After reading our coverage, don't miss our photo-gallery of authors attending the conference, just below.

The American Booksellers Association’s Winter Institute, held last week in New Orleans, came just weeks after a holiday season that showcased the vitality and viability of independent bookstores. Many of the 500 bookseller attendees were coming off their best year ever, with sales up in the high double digits. For BookPeople in Austin, Tex., it was the second year in a row. The store had its best year ever in 2010, and was up in all areas in 2011, according to children’s book buyer Meghan Goel.

“We proved that the independent bookstore renaissance was no illusion. Contrary to the predictions of some, 2011 wasn’t a year of attrition or loss for indies,” said ABA CEO Oren Teicher at the opening plenary. Between Small Business Saturday and Christmas unit book sales increased more than 15% for indie stores reporting to Bookscan, he noted, adding that in December the average gross sales online increased 26%.

Booksellers’ buoyant mood got a further boost from writer Ann Patchett, who has come to symbolize independent booksellers ever since she announced that she would open a bookstore with publishing veteran Karen Hayes while on book tour for State of Wonder. “Who knew,” quipped Patchett, “that opening a bookstore was the way for an author to get on the front page of the New York Times.”

As a former journalist, Patchett attributed the media attention to her bookstore to the fact that “the story you take and the story you write is the one you want to read. They are as sick as we are of this constant barrage that books are dead.” Although Patchett readily acknowledged that she hadn’t thought through all the aspects of what it would mean to be a bookseller before she jumped into it, she said, “The thrill of forcing people to read the books I like is enough.” Before she only had family and friends. “A trend is whatever you tell people it is. This is the new trend – local independent bookselling. If you keep saying it’s true, it will be true,” said Patchett, who received a standing ovation.

Much of the show’s programming (see full coverage of the “How to Become a Home-town All-Star” panel here) focused on best practices and was designed to help booksellers keep solid sales coming in 2012. Not all have post-Christmas. Kathleen Pohlig, owner of four-year-old Cherry Street Books in the resort community of Alexandria, Minn., said that “now it’s pretty dead.” Others, like Dale Szczeblowski at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Mass., were relieved that the pace has slowed.

The conference culminated with a series of 22 working groups to discuss new solutions in bookselling based on data for a hypothetical store. Maureen Palacios, owner of Once Upon a Time in Montrose, Calif., speculated that because booksellers had had such a good finish to 2011, they were more receptive to planning for the future. She acknowledged that she might not have been willing to do so last year. “This is a great thing this year, because people are in a happier mood,” she said.

“Education is extremely important in turbulent times. One of the components to evolving and adapting is through events like this,” said Dan Sheehan, v-p and general manager of Ingram Content Group, who analyzed the results of the groups. He noted that each group used a different process, but came up with similar results, including that closing the store is not an option. Among Sheehan’s top ten “cool ideas” were two related specifically to selling children’s: create a children’s reading club, which one group dubbed the Rat Pack, and dedicate a store window to kids’ books.

“I was glad I went,” said first-timer Betsy Detwiler, owner of Buttonwood Books & Toys in Cohasset, Mass. “It was great to see colleagues, and I especially enjoyed the rep picks and hearing the small presses present. I’ve done 23 years of BEAs and NEIBAs, but I took that Moleskin notebook [given out at registration] and definitely filled it.” Liza Bernard, co-owner of the Norwich Bookstore in Norwich, Vt., said that she found the consultation stations particularly helpful since she’s in the midst of trying to decide on a new inventory system.

For many booksellers a high point was meeting authors and picking up galleys and books for children’s titles, ranging from Mac Barnett and Adam Rex’s Chloe and the Lion (Disney-Hyperion) to Jennifer Nielsen’s The False Prince (Scholastic) and John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars (Dutton). Green also appeared at a popular panel on social media with children’s booksellers Andrea Vuleta, general manager of Mrs. Nelson’s Toy and Book Shop in La Verne, Calif., and Ann Seaton, manager of Hicklebee’s in San Jose. (See below.) And James Patterson joined booksellers for lunch on Wednesday to talk about his College Book Bucks contest, now in its second year. High school seniors are chosen based on an essay about how their favorite book led them to their future career path. Winners receive gift certificates to purchase books at any independent on IndieBound.org. Patterson is giving 10 certificates for $1,000; 20 for $500; and 100 for $250. At the show Hachette announced that it will donate $5,000 for five more $1,000 certificates.

Perennially popular children’s book character Waldo got a lot of pickup at the conference (at least the Waldo bag supplied by Candlewick did). The bright blue tote was part of the kickoff for this summer’s national “shop local” partnership with the ABA, Find Waldo Local. It grew out of a successful program that Carol Chittenden ran at Eight Cousins in Falmouth, Mass., last summer, which drew more than 200 children and their parents to her store and other downtown businesses. “What could be more fun than finding Waldo – but finding Waldo at other local business in your community,” commented Becky Anderson, co-owner of Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville, Ill., and president of the ABA. “Search for Waldo, support your neighbors, sell lots of books, and have a great time by putting the spotlight on local and indie!”

However, for ABA CEO Oren Teicher, the importance of Winter Institute lies less in the books, authors, and educational sessions than with “booksellers connecting to each other. You put 500 independent booksellers together, who are passionately trying to make this work, it’s a sharing,” he told PW. “We’re still here. I don’t want to be naive about the difficulties. We can make this work.”

Next year Winter Institute will focus on nonbook items and will be held at the same time and in the same city (Kansas City, Mo.), as the National Association of College Stores’ winter meeting and expo, February 23-25.

Programming Highlights

• The Benefits of Working with Social Media

Author John Green, who boasts 4,400 Facebook friends, 42,705 Facebook subscribers, and more than a million Twitter followers, typically draws hundreds of fans to his events because of social media. Green told booksellers to consider their online community as much as their physical community when they plan promotions. “Engage people in [online] conversation,” he urged.

• Bookstores and Libraries Working Together

“Every study that has been done shows that independent bookstores do better in communities with vibrant libraries,” said moderator Ruth Liebmann, v-p, director of account marketing at Random House. For Sue Boucher, owner of Lake Forest Book Store in Lake Forest, Ill., who works with dozens of district libraries, the “aha! moment” came when she learned that she could get demographic information from the libraries to choose the best authors for their patrons and use library newsletters and other publicity to promote joint author events. Beth Elder, director of the Salt Lake City Library, encouraged all booksellers to reach out to their librarians, saying, “Bookstores and libraries share values and missions.”

• Best Practices for Transitioning Middle Readers to YA Readers

Author and Scholastic Trade publisher/editorial director David Levithan and Valerie Koehler, owner of Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, Tex., offered tips for separating 12 and up YA from 15 and up YA and using “gateway” books to transition teen readers. Levithan differentiated between the two age groups by noting that “a kid choosing a middle-grade reader is not reading to find out more about your life. Nobody reads When You Reach Me because they’re interested in time travel.” Koehler and Levithan recommend gateway authors like Suzanne Collins, Walter Dean Myers, Garth Nix, and Gary Paulsen, who write both middle-grade and YA and can provide that transition.

• Best Practices for Selling to College-Bound Students

Becky Anderson of Anderson’s Bookshop, and Sourcebooks publisher and CEO Dominique Raccah discussed an experiment they began last year to bring the community into the bookstore—and sell more college guides. The College Insiders Series launched in July and ended in January with four events aimed at taking the confusion out of the college application process and the student’s first year. The store charged an admission fee of $5 for a parent and student to attend. “What we’re trying to do as we transform as an industry is look at what the things are that are better done in person,” said Raccah, who advised booksellers to look at both joyful celebrations and pain points, like the college selection process, for in-store events.