The drone of police helicopters and raucous chants of nearby Occupy Oakland protesters could not diminish the excitement and positive focus of the 2011 Northern California Independent Booksellers Association trade show at the Marriott City Center October 27 – 29. There was lots of enthusiasm at the NCIBA membership meeting and reception and executive director Hut Landon was pleased with the large turnout of booksellers and publishers.
Landon noted that this is his 25th year with the organization, having first served on the board before taking over as head of NCIBA. His financial report was generally positive. “We still have about $100,000 in reserve funds, as we have had for the last few years,” said Landon. “Our revenues are flat, but we have cut our expenses – primarily in office staff and a rent reduction – and for now things are looking good. Money is tight, but we continue to do important things.” Landon went on the road this summer to give e-book demonstrations to booksellers, and he and the Board have set up a committee to explore how to provide marketing assistance to self-published authors in the area. In addition, Landon is working with Books Inc. to provide tools for those considering opening a new bookstore or an additional store.
Attendance at this year’s show was up about 10%, and the show floor was buzzing and very active. “Based on badge requests, both booksellers and exhibitors are here in great numbers. I typed up 500 bookseller badges and 450 more for exhibitors,” a happy Landon said. There were 30 authors at Friday night’s Author Reception, and another dozen or so at the luncheon and dinner events. “We’re very fortunate to have strong, stable bookstores in a concentrated area,” Landon continued. “I can drive to 100 stores in 45 minutes. We see each other often, and have 10 board meetings a year. It’s easy to create a sense of community in this area.”
It was standing room only at the Edelweiss: Best Practices panel discussion on Thursday as more and more stores are adapting to the prevalence of digital catalogues, primarily under the auspices of the Edelweiss system (Simon & Schuster has developed its own). The panelists included Joe Foster from Edelweiss, Ken White from the San Francisco State University bookstore, Mrs. Dalloway’s co-owner Marion Abbott, Antonia Squire from Kepler’s, and Random House rep Jenn Ramage. Many in the crowded room seemed unfamiliar with how to implement Edelweiss and attended the session to learn how best to utilize the digital program, from account set-up to entering data from the order after the rep leaves a buyer’s office.
One bookseller voiced a concern about attaching discounts to orders when, as is the case with Penguin, the publisher’s divisions each give a different discount. “You can attach a discount to an order,” said Foster, “but not to an item. With Penguin – and others – you then have to work up three different orders with individual purchase order numbers.” The panelists emphasized that every bookseller uses Edelweiss differently, making it necessary to customize the system to fit the stores’ needs. “It’s like any skill,” Squire noted. “You have to learn it, and then it will become second nature to you. Edelweiss helps with organization, storage, and reduces errors in data entry.”
Over 15 children’s booksellers attended the program Introducing the ABC Group at ABA, moderated by Ann Seaton of Hicklebee’s and ABA CEO Oren Teicher. The two organizations were integrated this year, with Shannon O’Connor (who was not present) serving as manager of the new ABC Group. “We took the existing program and retained as much as we could,” said Teicher. “One of the most important results has been the ability to now make ABC Group available to general trade bookstores. We have a larger community to draw from now. Also, we can now build on the particular opportunities for children’s books. We’re looking to the ABC Group for knowledge.” ABC Group will retain its silent auction at BEA and continue to issue the Kids’ Next lists and annual catalogue.
The ABC Group catalogue lands mid-autumn each year, and is not themed to the holidays but to recommended titles that are vetted by booksellers before inclusion. The catalogue may be ordered through the ABA; 500 copies cost $20. ABC Group continues to distribute its Kids’ Next flyer to member stores and has added the New Voices leaflet, which is broken down into teen and middle grade categories. The White Box, which is sent to stores every other month, contains promotional items, special offers, and galleys of both picture books and novels. Christine Crawford of Epilog Books in Quincy, Calif., complained about the delay in receiving the White Box. A few other booksellers chimed in and said that their shipment frequently shows up so late that the special offers inside the box have expired. Teicher promised to look into this issue and correct the shipping delays.
Inspired by the popular Editors Buzz Forum held at BEA, the opening day highlight was NCIBA’s debut of its own version with the sold-out Author Buzz Lunch. The group of 65 booksellers was introduced to the six authors by publishers’ sales reps. Carol Anshaw (Carry the One, S&S, March) said that her life as a writer was informed by an initial interest in astronomy and astrophysics. The Gilly Salt Sisters (Grand Central, March), which takes place on Cape Cod and involves two sisters romantically involved with the same man, was pitched by author Tifanny Baker in the form of a recipe. “Start with salt itself. Put it in a Cape Cod marsh. Add a pair of sisters. Beat in a pregnant teenage mistress, and let heat to the point of smoking. Bill Landay, a former D.A. in Boston, said that his novel Defending Jacob (Random House, Feb.) merges the worlds of law and fatherhood in a story about a teenage boy from a successful family who’s accused of murder. In Until the Next Time (Algonquin, Feb.) a first novel by Kevin Fox, an Irish-American family saga unfolds over a period of 25 years and takes the reader from New York City to Ireland to uncover the story of one man’s quest to discover his complicated family roots. Sere Prince Halverson, author of The Underside of Joy (Dutton, Jan.), wrote much of her novel in a small cabin on the Russian River in Northern California. Its story focuses on a woman who raises three stepchildren and then faces losing them to their biological mother when her husband dies suddenly.
In describing her novel A Theory of Small Earthquakes (Counterpoint, Feb.), author Meredith Maran made the audience laugh when she mentioned the coincidence of pitching her book during a week of almost daily earthquakes in Berkeley. Aimee Phan’s The Reeducation of Cherry Truong (St. Martin’s, Feb.) captures the often-conflicted lives Vietnamese-Americans who live between two cultures and, as children, face the threat of being sent back to Vietnam by their parents if they displease them. The Author Buzz Lunch was such a success that it will likely become a permanent fixture at the NCIBA trade show.
Marion Abbott, co-owner of Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary & Garden Arts in Berkeley, was pleased with the show. “It’s so enthusiastic,” she said, “and great to see everyone in the book community.” Business at her store is “thriving against all odds. This is our seventh anniversary, and two years ago we even expanded by 50%. It’s so important to stay focused on your neighborhood, and get to know everyone and keep up with your customers.”
