The fall regional bookselling association trade show season kicked off August 8–11 with New Voices New Rooms, the five-year collaboration between the New Atlantic Booksellers Association and the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance. From now through October, booksellers around the country will be traveling to their respective regional gatherings in Newton, Mass.; Pasadena, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; Denver; and Milwaukee. Meanwhile, publishers’ reps will be finessing their sales pitches and preparing for long days staffing their exhibits.
If New Voices New Rooms is any indicator, this year’s trade shows will be bigger and busier than ever. Since the pandemic began, new bookstores with all kinds of business models have opened nationwide, and regional bookseller organizations are working hard to accommodate first-time members eager to learn the ropes. And along with the usual frenzy surrounding opportunities to network, meet authors, and snag ARCs, there will also be a focus on professional education, as the various associations seek to navigate a rapidly changing industry.
At New Voices New Rooms, half a dozen members of the American Booksellers Association staff were in attendance, including CEO Allison Hill. At every show this fall, ABA will present an education session geared toward financial stability and growth, titled, “Prioritizing Cash Flow: 10 Areas to Review for Improved Cash Flow and Profitability.”
Despite terrible tropical storms battering the South, NVNR drew 250 booksellers this year to the Crystal City Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Va., a 25% increase over last year, which was its second in-person joint show ever. The event featured more than 80 authors, including Tony Keith Jr., author of Knucklehead (Quill Tree, Feb. 2025), who opened the proceedings by performing a piece honoring poets and storytellers.
NAIBA and SIBA, which always emphasize education in their events, maintained that focus at this year’s gathering. Even the tours of seven D.C.-area bookstores had an education component, as the staff at each stop showcased their areas of expertise. For example, booksellers at Loyalty Bookstores—which has locations in Washington, D.C., and Silver Spring, Md.—talked about how they measure the success of their store displays. “Everyone was like, ‘How come I never thought of that with my store displays? I could do this,’ ” said NAIBA executive director Eileen Dengler. The next day, NVNR attendees chose from more than a dozen educational panels, along with four author panels, covering an array of subjects and genres, from humor to horror.
Next up on the trade show circuit is the New England Independent Booksellers Association, convening in Newton, Mass., September 11–13. Now in its 51st year, NEIBA attracts more than 500 attendees annually and will honor authors in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young reader categories at the New England Book Awards banquet. The New England Children’s Book Advisory Council also plans programming around the coming season’s picture book, middle grade, and YA releases, and will announce its diversity-focused Windows and Mirrors book list on the final day of the show.
After a 2022 meeting in Sacramento and a 2023 meeting in San Francisco, the California Independent Booksellers Alliance heads south to Pasadena for this year’s Fall Fest, September 17–18. New CALIBA executive director Hannah Walcher looks forward to hosting the show in proximity to several SoCal shops. “The conference center is right in the downtown area, not too far from Vroman’s,” Walcher says. “It’s easy to jump over to Skylight Books and Octavia’s Bookshelf, and maybe even get out to L.A. if you have an extra day.”
Walcher is excited for CALIBA’s roster of authors, including opening keynoter Nnedi Okorafor, as well as rep picks and education programming “created by booksellers for booksellers,” she says. “I hope we can make many people as happy as possible.” From September 29 to October 1, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association will gather at the Holiday Inn Columbia Riverfront in Portland, Ore., for a second consecutive year. Executive director Brian Juenemann says PNBA developed the schedule in response to members’ survey feedback, with longer breaks between Big Pitch sessions, member-driven affinity group meetups, and educational programming geared toward everyone from first-timers to longtime members.
“We used to do two late-night reception events, and our members have told us it’s hard to stay engaged until 10 p.m.,” Juenemann says, so PNBA designed an evening rep picks late show, promising surprise author appearances and booksellers blurbing titles. “We are featuring multiple PNBA Award winners plus some national stars that are on the rise. These include familiar Northwest faces we haven’t seen in person since prepandemic—well-known and awarded authors. On the last morning of the show, we will open with a breakfast keynote by Brian Selznick, and that’ll be a biggie.”
The Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association once again converges on Denver October 6–9, and FallCon’s exhibition hall—which sold out last year—is on track to do the same again. “We are so fortunate that our location is the same every year,” says MPIBA executive director Heather Duncan. “There’s a good place at the hotel to get dinner, and inexpensive food within walking distance. We do have a big show, and we leave our evenings completely free so booksellers can go out to publisher dinners.”
MPIBA also boasts ample education opportunities and an expansive author lineup. “It was a great year for author pitches,” Duncan says. This year’s show will feel a bit different, however, due to the sale of the Tattered Cover to Barnes & Noble, notes Duncan, who for 30 years worked at Denver’s famous, formerly indie bookstore. “We’re concerned this year because we won’t have them, and it’s a not-insignificant loss of attendees. Thirty to fifty people would come.” Duncan expects MPIBA’s The Expert Is In booths and educational sessions on merchandising and display, marketing, book buying, and finances to attract newbies and seasoned participants alike.
The Midwest Booksellers and Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association’s joint show, Heartland Fall Forum, meets in Milwaukee October 6–9. Wisconsin is so centrally located that many of the indies there belong to both organizations, and both executive directors expect a huge turnout, especially from Chicagoland’s scores of booksellers.
GLIBA executive director Larry Law notes a spike in membership in both organizations since the pandemic: GLIBA has more than doubled in size, from 130 bookseller members in 2018, his first year as executive director, to 350 in 2024. Law says Heartland has added an extra day to the schedule for bookseller retreats, to supplement the education offered during the conference. “We’re going to be super education heavy this year,” he adds, with separate sessions designed for owners, buyers, events and marketing, and frontline booksellers.
“In a typical year, we have 11–12 hours of education; this year we’re going to get close to about 30,” Law says. “It’s a big jump. With the increase in new stores since the pandemic, we want to make sure we’re helping them as much as we can.”
Read more from our Fall Regionals 2024 feature:
Fall Regionals 2024: Fall Regionals Programming Highlights
This year’s fall gatherings provide booksellers across the country with plenty of opportunities to meet authors, collect ARCs, and network with other booksellers as well as publishers.
Fall Regionals 2024: Bookselling in an Election Year
Indie booksellers stock up on political reads while educating voters.
Fall Regionals 2024: Booksellers Reach Across Regional Divides
For some regional bookseller associations, joint trade shows are a winning formula.
Fall Regionals 2024: Booksellers Buzz About Fall Titles
With summer on the wane and holiday titles on order, excitement around this fall’s fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books is building. PW talked with booksellers about what they’ll be handselling and displaying in the coming months.
Fall Regionals 2024: Forging Connections in California: PW Talks with CALIBA executive director Hannah Walcher
After being announced as the California Booksellers Alliance’s new executive director in February, Hannah Walcher, former director of Books Inc.’s nonprofit Reading Bridge book fair program, officially started work in June. She takes over from former co-EDs Kristin Rasmussen and Ann Seaton. Walcher spoke with PW about her bookselling journey, CALIBA’s top priorities, and her excitement for the upcoming Fall Fest in Pasadena.
