Archive for category SIBA Trade Shows
#SIBA11 Bookseller School – “How To” Backwards & Forwards
Posted by Wanda in SIBA Trade Shows on August 26, 2011
Friday, September 16, Embassy Suites Airport, Charleston, SC
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM Bookseller School – “How To” Backwards & Forwards – Room 6
(Cost: $75 per store, includes breakfast and lunch)
9:00 – 12 Noon – How to Use Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr and Become the Center of Your Customers’ Online Community
Discover new ways to connect with your customers online and convert your online fans into customers by building a community of readers with your store at its center.Identify creative and effective ways to utilize your store’s social media platform(s)
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- Learn about hashtags and community-building memes like #fridayreads and #bookstorebingo
- Use your online connections to promote store events, increase attendance, and help your customers connect with authors and other readers online, in-store, and at special events like Club Read.
Join social media mavens Bethanne Patrick and Rebecca Joines Schinsky for a workshop that will renew your excitement for online engagement.
Noon – 1:00 PM – Enjoy lunch with your fellow booksellers and presenters.
1:00 – 4:00 – How to Save Thousands in Taxes and Become Invincible to Lawsuits
Discover the tools independent booksellers can use to become invisible to lawsuits, save thousands in taxes, and achieve financial peace of mind. By the end of the presentation independent booksellers will know how to:
- Protect 100% of independent booksellers assets from lawsuits. Independent booksellers will learn how to make themselves so unattractive to a plaintiff attorney that they will never pursue a lawsuit against independent booksellers.
- Save thousands of dollars each year in taxes. Independent booksellers will learn five tax reduction strategies most people fail to utilize which could save independent booksellers more than $10,000 each year in taxes.
Avoid probate and eliminate all estate taxes. Independent booksellers will be taken plan. Independent booksellers will learn what independent booksellers should be doing now to prepare for successful business and estate secession. Presenter: G. Kent Mangelson, American Society for Asset Protection
It takes a lifetime to accumulate assets. Take an afternoon to protect them.
SIGN UP FOR #SIBA11 TODAY BEFORE IT”S TOO LATE! – http://www.tradeshow.sibaweb.com/
#SIBA11 Exhibitors – A Step By Step Guide to Making the Most of Your Money!
Posted by Wanda in SIBA Trade Shows on July 21, 2011
We are looking forward to seeing you in Charleston. We are in touch with all of the southern booksellers and they are excited to see you in Charleston as well. We want to help you make the most of your time before, during, and after the #SIBA11 Trade Show. We’ll start with BEFORE and we’ll do during, and after soon.
BEFORE –
- Visit www.tradeshow.sibaweb.com/exhibitors and look to the right to log in with your User Name & Password. If you don’t know your User Name & Password, email nicki@sibaweb.com and she can have it sent to you. Once logged in, you will see extensive instructions also to your right.
- Once logged in, you will be at Submit a Listing. This listing is used in the trade show directory (first 50 words), in emails to booksellers, and here on the SIBA Trade Show site. A good listing shares with booksellers why they should visit your booth. Offering a show discount of free shipping, or increased terms, a raffle, or the opportunity to meet an author are all good ways to interest booksellers in coming by the booth. So is individually wrapped candy, giveaways and announcements of new products or services.
- Once you save your listing, please go look at it and make sure it looks like you want it to look. If it does, then Tweet it with the provided Tweet button.
- Speaking of Tweeting, follow @SIndies and use #SIBA11 when talking all things fall & all things bookselling – Hundreds of booksellers follow & track these items on Twitter and you want to be part of the conversation.
- Encourage your authors who will be featured at #SIBA11 whether at the show in person or not, to follow and tweet about SIBA as well as share info on Facebook that we can support with our social networks.
- Share your participation at #SIBA11 on your Facebook page as well. I only learned today that if you have both a personal Facebook, and a few pages (SIBA hosts 3 facebook pages – http://www.facebook.com/ReaderMeetWriter, http://www.facebook.com/ClubRead, and http://www.facebook.com/SouthernIndependentBooksellersAlliance ) that you can go to the upper right hand corner, click on account, and choose Use Facebook as Page; and Friend or Like from that point of view. Who knew? Use these free tools.
- Email me wanda@sibaweb.com and let me know you & your author Twitter & Facebook accounts so we can support you thru our extensive social networking efforts to southern booksellers and the industry as a whole.
#SIBA10 Delivered at Every Level
Posted by Wanda in SIBA Trade Shows on October 29, 2010
It has been a month since SIBA and we have been very busy. First of all let me say I have been attending SIBA over 20 years. As owner & bookseller at B&L Books over 23 years, I also attend SIBA as an exhibitor of our inventory control software program, The UBIC System. SIBA 2010 was one of the best for both. As a bookseller, I learned a lot about social networking, blogging, and e-commerce. I also got some insight into hosting events in the store and how to tie all this together. The trade show offered some great opportunities for us to learn more about children's and young adult books and incentive discounts especially from Penguin. Their rep was on top of everything. At HarperCollins we grabbed onto the idea to have a story time ticket event for Scaredy-cat Splat, which we incorporated into our Customer Appreciation Day last Saturday. We provided cat-ear headbands and face painting along with a goody bag, activities, and story reading all for the price of the book. The kids loved it and we had a good time doing it. Later that same afternoon we had Roxanne St. Claire in for an author signing. As an exhibitor at SIBA 2010, we were very pleased with the traffic and the opportunity to spend time with interested parties. I am glad to see ABA offering a new membership for bookstores whose inventory is 75% used. There are many independents who sell both new and used books and we are hoping to see some seminars for independents like us in the near future. Thank you Wanda and Nicki and Matt for all you do to make SIBA so great. Jan Packwood B&L Books 990 N. State Road 434 #1140 Altamonte Springs, FL 32714 407 682-0090 jan@ubicsystem.com
Bookseller & Boardmember Emily Bell Shares RE:#SIBA10
Posted by Wanda in SIBA Trade Shows on October 25, 2010
Written by Emily Bell, Page & Palette, Fairhope, AL; SIBA Boardmember
It is hard to imagine a place more dangerous for me than a book industry convention. As an unrepentant bookaholic, temptation was everywhere. Books from the top national and regional publishers, book related items, fellow booksellers and authors, authors, and more authors!
This was the 35th annual trade show for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance. They brought together its members with education sessions, the latest technology trends and head lining authors. Other booksellers from the Mobile Bay area made the trip to Daytona Beach – Russ Adams of Bienville Books as well as Page & Palette’s President Karin Wilson with her two publicists Anderson McKean and myself.
A personal highlight for me was being chosen to introduce author Watt Key, a fellow Birmingham-Southern College alum, to a packed room for a “Late Night Reading”. With seven other authors presenting, Watt told an entertaining account of his travel mishaps in order to arrive on time for the event. It required him to switch his flight to an Orlando arrival plus hiring a rental car (one that will never be a contender at the famed Daytona track). We were blessed that his resourcefulness landed him at the venue with time to spare. I always leap at the chance to brag on the author of “Alabama Moon” and his recent young adult novel “Dirt Road Home”.
Having met so many authors through their appearances for Page & Palette, I was often seated at their tables during meals and was able to witness first hand their special camaraderie. Shellie Tomlinson, River Jordan and I were a rowdy bunch during Patti Callahan Henry’s talk for her latest novel “The Perfect Love Song”. Lisa Patton met her literary hero, Alabama’s own Fannie Flagg who had read and admired Lisa’s novel “Whistin’ Dixie in a Nor’Easter”. After hearing that news, the Tennessee resident’s feet still have not touched the ground!
Speaking of Fannie Flagg, she made quite a favorable impression of the booksellers as the final speaker for the weekend’s hottest ticket. She was preceded by Emma Donoghue, author of “ROOM”, Walter Mosley, author of “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” and a newcomer to the publishing world, Benjamin Hale with “The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore”. Fannie was charming funny and supportive of her fellow writers and also kindly acknowledged her favorite booksellers, my boss Karin Wilson as well as Jake Reiss of the Alabama Booksmith in Birmingham. Fannie’s official launch for her latest novel “I Still Dream About You” will take place on its publication date, November 9 during events on either side of Mobile Bay.
By the weekend’s conclusion, many attendees called it the best book industry event in recent memory. For me, it is a bit difficult to call it “work” when I enjoyed myself as much as I did. Stay tuned for some of the books that we were introduced to at SIBA this year to be on the best seller lists and named as an “Okra” pick!
#SIBA10 – A place to geek out on book love
Posted by Wanda in SIBA Trade Shows on October 23, 2010
As an independent bookseller, I’m not the wealthiest guy on the block. My family stays clothed and fed, but we’re not vacationing in the Hamptons anytime soon. What moves me most about book conferences? Free stuff.
I get to stay at hotels I could never afford on my own, hotels with ocean views, clean towels, and cable TV. I’m clothed in clever promotional t-shirts. I get canvas carrying bags in all shapes and sizes. I’m taken out for drinks and dinner.
Best of all, SIBA feeds me. Books, books, so many books. We drove back from Daytona with the trunk riding low.
I’m not a troll, though. You know who I mean; the signs “FOR DISPLAY ONLY” were made for these light-fingered, determined folks. They frown all day, never speak to anyone, carry cardboard boxes around, and make runs between the show floor and their hotel room the entire time it’s open, taking anything and everything that’s not nailed down. I only select books I know I’ll read and love, or that someone else will read and love.
Meeting the various reps who I’ve been emailing and speaking with on the phone for six years was a delight. Our virtual selves have always been polite and professional, but it’s nice to finally meet and talk about books. I discovered a distributor of Florida books I’m always struggling to keep in stock, some extremely cool toddler bikes made of wood, and the joys of Edelweiss.
Meeting the publishers we struggle to order from was eye-opening. They answer to auditors and shareholders who could care less why an account with $15,000 in credit is holding $15, 127 worth of books, regardless of whether that account is current. The process is aggravating for everyone, but the frustration expressed is not a fiduciary one – it’s about not being able to get books into readers’ hands. Making new models for ordering books, much like Alfred Knopf did during the Great Depression when he started the whole consignment thing, is a tentative step toward getting publisher’s books in the stores, into bookseller’s hands, and ultimately allowing those stories to find their readers.
I love talking authors and readings with other booksellers. I love sharing ideas to help other stores who are just coming up, and taking their ideas back to my own store. I love being in a place where the excitement of finding a new storyteller, or a new story from a favorite voice, far outweighs the concerns over where the business is headed.
More than anything, I love being in a place where you can geek out on book love and no one looks at you funny.
Read more from bookseller Aaron Curtis here:
http://sweetwithfallandfish.blogspot.com/2010/10/do-not-enter-room-1408.html
Book Blogger Shows #SIBA10 Some Love and Then Some More
Posted by Wanda in SIBA Trade Shows on October 20, 2010
When I started my book blog a little over two years ago, book reviews were in a precarious place. Many of the traditional media outlets were discontinuing their book review sections and publishers and authors were looking for new ways to get their books noticed. They began turning to book bloggers to fill the void left behind.
As a book blogger who likes to feature book related content, as well as book reviews, I attend as many author and book events as possible. Quite often at these events, I find myself explaining (and sometimes defending) book blogs. That’s not the case at SIBA! I’ve been lucky enough to attend this wonderful event the last two years and have found that the folks at SIBA know the true meaning of Southern hospitality. I felt welcome and appreciated both years. Sure, people have questions, but only because they want to know more – they’ve never questioned my validity. This year, I was pleased to see that SIBA featured a panel encouraging booksellers to work with book bloggers.
Attending SIBA is like attending a weekend long book party, and it’s heavenly to a book geek like me. There’s not a whole lot better than spending a weekend rubbing elbows with bloggers, authors, bookstore owners and publisher’s reps. I came home tired, but also enthusiastic and refreshed! I love learning about new books, trends in publishing and book selling, and author’s motivations and goals.
I think so highly of the wonderful booksellers I’ve met at SIBA, I decided to create The Okra Picks Challenge to encourage people to read the fantastic Southern books being promoted by them. I am proud to feature Okra Picks on my blog!
I can’t thank everyone at SIBA enough for the warm welcome they’ve given me the past two years and I look forward to seeing everyone again next year!
Thanks,
Kathy, Bermudaonion’s Weblog
Five Best Things about #SIBA10
Posted by Wanda in SIBA Trade Shows on October 17, 2010
I just wanted to tell you that I had a lovely time at SIBA 2010. As a faculty member at University of entral Florida, I attended SIBA this year to meet people and find authors for our annual UCF Orlando ook Festival, April 16, 2011. I did meet a lot of authors and book sellers, but the highlight of my conference was just being around "book-ish" people! I loved the stimulating conversation around books. The authors' passion for their subjects and the writing process was contagious. I applaud the organizers of SIBA. The panels, followed by book signings seemed to flow nicely throughout he day. The meals were engaging and the generous time in-between events encouraged us to get together and talk. From my perspective as a professor it was a wonderful weekend and one that I hope to enjoy again next year! Five best things about SIBA 2010: 5. Location (Daytona Beach was spectacular!) 4. Food (breakfast, lunch, and dinner were scrumptious!) 3. Free books! Woo hoo! 2. Seeing old friends and making new ones 1. Conversations around books with "book-ies!" Susan Dr. Susan Wegmann Associate Professor University of Central Florida Director of Programs and Research, Morgridge International Reading Center (mirc.ucf.edu) swegmann@mail.ucf.edu College of Education - ED 322R PO Box 161250 Orlando, FL 32816-1250 (407) 823-6741 FAX (407)823-5144 Twitter: DocWegmann Skype: DocWegmann Second Life: Sequentia Writer Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/Swegmann
A First-Time Bookseller Shares #SIBA10 Experience
Posted by Wanda in SIBA Trade Shows on October 16, 2010
As a first timer to SIBA (or any book industry trade show for that matter), I was a little overwhelmed by what was offered. The bookseller education seminars were interesting. I sadly missed out on the one about Book Clubs, but I hope there will be some kind of recap of the seminars for those who found themselves choosing between two things they really wanted to hear about. Getting to interact with authors a bit was a blast. I learned about a ton of new and older titles through them. One in particular is worth relating. I stopped to see Sharyn McCrumb on Friday and our chat led to the fact that she has a novella about the town my store is in, Augusta. I was unaware of this and went to my phone immediately to see if I could get a copy (which I ordered used right away so I could have it waiting for me to read when I got home). While it’s no longer available in hardcover, I saw the mass market is still available and ordered a few for the store. We have a number of McCrumb fan’s who will surely be interested in the book, but also because of the historical ties of the story to Augusta, Sharyn’s going to be getting new exposure as an author to our customers as I handsell the book. Fantastic win-win eh?
I did make a number of other contacts, though on coming back home, almost too many, so I am trying to find time to review them all and follow up. One lesson I learned from this show: DON’T leave your business cards at the store! I took a lot of cards, but didn’t really have cards to give away due to that oversight and I would probably have some of these authors/agents following up with me if I had been able to give them a card. Next year I’m going to try to write down a little recap for myself after each event too… I have a feeling better organizational skills will help me make better use of what I learned.
On Saturday & Sunday, I walked through all the booths that were set up. Besides learning about product, I found a new POS that we’ll be implementing in the first quarter of next year should all go well and really enjoyed meeting the B&T people. They set me up with a theretailerplace.com account and hopefully well have that up and running this week or next at the latest. Though it’s not an answer to our every online need, it gives us a sales presence online and we can really push people who want to support us to use it over other online or boxstore offerings (especially for things we don’t really carry like Movies and Music which we don’t carry and have no locally owned non-box store alternative to get them from).
Of course, Sunday I attended the Moveable Feast of Authors, which was lots of fun. I really wish we had been able to meet more of the authors at our tables and I don’t know if this experience was universal or not, but I feel like we could have spent less time with each author and gotten to see more of them and made that personal contacts. Afterwords at the signing tables, it was pretty hectic and I wondered if the authors had all flatsigned the books beforehand and had them waiting in a bag for each attendee at the end if we couldn’t have gotten to see everyone by extended the lunch to that third hour we spent in the signing room and given each author 7-8 minutes per table. Either way, I will definitely attend the Moveable Feast at SIBA 2011.
Regards,
David Hutchison
The Book Tavern
http://www.booktavern.com/
1026 Broad Street
Augusta, GA 30901
706.826.1940
“I will never again suggest that SIBA exhibits go to one day.”
Posted by Wanda in SIBA Trade Shows on October 21, 2009
Note the Eat, Sleep, Read bags - Thank YOU Simon & Schuster
First, I had someone from a very large publisher tell me at the end of the show on Sunday that he would “never again suggest that SIBA exhibits should go to one day”. I’d love it if he’d step forward and identify himself in the comments section of this blog. SIBA was rockin’ and rollin’ and whatnot all morning on Sunday. I watched sales reps surreptitously (and in some cases, not at all) try to pack up and booksellers were still there trying to place orders, learn about new books and programs and on and on. It was quite amazing, even to me.
Second, in our survey of booksellers who attended the trade show, among all of the things that happen at SIBA, the exhibits were far and away the most valuable and most well-attended by a margin of 45%. The next favorite events at SIBA are the various meal functions starting this year with the SIBA Supper and the Southern Writers Lunch tying for most popular.
Cowboy Mike and many others support SIBA year after year. Thank YOU!
The other high traffic popular events that competed for the top draws were the Baker & Taylor Bookseller Lounge, ABA’s Social Media and the Independent Bookseller, Writing the South Author Panel, both SignArounds, The Anatomy of Spectacular Author Events, The Taste of HarperCollins Breakfast, The Writer’s Block Auction, The Hyperion Breakfast, The All-STARS Autograph Area, and Ingram’s The Moveable Feast of Author. And one bookseller referenced “the cool Bookazine neckwear” as the item they found absolutely necessary to a successful SIBA.
The Storytelling Stage & Chefs Corner were new this year and a big hit with booksellers.
SIBA from Both Sides
Posted by Wanda in SIBA Trade Shows on October 3, 2009
My name is Erica Eisdorfer and I’ve been a bookseller at the Bull’s Head Bookshop in Chapel Hill, NC for 30 years. I’m also the author of a novel, out from Putnam in August, called The Wet Nurse’s Tale.
I’ve attended my share of SIBAs and BEAs and also ABAs (which proves that I’ve been in the business for a long time, that I still call it the ABA, I mean) but always as a bookseller. This year I went as an author. The contrast was interesting. Here’s my take on two sides of SIBA.
As bookseller Erica, the view of SIBA is larger than as an author, I would say. There are so many aspects of the industry to think about: returns and electronic books and censorship and whether the books are good this season and whether you’ve missed anything important. And there’s sort of a community feeling floating around. You’re there with all these like-minded people who more than likely got into the business because of some bookish siren-song and you walk around looking at the publishers’ wares and you know that you have problems and joys in common. You look at other nametags and think oh, I’ve heard of that store, that’s a big store and you feel excited to see the face of the store and sort of inspired to think about what that store has been able to do–the creative ideas its had–to make it.
As author, the view of SIBA is smaller, like looking through the wrong end of the telescope, but still pretty compelling. You’re thinking about your one book and you’re thinking about how to make yourself seem charming and accessible and you’re feeling that standard oh-if-I-could-only-get-them-to-read-it-then-I-know-they-would-love-it feeling. What’s for sure is that any author who didn’t quite understand the value of the independent store before they went to SIBA, would get their eyes opened right quick to the total understanding of: oh I see! THESE are the important people, these booksellers who, if you can make them read your book, will talk it up and hand sell it and move it right along. I mean, it seems to me, that if you’re an author who didn’t understand that concept before, that when you sit and sign books for booksellers from Sparta and Galax and Gwinnett County and Wilmington, well then you’d get it.
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Lady Banks Bookshelf
