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NCIBA 2014 Fall Discovery Show
October 23-24
South San Francisco Conference Center
Exhibitor Registration Will Begin in Mid-June
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California Bookstore Day: Planning a Sequel
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With booksellers still buzzing about California Bookstore Day, the NCIBA office sent the following recap out to publishers about the inaugural event. PARTICIPATIONA statewide celebration that included 93 bookstores, 13 unique items created exclusively for CBD, dozens of authors in stores, plus parties, special events, daylong activities, and more. SALESCBD delivered huge sales for bookstores that resulted collectively in a one-day sales increase of more than $150,000 over a year ago.
MEDIAUnprecedented media coverage in The Christian Science Monitor, LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee, San Diego Magazine, NPR's California Report,Los Angeles Review of Books and many websites, blogs, and local media outlets. MAKING A STATEMENTSimply put, California Bookstore Day brought customers to independent bookstores to buy books. The day successfully reinforced the value of print books, proving their worth as salable commodities. and underscored the critical role of the independent bookstore in the publishing ecosystem.
So what now? We've had conversations with ABA about taking the idea national, but it would be an enormous undertaking, especially given all that ABA is offering to and providing for its members currently. The ABA board will discuss the issue at its May meeting; in the meantime, we're at BEA talking to publishers about their reactions and interest in supporting CBD for a second year. The NCIBA board is in favor, and Samantha Schoech has agreed to produce the event again. But before we can commit, we need ABA to weigh in, and we need to investigate possible funding sources - the California Bookstore Day budget ended up being $100,000. Indications are that our revenues from donations, merchandise sales, and book publishing sales will cover expenses, but can we do it again?
The short answer is we don't know, but we hope so and are working on it. Stay tuned - we'll have a formal announcement soon.
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October 23-24, South San Francisco
New Name and Focus for NCIBA Fall Show
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Whether It's Books, Authors, or Knowledge,
Our Show Is All About DISCOVERY
In talking to booksellers about what they like most at the NCIBA trade show, three things keep coming up.
1. THEY LIKE finding new books and seeing what they're going to be selling in the coming months.
2. THEY LIKE meeting and hearing authors - both new and established.
3. THEY LIKE interacting with other booksellers in education sessions and at social functions.
We're pretty good with numbers 2 and 3; we'll have several opportunities for booksellers to meet authors, and we will continue to offer a full complement of education programming that doesn't compete with other show elements.
As for number 1, we've long recognized the value of Rep Picks in introducing booksellers to new titles; our show offers three distinct Rep Picks sessions - Large House, Small and University Press, and Children's. But we want to do more, and we'd like everyone's help.
To kick off the inaugural NCIBA Discovery Show, we are asking exhibitors to choose 3-5 "Discover Me" titles - current or forthcoming - to feature at their table or booth. We will provide pop-out DISCOVER ME signs for all books, and we hope that exhibitors will bring a few extra copies to enhance a display.
We want to give front line booksellers the opportunity to easily identity and discover key titles that each publisher chooses to highlight. Publishers may opt to bring additional copies, but this is not designed as a giveaway program, and we will let attendees know that (attendees, now you know).
To encourage booksellers to look for DISCOVER ME books, we'll pass out forms and ask them to write down their five favorite discoveries in order to be eligible for a drawing at the end of the show. We will choose five names and hand out free goodie bags to those lucky entrants. We'll also compile a list of the favorite Discovery Show titles from the entries and post on our website.
More to come soon!
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Tech Tip of the Month
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Here is this month's Tech Tip, from Booksmith owner
Christin Evans:
Facebook person or page? Recently Facebook changed its algorithms to limit the reach of Facebook posts to people who have liked a page. A post on a Facebook person account is more likely to reach people who have accepted a friend request. The major limitation of a Facebook person account is that each is capped at 5,000 friends whereas a page will accept unlimited likes.
Though a bit more labor intensive to maintain both a person and a page, it may be worth your while to post your bookstore news to both a person and page account, thereby maximizing your marketing reach.
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Binc Helps Bookseller Overcome Massive Medical Debt
| | The Book Industry Charitable Foundation has made a video about the extraordinary assistance it was able to provide Clarey Rudd, a career independent bookseller, facing the possibility of losing his bookstores. He and his family have been in the book business for decades supporting t he communities of Ventura and Malibu, CA. In August 2012, Clarey needed to have emergency surgery to help him breathe after complications from cancer caused his throat to close to the size of a small wire. Clarey made a full recovery, but was inundated with medical bills. This new video tells Clarey's story and how the Binc Foundation was able to help eliminate the stress of overwhelming medical bills so Clarey could move forward and again focus on his love of books and bookselling.
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More Resources From Bookstore Training Group
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Paz & Associates, whose slogan is "dedicated to the growth and prosperity of independent bookstores", recently forwarded a new flyer that it created, Seven Habits of Successful Bookstore Owners / Entrepreneurs, and is making available to NCIBA (and other regionals) as a potential resource. We've reprinted the text below - let the office know if you'd like a copy. Paz & Associates also has added a national Job Board to its website. It will be a free service to post jobs for managers, buyers, and marketing specialists, open to everyone, especially paid staff looking for opportunities to advance their careers. And, of course, Donna and Mark are continuing to offer their professional bookstore training sessions. The next - Owning a Bookstore, A Workshop Retreat - will be held September 15-19, 2014 at Amelia Island, Florida. Whew!
Seven Habits of Successful
Bookstore Owners / Entrepreneurs
1. Know Your Personal Strengths (and weaknesses)
None of us is an expert in all aspects of small business and even if we were, there isn't time for one person to do everything. Identify what you look forward to doing and what you do well ... as well as what you avoid or dread doing and struggle with finishing.
2. Create a Strong Network Only when you coordinate the efforts of paid staff, volunteers, and contractors, can you focus on what you love and do best, tend to the business basics, and devote energy to leading the business. If you're finding that important things aren't getting done, it is time to rethink staffing and recruit the skills you need. 3. Master the Retail Management Basics You've chosen a career in retail bookselling, where the key to profitability depends on understanding and practicing the fundamentals of retail management. Know how to read and understand financial statements, buy with a budget or system that guides your buying volume and maximizes gross margin, generate and use sales and inventory reports to keep inventory relevant and current, and know how your metrics compare with successful stores (sales per selling square foot, inventory turns). Acquire the training and build skills for anything that remains a mystery to you. 4. Know & Connect with Your Customers The key to developing customer relationships begins with a human connection: eye contact, listening skills, and genuine interest in serving your customers. You can then link their names to a record on your bookstore management software. The capabilities are available for you to know what's called the RFM of your customer: recency, frequency, and monetary value to your business. The value of identifying who has not purchased from you in the last three months (or year!) can help you get those customers back in and buying from you. For a locally-owned business, keeping in touch is what keeps customers loyal. Find ways to continue the relationship with everyone who shops with you.
5. Dream, Develop, Decide How often do you take a break from working "in" the business so you can work "on" the business? Growing the business and continuous improvement requires reflection and directs your efforts as well as everyone else who works with you. 6. Lead the Effort Paid staff and professionals in your network are looking to you for direction. You define the mission and vision, set the standards, set the pace, determine what's important every day. How are goals and tasks communicated so everyone is on the same page? Focussed effort requires ongoing communication ... identifying goals, updating others on progress, engaging everyone in problem-solving, plus measuring and celebrating results. 7. Stay in Love Bookstore owners / entrepreneurs love what they do, love their colleagues and communities, love the authors and books that enrich their lives, and love creating the profits that create a sustainable business.
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CLASSIFIED ADS
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JOB OPENING
Full Charge Bookkeeper
Copperfield's Books, with stores in Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties, has an immediate opening for a Full Charge Bookkeeper in our headquarters in Sebastopol.
Copperfield's just celebrated its 33th anniversary and is one of the premier independent bookstores in the country. We offer health and dental plans and a salary commensurate with experience. Please reply with a
short bio and your resume.
SUMMARY: The full charge bookkeeper will manage the accounting department overseeing all aspects of the company's financial activities while providing financial information to the president.
If you are interested please send a cover letter and resume to Leslie at lwashington@sonic.net.
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Video from Books Inc. Touts Indies
| | We love this new video from the folks at Books Inc about the value of your neighborhood independent bookstore. Titled "What Makes a Panda Sad?" it's a lovely, creative effort - check it out.
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Join the Publisher Promotion Offer Program
| | The New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) and NCIBA are inviting bookstores from all regions of the country to take advantage of a new program that aims to make booksellers' weekly ordering more efficient and profitable. Booksellers who sign up for the NAIBA Promotion Offer Program through NCIBA (just send a note to hut@nciba.com) will receive an Excel document via e-mail every Monday morning listing current publisher promotions. The e-mail will feature upcoming and ongoing promotions that affect ordering and potential sales.
"This is another example of how a common problem faced by booksellers was solved simply because a bookseller was at a meeting and mentioned their wish for some industry efficiencies," said NAIBA Executive Director Eileen Dengler. "NAIBA did it last year with the Publishers Advocate program (where booksellers receive marked-up Edelweiss catalogs) and now the Publishers Offer Program. It demonstrates the value of our trade associations and what we do to help our members."
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