Like its members, Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association has been rethinking everything it does, from a new venue for this year’s trade show, the Renaissance Denver (Sept. 30-Oct. 2), to a new executive director, Laura Ayrey, appointed during the past year. In some ways the selection of this year’s hotel serves as a reminder that it is possible to reinvent oneself and move forward despite changing times. The Renaissance seemed destined to fail when Denver closed the Stapleton International Airport across the street. Instead it has thrived while the city has redeveloped the area over the past 15 yerars to include stores, homes, and even an elementary school.
That’s not to say that things have necessarily been easy for booksellers in the region, which extends all the way from Texas to the Canadian border in Montana. In a session on Best Things I Did This Year, moderator Andy Nettle, co-owner of Back of Beyond Books in Moab, Ariz., said, “I opened [this session] up last year saying that this is the most challenging year ever, and we all need to share ideas. Ditto.” Some, like Becky Smith, manager of Town Crier Bookstore in Emporia, Kans., credit toys and games with not only helping the children’s section, but the store’s numbers overall. Others like Arsen Kashkashian, inventory control manager at Boulder Bookstore in Boulder, Colo., have moved to charging for events. “The jury is still out on if it’s our best idea,” said Kashkashian. “Attendance has gone down, but book sales are growing. Now we’re looking at events with a more critical eye. Can we sell a $5 ticket?”
Later, in one of a trio of sessions created by publishers to give booksellers the 411, Ruth Liebmann, v-p and director of account marketing for Random House, advised booksellers to make use of their best customers to sell more books. “A thread running through all the trade shows is what at Random House we’re calling ‘the unofficial bookseller,’ the person in your community who feels an emotional connection to your store,” she said. MPIBA president Meghan Goel, children’s book buyer at BookPeople in Austin, agreed. She’s doing that by inviting YA lit bloggers to come to store events, interview the authors, and create a buy-books link to BookPeople.com instead of Amazon.
In addition to educational programming, MPIBA gave booksellers a chance to meet more than two dozen adult and children’s authors at breakfasts, afternoon teas, and a literacy dinner with Christopher Moore (Sacre Blue, Morrow, Apr. ‘12), Hillary Jordan(When She Woke, Algonquin), and Shannon Hale (Midnight in Austenland, Bloomsbury, Feb. ‘12). There were also two days of rep picks and an active exhibit hall that drew booksellers like Nettle, who was looking for books he missed, since he doesn’t buy direct. “This show is more important to me than ever,” he said. Similarly, Julie Shimada at Maria’s Bookshop in Durango, Colo., noted, “I look for authors and affirmation for what we ordered.” MPIBA also offered an opportunity for new bookstore owners like Arvin Ram, who opened Townie Books in Crested Butte, Colo., just a few months ago, to meet with publishers and seasoned booksellers.
But it’s not only booksellers who found the show helpful. First-time exhibitor and self-publisher Holli Pfau of Glad Dog Press, called MPIBA “a fabulous experience.” Her book about her rescue Golden Retrievers, Pure Gold, had already been doing well in Durango, where she lives, and hit number one on Maria’s bestsellers list. At MPIBA she was able to book events throughout the state.
Although some found this year’s show “laid back” in terms of attendance, 350 booksellers and publishers, executive director Ayrey said that she was “thrilled” with the outcome. “The trade show exceeded our expectations in every way,” she noted, “from the enthusiasm held by both booksellers and exhibitors surrounding the new venue to the dynamic, entertaining, and brilliant lineup of authors, to the buzz of the exhibit hall.”
