The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance convened in New Orleans this week for its first in-person meeting since it last held a fall regional event in Spartanburg, S.C., in 2019. Sixty-seven booksellers from 37 bookstores, including eight from New Orleans, as well as 20 authors and seven SIBA staff attended.
The event started with a bus tour around the city to visit four independent booksellers: Baldwin & Co., Tubby & Coo’s Mid-City Book Shop, Octavia Books and Garden District Book Shop. This was followed by an opening reception at the Historic New Orleans Collection where the group was welcomed by Linda-Marie Barrett, executive director of the organization and Allison Hill, CEO of the American Booksellers Association. Hill urged the collected booksellers to sign a petition circulated by the ABA protesting book banning around the country. “We need to get 2,000 signatures from booksellers,” she said, noting that figure was necessary for politicians and others to take the petition seriously.
Booksellers took the opportunity over the two days to socialize and reconnect. Sessions included a presentation on mistakes to avoid as a bookseller offered by Jill Hendrix, owner of Fiction Addiction in Greenville, S.C., and other panels looked at optimizing technology and efficient financial management. An author luncheon offered a preview of five forthcoming titles, while a cocktail reception brought another 15 authors to mingle with the booksellers.
Several new stores have opened in the region, including one run by Franklin Fixtures in Franklin, Tenn., and The Book Bar RVA in Richmond, Va. Other stores have expanded, such as Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans, which moved across the street to a two-story building, doubling its space; Octavia Books, which added solar panels to its roof and is also doubling space; and Pass Books in Pass Christian, Miss., is opening a second location.
A quintet of New Orleans booksellers offered some ideas as to what was working best with their stores. Candice Huber from Tubby & Coos has launched an international queer SF fantasy bookshop in partnership with Portal Bookshop in York, England that they manage using the messaging service Discord; the store has a room dedicated to board games and hosts Dungeons & Dragons sessions with authors who play as the main characters of their books. Elizabeth Alquist of Blue Cypress Books remarked that she had been in business for 15 years and noted that “you can constantly reinvent yourself.” She advised to “figure out what you want to do and put together a team to do it.” Tom Lowenburg, owner of Octavia Books, noted that New Orleans has eight independent bookstores and they “work really well together” to support the community and community events, such as Jazz Fest.
BrocheAroe Fabian, marketing manager for Sourcebooks, said the meeting was a welcomed event. “The energy and enthusiasm were great. It was not just great to see each other, but to hear how people came through the pandemic, what they are looking forward to, and how stores are adapting to a brave new world," Fabian told PW. Fabian added that while the conference offered "great information sharing and passion, we have also learned to prioritize our own emotional and physical health.”
For her part, Barrett, executive director of SIBA, told PW: “Our fall conference centered the incredibly innovative and supportive entrepreneurial spirit of our New Orleans bookselling community. We also created opportunities for idea exchanges, roundtable discussions on overcoming obstacles and sharing best practices, as well as intimate conversations between booksellers and authors. The atmosphere was electric, joyful, and so positive. I’m delighted that we’re back meeting in-person, and hope our conference was a big boost for SIBA booksellers entering their busiest season. It sure was for me!”
