One year after the Midwest Booksellers Association launched its ambitious Midwest Connections regional marketing program, publishers and booksellers report that the program has increased visibility for the 13 titles that have been named as Midwest Connections selections. Another four or five Midwest Connections picks will be announced this fall.

Each title selected for the Midwest Connections program is promoted by MBA to regional booksellers, as well as directly to consumers, for three to four months. Susan Walker, MBA's executive director, said the rationale for creating the program was to give particular books a longer shelf life. “The whole idea is to find books we like, that are appropriate and relevant to Midwestern readers, and to push them, to keep them going,” Walker explained. Walker described Midwest Connections as providing a framework for publishers, booksellers and MBA to effectively and efficiently coordinate their marketing efforts.

Walker, who selects the titles in conjunction with MBA's board members, said they look for books that not only resonate with Midwestern readers but also appeal to a broad base of bookstores. For instance, The Great Big Butter Cookbook, which will be released this fall by Running Press in cooperation with the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, was just selected because, according to Walker, she and the MBA board “figured that kind of cookbook is our kind of cookbook.”

Midwest Connections titles are promoted to booksellers in various ways, including author speaking engagements at MBA's fall regional trade show, introductions to booksellers at MBA's spring meeting, prominent placement of the title's jacket art on the cover and inside MBA's fall catalogue and extensive promotion on MBA's Web site.

MBA is providing participating booksellers with marketing suggestions and point-of-sale materials to aid them in promoting Midwest Connections titles, and the organization also is offering cash rebates to booksellers of up to $75 per title per season to defray the costs of advertising, store newsletters and in-store displays.

“This is not the publishers' money; this is not co-op; this is not anything tied to the bookstore's relationship with the publisher,” Walker emphasized. “These rebates are from MBA itself.”

She noted that 10 of the 13 Midwest Connections picks have been subsequently selected as Book Sense picks, and that a growing number of Midwest Connections picks are being reviewed in the New York Times Book Review. “Book Sense and Midwest Connections are reinforcing each other,” she said. “And people are paying attention.”

Walker estimated that “at least half” of MBA's 240 member bookstores are participating in the program, many of them choosing which Midwest Connections selections they want to promote in their stores. Diana Cohen, owner of Books & Co. in Oconomowoc, Wis., is enthusiastic about the program and reports a solid impact on her bookstore sales, noting that sales of some Connections titles have been double her expectations. “What's working for me is identifying Midwest Connections for customers. There are these books that have been preselected, somebody's made a judgment. [Customers] take a chance because someone's recommended it,” Cohen added.

Bev Enor, owner of La De Da Books & Beans, in Manitowoc, Wis., reported that her store posted its best July sales ever, including 100 copies of The Night Birds by Thomas Maltman, a Midwest Connections pick. “We would have sold less than half that without Midwest Connections,” she reported. Maltman already has made one appearance at her store, and two more author events are scheduled for this fall. Sarah Bagby, owner of the Watermark Bookstore in Wichita, Kans., declared that if it weren't for Midwest Connections, Michael Perry's Truck never would have sold in her store. “It's Wisconsin, not Kansas,” she said. “But because of HarperCollins's commitment to the project, we were part of the tour, and we continue to sell the book.” Bagby added, “Midwest Connections solidifies our reputation for being a bookstore where customers will discover hidden gems.”

While both Caitlin Hamilton Summie, marketing manager for Unbridled Books, and Deb Seager, director of publicity for Grove/Atlantic Books, couldn't quantify the success of Midwest Connections in terms of sales, both praised the effectiveness of the program in strengthening connections between publishers, booksellers and MBA. “Cultivating great relationships with booksellers is one great aspect of the program,” said Seager. “It's a great way for publishers to work together with their regional booksellers association,” Summie added, describing how MBA advised Unbridled on where to send Timothy Schaffert as he traveled about the Upper Midwest this past summer, promoting his latest novel, Devils in the Sugar Shop. “It's a solid program, and as it grows, it's only going to get stronger,” Summie added.