“Terrific” is a word that came up frequently when booksellers commented on the NAIBA conference, which was held last weekend (Sept. 19-21) at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Va., Booksellers as diverse as Ann Berlin, co-owner of the Ivy Bookshop in Baltimore, and Bradley Graham, co-owner of Politics and Prose Bookstore and Coffeehouse in Washington, used it to describe the keynote address by New Republic editor Franklin Foer and Andrew Keen (The Internet Is Not the Answer) on Amazon.

Even when it wasn’t front and center, Amazon served as a subtext throughout the show. Simon & Schuster sales rep Tim Hepp set the tone at the opening night supper when he spoke of a new sense of togetherness as evidenced by NAIBA stores putting up displays about the Amazon-Hachette dispute. “NAIBA is proud to support Hachette as long as the battle is waged,” he said.

Numerous authors at breakfasts and dinners throughout the weekend thanked booksellers not just for what they do, but for supporting Hachette. Referring to “fights and companies who can’t be named,” Hachette author David Baldacci, who attended NAIBA to promote his children’s series from Scholastic, said, “If the book industry has a heart, I am quite certain you are it.

Amazon-Hachette even popped up during the q-and-a at the Editors Buzz panel with Bloomsbury USA publishing director George Gibson, Crown Publishers executive editor Vanessa Mobley, Grand Central Publishing president and publisher Jamie Raab, and Grove/Atlantic senior editor Jamison Stoltz, when Jonathon Welch, owner of Talking Leaves...Books in Buffalo, N.Y., mentioned it along with another “war,” one between traditionally published and self-published books.

The show was remarkably upbeat. Despite the absence of many New York City booksellers because the Brooklyn Book Festival fell on the same weekend, attendance stayed the same as 2013, according to NAIBA executive director Eileen Dengler, who added that exhibitor attendance is up. Part of the reason was the presence of so many new, and about to be, bookstore owners, including Cody Steffen and John Bonczyk, who will take over Lift Bridge Book Shop in Brockport, N.Y., on January 1, and Stephanie Steinly, who purchased Harleysville Books in Harleysville, Pa., in July.

There’s also a sense of vitality not just with an influx of new owners and new stores like year-old Curious Iguana in Frederick, Md., but increasing membership. With three new members NAIBA now has 131 bookstore members. At his presentation at NAIBA’s annual meeting, ABA CEO Oren Teicher spoke of similar growth for independents overall. “The really good news about independent bookselling in 2014 is the resurgence is real,” said Teicher. “After you have a few years of positive growth, that’s a trend. You’ve demonstrated everyday that this is a viable business. Our colleagues in the publishing industry understand that they need us as much as we need them. They’re partnering with us to make sure we can continue this renaissance/revival.”

Many of the sessions were set up to foster continued bookseller growth, from sessions that shared tips on authorless events to one on planning ahead in a volatile market. Jack McKeown, co-owner of Books & Books Westhampton Beach on Long Island, N.Y., also showed booksellers how to drill down and get block by block geographic demographics so that they can make better decisions about their stores using ArcGIS technology. And some gatherings were intended to remind booksellers of what they do, like a special reception in honor of #WeNeedDiverseBooks, and a talk by NPR book critic Maureen Corrigan (So We Read On) at the grave site of F. Scott Fitzgerald before the conference officially began.

Looking ahead, incoming NAIBA president Mark LaFramboise, head buyer at Politics and Prose, promised a platform of fun. “Let’s have fun,” he said. “We do best when we bend an elbow and get together. Let’s do everything we can to engage socially, so we can engage professionally.” Next year's conference will return to the Doubletree in Somerset, N.J. from Oct. 2-4.

For a closer look at children's booksellers at NAIBA, see NAIBA 2014: Discovering Children's Books.