something. In the men's room, at the wash basins, when I put my hand under the soap dispenser, the water when on, but the soap dispenser refused to dispense. When I put my hand under the water faucet, soap squirted out out of the soap dispenser, but I couldn't get any water. Since I have been a bookseller, I know how to improvise when confronted by the unexpected. I was able to fashion a way to wash my hands even with this infuriating, no-doubt Republican-inspired, affliction. Still, we must not be complacent and let this happen again next year.  Laurel Bookstore's Luan Stauss and Diesel, a Boosktore's John Evans flank author Ishmael Beah at the Buzz Lunch. Photo by Wendy Werris.
Among other highlights, our three Rep Picks sessions were all well-attended and well-received; our education sessions garnered kudos (especially the Common Core panel); the author meal events were all packed and had booksellers buzzing afterwards; and our Thursday evening cocktail party and show floor preview was a big hit. One costly experiment was the shuttle service we provided from and to the San Bruno BART station. Thanks to underwriting support from Partners West and BookExpo America, the net cost to NCIBA was about $1000, but we only had 40 attendees use the service over the two days. We'll be reviewing the efficacy of the program in coming months. We also will be looking at the timing of certain events and the show floor hours on the second day in an attempt to maximize attendance and productivity. The host hotel received decent reviews, but several folks noted the convenience of the Holiday Inn next door to the Conference Center. We will be talking to both facilities about 2014. But overall, both the show and the venue worked for exhibitors and attendees alike, so we're going back next year. Mark your calendars for October 23-24, 2014, at the South San Francisco Conference Center. We're sticking with a Thursday-Friday schedule as booksellers overwhelmingly prefer that to one that includes the weekend.
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New Bookstores Become NCIBA Members
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Village House of Books in Los Gatos just celebrated its official Grand Opening on October 23 with a ribbon-
cutting ceremony featuring the Mayor.
Folio Books on 24th Street in San Francisco (directly across the street from a Whole Foods) is a general
interest bookstore that just opened in the space occupied for 28 years by Phoenix Books. Folio will not be selling used books, as Phoenix did, concentrating instead on new titles and an expanded children's section.
Diesel, A Bookstore opened its fourth location this summer in the Marin Country Mart (formerly Larkspur Landing). At the September 29th grand opening, the store welcomed Gary Snyder (below) and printed 150 numbered broadsides for an overflow crowd.
The Works in Pacific Grove has been sold, and the new owners have renamed the store The Bookworks.
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Small Business Saturday Toolkit Now Available
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participating businesses are being encouraged to ramp up their publicity through many different platforms. To aid in those efforts, American Express recently made an online toolkit available.
SBS toolkit content that is relevant to independent bookstores, including logos, web banners, social media copy, and more, has been posted in the Design & Downloads section of BookWeb. In addition, American Express is inviting SBS participants to order a free "Shop Small" welcome mat and 20 reusable shopping bags. Interested bookstores can provide their contact information via the Small Business Saturday website.  Small Business Saturday will also be the inaugural celebration of Indies First, a day when authors across the country will demonstrate their support for independent bookstores by taking to the sales floor as booksellers to handsell some of their favorite titles. Indies First participants are encouraged to post and tweet about that as well, as part of their SBS social promotion or separately. |
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Hut's Place Celebrates One-Year Anniversary
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Hut's Place, the weekly newsletter column dedicated to driving book buyers into bookstores with news of popular new releases, new titles on bestseller lists, hot books arriving in paperback, and more, celebrated a year of weekly publishing last week. Three recent notes from subscribers (the column is free) point to the column's primary aim: - to help bookstores sell more books to their customers. Here's what I like about your newsletter: It is written in an easy-to-read style and features all sorts of books, some of which are trade and some of which are "better lit". Not only do you give a good precis, you also give a reason why you included it. Because I know the newsletter is short, I actually read it and find some books described that I would not otherwise have known about. Some I actually buy, at our local indie store. Sooooo, don't change, please!
Your column has helped me discover books that I have subsequently purchased at my local independent bookstore. Some books I've given as gifts and some are for myself. I just picked up The Rosie Project today. I've shared the column with many people and will send along to some others. You are providing a great service to book lovers.
I love your column. It sends me scrambling down to my local independent book store, Book Passage, to buy yet more books. It also has me passing your recommendations to my several book groups. Thank you.
If you request a copy of Hut's Place ( hut@nciba.com), you can forward it to a few good customers (or family and friends) with an invitation to subscribe. They'll buy the books from you when they read about something they want - a win-win, right?
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Classified Advertising
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JOB OFFERING
Kepler's Books in Menlo Park has an opening for a Book Buyer & Inventory Manager for general books. We're looking for an experienced buyer with a passion for books who will work with our booksellers to find new and creative ways to get people excited about books. The ideal candidate will have deep knowledge of books, a passion for engaging with readers, a turn for analytics and metric thinking, a knack for team-oriented leadership and a constant attention to detail.
This is a full time position with competitive compensation and health benefits. This position offers the opportunity to help shape the future of a world-renowned bookstore.
Interested? Here's what some of the job looks like:
- Coordinate and manage a collaborative buying program with input from a team of booksellers and event managers.
- Overall responsibility for frontlist buying, backlist re-ordering, and carrying great stock of books.
- Manage inventory based on store's mission, historic sales, staff interest, and metrics.
- Manage relationships with book publishers.
- Collaborate with store managers to schedule and implement inventory-related operations, including returns and section management.
- Support booksellers and event managers for planning and implementing displays and store promotions, events, book reviews, and develop new and creative programs to get people excited about books.
Ideal candidates will have/be:
- Previous experience working in a bookstore.
- Deep knowledge of books, passion for reading and sharing your passion with others.
- Open to exploring new business models for bookstores.
- Outgoing personality, strong social skills, and public speaking skills.
- Creativity married to an obsession with details, and loads of initiative.
- Attentive to detail, meticulous, & comfortable performing repetitive tasks.
- Self-starting, and be able to work without much direction.
- Critical thinking skills.
- Process oriented with a bias for tracking metrics/analytics.
- Enthusiasm for a diverse catalog of literary events.
- Collaborative and comfortable working in a team oriented environment.
- Able to lift boxes of books weighing up to 50 lbs.
- We use Ibid-IE as a POS system, so experience with that is a plus.
- A college degree in literature, creative writing, education or a related field is a plus as well.
Applications must include a resume and a cover letter, which should address the following questions:
- What's your vision for the role of a book buyer in a community bookstore that's based in the heart of Silicon Valley and that serves a highly literate and tech savvy audience?
- What was the last book you really loved and why?
Incomplete applications will not be considered for an interview.
ABOUT KEPLER'S
Kepler's was founded in May 1955 by peace activist Roy Kepler. For 58 years, Kepler's has been the intellectual and cultural hub for the San Francisco peninsula. Kepler's is known for its outstanding literary events, knowledgeable staff, its broad selection of books and magazines, and for its deep ties to the community.
Kepler's went through a planned transition in 2012 during which the business was re-started in a hybrid business model that includes a for-profit community-supported bookstore and a nonprofit events organization. Kepler's vision is to continuously innovate to create a model community bookstore for the future that can be a sustainable cultural institution. More information about Kepler's recent transition can be viewed at www.keplers2020.com
Kepler's management team continues to be guided by its founder's mission to open minds, deepen literacy, and promote critical thinking. More information about Kepler's can be viewed at www.keplers.com
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Holiday Children's Art Auction Kicks Off Nov. 26!
| | The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE), the bookseller's voice in the fight against censorship, will launch its holiday auction of original children's book art on Nov. 26. The week-long eBay auction will feature work from the leading artists and illustrators working in book publishing today. More than 50 artists and illustrators contributed to last year's auction. "The Holiday Children's Art Auction will give people around the country a chance to purchase wonderful holiday gifts and support free speech," ABFFE President Chris Finan said.
ABFFE is continuing to solicit art for the auction. The deadline for submission is Nov. 15. A donation form has also been posted online.
The holiday auction is the online version of the children's art auction that is held during BookExpo America (BEA). Both auctions help support ABFFE's defense of the free speech rights of kids. The BEA auction will be held on May 28 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the River Pavilion of the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City.
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Poster Reminds Customers That Books Make Great Gifts All Year Round
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The NCIBA has done a new color printing of its poster touting books as gifts that's available free to any interested bookstore member. The message is simple - books make great gifts for any person and any occasion; to date, more than 75 stores have requested and received posters.
The impetus for the poster's creation came from the notion that, although book buyers may spend less on themselves in tough times, they will usually not shirk on spending when purchasing a gift. So why promote books as great gift ideas only during the holiday season? Book customers purchase gifts all year round, so let's remind them that books are the perfect answer.
The poster, measuring 11x17 and printed on card stock, can be ordered for free by emailing hut@nciba.com. Or use the concept to create your own messaging and let us know what you come up with.
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