This year’s Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) show opened with Bay Area author Daniel Handler rousing the crowd with his boisterous sense of humor. “I started out as a booksellser and was almost fired for my poor gift-wrapping skills,” he joked. Handler, also known as Lemony Snicket, explained that he worked in bookstores just to be in the company of literature. That theme extended to the rest of the meeting as booksellers, publishers and authors mingled for two days last week at the South San Francisco Conference Center.
At the event, which took place October 23-24, spirits were high. Toni Wheeler of Mendocino Book Company said that "business is bubbling.” Lorraine Zimmerman of University Press Books in Berkeley called the energy "high" at the conference. "I bought so many things I didn’t intend to buy because the books keep getting better." Zimmerman, who's been in bookselling for over three decades, also added that she's heartened to feel business is finally improving. "There was a low mood after the last bubble burst, and we were barely making it. Suddenly everything’s up.”
Hut Landon, executive director of NCIBA, said that eight new stores in the region have opened since last year, three have changed ownership, and three more have relocated to a larger space. Asked about attendance, Landon said the one area where it was up was for education programming. “We saw an increase of about 20% across the board, for both rep picks sessions, and other education workshops.”
Talking about the show as a whole, Landon said: “Our financial picture is solid, thanks to our catalog and trade show revenue, stable membership, and our attention to operating expenses.”
At Friday's Author Buzz Lunch, which featured, among others, Joshua Davis (Spare Parts, FSG) and Stewart O’Nan (West of Sunset, Viking), Ann Packer (The Children’s Crusade, Scribner) praised booksellers. “You guys are my heroes," she said. "You are the ones who care about literature and how its read, rather than how its categorized.”
After lunch, author Thien Pham (Sumo), librarian Eva Volin (Alameda Free Library), and bookseller Ann Seaton (Hicklebee’s) gave a spirited panel on graphic novels. The session was designed to help booksellers and librarians learn about how to sell graphic novels and educate parents on their legitimacy as “real books”. Pham said to the crowd, “Prose is dead; comics are limitless. Whatever you can do with words you can do better with words and pictures."
Other panels touched on dealing with user reviews and leveraging them as an advantage. In a panel called “The Care and Keeping of Buyers,” long-time book buyer Paul Yamazaki (City Lights), along with other buyers, fielded questions from the crowd about the economics of buying and returns.
At Saturday’s Author Lunch, praise was again given to booksellers. Rebecca Solnit (The Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness, Trinity University Press) thanked the crowd for “taking such good care of my books.” Solnit also pointed out that, even on her Amazon author page, “I tell people to buy my books at independent bookstores.”
For a closer look at children's booksellers at NCIBA, see Pirates, Pigeons, Dogs, Oh My!: Children's Books at NCIBA.
