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NCIBA Newsletter
AUGUST 2014
In This Issue
Catalog Ready To Order
Discovery Show Program Set, Registration Now Open
BINC Cell Phone Drive
Tech Tip of the Month
Napa Bookstores OK After Quake
Laurel Book Store on the Move
Classifieds
'Hut's Place' Keeps Selling Books
Join Publisher Promotion Program

NCIBA 2014 Fall Discovery Show

October 23-24

South San Francisco Conference Center

NOTE: Our Exhibitor Show Floor Is Sold Out


We thank our wonderful Discovery Show sponsors for their support of NCIBA and independent bookselling!







 






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Our Eat Read Give Catalog for the Holidays and Beyond Has Some Great Gift Books!
Here Are a Few of the 100+ Titles to Pique Your Interest:


























And on the Children's Side:



















Check out the full list of titles here.
Eat Read Give Holiday Catalog Ready to Order
This year's Eat Read Give catalog is in production and now is the time for bookstores to order their complimentary copies. Remember, any order of 5,000 or more (you can order as many as you like) gets you free store imprinting on the front and back cover, plus a free Welcome letter
to your customers on page 2.

We wanted this year's cover to remind consumers of physical books and their place in people's homes. This is what our designer came up with - we think it's a striking image that will draw attention and interest.



As always, we have a wonderfully diverse selection of titles in the catalog, from literary good reads to the hottest new cookbooks, biographies, art and photography volumes, and three pages of children's books. You can access a list of all titles here, and the catalog order form here.

Oct. 23-24, South SF Conference Center
Discovery Show Program Set - Registration Packets Being E-mailed to Members
We've got a great show planned this year; it includes four education sessions, three separate Rep Picks presentations, authors galore, a sold-out exhibit floor, social events, and more. We'll be emailing the Attendee Packet in the next week, first to members and then to others, and the kit is also on our website. Author meal events should sell out, so if any of those interest you, we recommend you sign up quickly.

On Thursday, we will begin the day with Keynote Speaker Daniel Handler, then offer four education workshops and two Rep Picks (Small Press and Children) sessions throughout the day - with a break for our Buzz Lunch. Then it's on to our Children's Tea and Welcome Reception prior to the show floor opening for our annual evening preview.

Our education programming includes panels on Interviewing and Hiring; the Economics of Buying and Returns; the Merits of Graphic Novels; and a conversation with Bill Tancer, author of Everyone's a Critic: Winning Customers in a Review-Driven World.

On Friday, we kick off with the Large House Rep Picks, then present our Author Brunch. The show floor will be open from 12-5 and we have a couple of fun presentations scheduled during the afternoon. At 5, while the floor is being shut down, we'll hold our Annual Membership Meeting, then it's off to the always-popular Author Reception, which will include some surprise additions to the free food & drink offerings.

Here's a complete list of authors (in alphabetical order) appearing at our Discovery Show events:

KEYNOTE

* Daniel Handler, We Are Pirates, Bloomsbury

 

BUZZ LUNCH

* Joshua Davis, Spare Parts, FSG

* Jan Ellison, A Small Indiscretion, Random House

* Geronimo T. Johnson, Welcome to Braggsville, Harper

* Alaine Ohanesian, Orhan's Inheritance, Algonquin

 

 

* Stewart O'Nan, West of Sunset, Viking

* Ann Packer, The Children's Crusade, Scribner

* Priya Parmar, Vanessa and Her Sister, Random House

 

CHILDREN'S TEA

* Kazu Kibuishi, Amulet #6: Escape from Lucien, Scholastic

* Raina Telgemeier, Sisters, Scholastic

* Jandy Nelson, I'll Give You the Sun, Dial

* Frank Portman, King Dork Approximately, Random House

* Scott Westerfeld, Afterworlds, S&S

 

AUTHOR BRUNCH

* Garth Stein, A Sudden Light, Simon & Schuster

* T. Jefferson Parker, Full Measure, St. Martin's

* Rebecca Solnit, The Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness, Trinity U. Press

* Sarah Thornton, 33 Artists in 3 Acts, Norton

   

AUTHOR RECEPTION

* Mandy Aftel, Fragrant: The Secret Life of Scent, Riverhead

* Jennifer Lynn Alvarez, The Guardian Herd: Starfire, HarperCollins Children

* John Burley, The Forgetting Place, Harper

* Diane Cook, Man V. Nature: Stories, Harper Torch

* Katie Coyle, Vivian Apple at the End of the World, HMH

* Kim Culbertson, Catch a Falling Star, Scholastic

* Arwyn Elys Dayton, The Seekers (Book 1), Random House  

* Meg Donohue, Dog Crazy. Morrow         

* Jory John, The Terrible Two, Amulet  

* Charlie Kelly, Fat Tire Flyer, Velo (IPS)

* Christian Kiefer. The Animals, Norton

* Shelly King, The Moment of Everything, Grand Central

* Sophie Littlefield, The Missing Place, Gallery

* Wendy MacNaughton, Pen & Ink: Tattoos and the Stories Behind Them, Bloomsbury

* Paige McKenzie, The Haunting of Sunshine Girl, Weinstein

* Alice Medrich, Flavor Flours, Artisan  

* Marie M. Mockett, Where the Dead Pause, and the Japanese Say Goodbye, Norton

* Nayomi Munaweera Island of a Thousand Mirrors, St. Martin's

* Jennifer Niven, All the Bright Places, Random House Kids

* Shirley Parenteau, Book of Dolls, Candlewick

* LeUyen Pham (illustrator), Princess in Black, Candlewick

* Andrew Roe, Miracle Girl, Algonquin  

* Stuart Rojstaczer, The Mathematician's Shiva, Penguin  

* Elizabeth Rosner, Electric City, Counterpoint

* Erin Scott, Yummy Supper, Rodale  

* Julia Scott, Drivel, Perigee

* Elena Mauli Shapiro, In the Red, Little Brown

* Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes, Penguin Young Readers

* M.O. Walsh, My Sunshine Away, Putnam

* David Zeltser, Lug, Dawn of the Ice Age, Egmont



 How Can Old Cell Phones Pay Medical Bills?

 Those outdated phones you have gathering dust can help pay a bookseller's emergency expenses when they are recycled through the Binc Foundation. This fall, at the seven regional IBA Trade Shows, the Binc Foundation will be holding a cell phone drive. Who doesn't have at least one old phone sitting in some drawer? You can help your staff, friends and customers de-clutter and raise money for booksellers in need at the same time. Read more.



Tech Tip of the Month
This month's tip on using visual images for maximum effect comes from Amy Stephenson, Events Coordinatrix & Social Media Maven of The Booksmith in San Francisco.

Visuals can make or break your marketing message. Here's what we do to make sure our visuals have the maximum impact.

1) Social Media. If you're in the habit of snapping pics with a smart phone for your social media accounts, great. You're halfway there. The next step is to make those photos look great. How do you do that without an instragram account?

My favorite photo editing tool is Fotor. It's available as an iPhone app, or as a website. Before you post the photo to social media, I recommend doing at least three things: First, a one-click enhance will do most of the work. Then, I like to straighten, if necessary. Last, I like to pick one filter and use it for everything. I always make sure to only apply it 50%, so that it doesn't look overly processed. This will give your photos a consistent quality, and they'll look less haphazard.

You can look at our twitter and tumblr feeds for examples.

2) Graphic design. From event marketing, to eblasts, to holiday catalogs. Even if it's a tiny in-store sign to sell a few books, a little light graphic design goes a long way.

I am enormously enamored of Adobe InDesign for quick, easy, and gorgeous materials. (Google's Forms program in Drive is sort of like InDesign lite, and it's a serviceable substitute if you find InDesign intimidating.)

What I mostly love about InDesign is that you can be extremely dexterous with text. In addition to being able to break free from simple right-center-left justified text, you can change kerning and leading, you can skew text even when italics aren't available, create borders, and easily integrate images. Here's a medium-simple example that looks professional and polished:

Start playing around! You'll be amazed at what you can create.
 
Do you have a tech question? Send it to office@nciba.com and we'll try to get it answered in an upcoming newsletter.

Napa Bookstores OK Post-Quake
Reprinted from Bookselling This Week
By Sydney Jarrard
Copperfield's Books' Napa branch and Napa Bookmine are on the mend after an earthquake rocked both stores and sent hundreds of books tumbling to their floors. Napa, California, was just five miles from the epicenter of the magnitude 6.0 earthquake in the early morning hours of Sunday, August 24.

At its Napa branch, Copperfield's Books, which has seven locations throughout northern California, lost a significant number of books to the quake. "About 70 percent of our stock was on the floor," said store manager Lindsay McConnel. Hundreds of books fell off the shelves, the calendar and card racks tipped over, and candles and mugs were broken.
While the fallen books didn't suffer extensive damage as they crashed to the floor, many were lost as liquids seeped through the floor from broken products at the grocery store next door. Staff members also reported broken items at their homes, but all of the store's booksellers are well, said McConnel.

The store was closed on Sunday for cleanup, a process expedited by the assistance of managers from other Copperfield's locations. "We got a lot of help from within the company," said McConnel.

On Monday, Copperfield's Napa reopened for business. "The books are back on the shelves, but we're probably going to find stuff in weird places for now," McConnel said.  "We're open but probably won't be back to normal for a while."

Napa Bookmine was also closed on Sunday for cleanup. Compared to other stores in downtown Napa, the Bookmine suffered little damage, said co-owner Naomi Chamblin.

The bookcases are bolted to the walls of the store, which Chamblin said helped keep the books safe. "What we learned is that all the shelves that were screwed in were fine and all the adjustable shelves fell off," said Chamblin, who, following the quake, had staff go through the store to affix all of the adjustable shelves.

Between family, friends, customers, and staff members, a dozen people showed up to help Napa Bookmine re-shelve books on Sunday. Before picking up, they shared a video on Facebook showing the disarray.
Napa Bookmine on Sunday morning - could have been worse
The store reopened on Monday, ready to welcome customers. "It was very organized before. A lot of these sections are not in alphabetical order at the moment. But everybody will understand," said Chamblin.
Other than some new titles that have been relegated to the used bin and some older books that split down the spine, the store did not see significant losses. However, some staff members did have substantial damage to items in their homes, said Chamblin. "If you live downtown, it was not good. Nobody was hurt, but there is definitely lots of broken glass."

Chamblin was out of town at the time of the earthquake and drove straight to the store with her husband to check on it as soon as she heard the news. "It was definitely shocking, but it was nothing compared to many other businesses and homes," she said. "We just had to pick up some books. Other people really had a lot of their inventory gone. We really didn't lose much.

Laurel Book Store Moving to Downtown Oakland

This letter from Laurel Book Store owner Luan Stauss is posted on the store's website - good news is always a good read!

Dear Reader & Friend of Laurel Book Store,
I am so happy to announce that we have secured a new location for the store!  
  
 As many of you know, about a year ago, knowing that our lease would end last month, I started looking for a larger space with better flexibility for events, better access to transportation, and a bit more foot traffic. The store took a hit when Lucky's supermarket left and it didn't get any better with the discount market that took its place. Many of the businesses on the boulevard have felt the slowdown.

I began working with a great team of real estate professionals in Heidi Kearsley and Nicolette Sommer, and they showed me quite a few places. All of them needed this done or that done or were in locations that just didn't seem right.

Then they asked me to meet them at a spot that was both larger than I specified and closer to downtown than we had been looking into so far.

Do you know that feeling when you walk into a place and it just feels right? Like you can instantly imagine what you'd do with the space, how you'd spend your time there, and who would walk in and be happy to be there?

That's what happened to me. I felt it. But just to make sure, we arranged another visit and I took two rational, level-headed people to see it. They immediately had the same feeling I did.

And now, after much working of paper, many sleepless nights, and a great deal of planning, it's finally real.
We will be moving into a ground floor space in the First National Bank Building, now known as the Lionel Wilson Building at 14th and Broadway. It was most recently a bank, so it looks very elegant. (And one friend wisely noted that it's used to money already.)
 
There are entrances on Broadway and Frank Ogawa Plaza, huge, light-filled windows, and enough space to do just what I think we're capable of. It's steps from the 12th Street BART entrance and on the B Line.

The corner spot at the pointed end of the building right next to us is under construction to be the Downtown Wine Merchants. Oaklandish, Bittersweet, Awaken Cafe, The Tribune Tavern, and Pro Arts are all just steps away. The Marriott is four blocks away, the Fox is five and the Paramount is seven. There is a daily population of 100,000 office workers, and yes, there is parking. (Some with validation!) Several lots are within a short block and there are many on street spaces on the other side of Broadway. Plus there are buses and of course BART. We still have online ordering and can mail your books and of course we will continue to offer ebooks right from our website.

We would never have been able to take this step had it not been for 13 amazing years in the Laurel District with some of the most wonderful customers and friends anywhere. That's why I won't change the store name; I know where my roots are.



CLASSIFIEDS   
Book Store Manager Position Open

Laurel Book Store in Oakland is accepting applications for a Manager who will work closely with the owner in planning, organizing and managing bookstore activities, developing and implementing the store's operating procedures; as well as recommending appropriate related policies.

* Will be involved in hiring, training, supervising, and evaluating personnel and supervise staff in work flow, ordering books, supplies, and related merchandise; as well as oversee the planning, supervision, and maintenance of stock and inventory.
* Responsible for money handling and efficient cost containment.
* Successful candidate will be involved in store relocation planning and execution.

Minimum Qualifications
* Must have bookselling and operations experience including event planning, merchandising, and familiarity with buying and customer service.
* Must have supervisory experience.
* Must have bachelor's degree.

Knowledge and Skills Requirements
Manager must have knowledge of bookstore retail operating principles, cashiering, budgeting, management principles, inventory, and accounting. They should be effective planners and problem solvers, neat and well-organized, friendly and approachable. They should also have the ability to work with a diverse group of people and have strong skills in writing reports and correspondences. They should possess strong multi-tasking skills, excellent oral communication skills and the ability to perform consistently, even under pressure.
They must be flexible and possess a good sense of humor and obviously be super human.

Salary & Benefits
Dependent upon experience. Two weeks paid vacation after one year, employee discount on merchandise, bonus upon meeting stated goals. EOE.
 
Please send cover letter and resume to
'Hut's Place' Keeps Selling Books
The goal of the weekly Hut's Place column is to alert book lovers to new arrivals (both hardcover and paperback) and bestselling books in independent bookstores and motivate them to buy more. Recent feedback seems to indicate it's working:

Please add me to your mailing list for Hut's Place; your newsletter fills a real need. Ever since the Washington Post discontinued its Book World, I've been missing regular reading recommendations. And Hut's Place looks lively, interesting and the brevity is helpful as well.

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.

Hut's Place is a hit with me.  I love the format and I trust your recommendations and always buy Indie if I can.

"Since joining the mailing list for Hut's Place, I've purchased a number of great books based on Hut's recommendations; in fact I go to the site every time I need a new book."

"Just wanted to send a shout out to Hut for giving me good ideas every week in my quest for good books...now that, as a former librarian, I no longer have the luxury of being in the know when it comes to books."

To read the latest edition of Hut's Place, click here.
If you want to forward to customers and encourage them to subscribe, make sure to remind them that the books they read about are available at your store.


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.

Publishers can submit their promotions on Wednesdays via a Google Docs form.

"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."