Posts Tagged trade show
Love an Indie #SIBA11 Membership Offer for Book Bloggers
Posted by Wanda in GiB Book Bloggers on May 6, 2011
Love an Indie #SIBA11 Membership Offer for Book Bloggers
Calling All Book Bloggers ! SIBA wants to make a trade. Place a “Find an Indie Bookstore” badge above the fold on the homepage of your website and SIBA will waive your $195 dues. Just let us know when the badge has been placed and we will mark you current. There are many benefits to membership in SIBA. Let us count the ways!
- Receive a complete contact list of all of SIBA’s member stores on demand—including contact names, email addresses, phone and mailing addresses via email.
- Three passes to the #SIBA11 Trade Show.
- Reduced prices for advertising & table rental at #SIBA11.
- Be informed. Stay in the loop. Don’t miss the numerous SIBA opportunities to connect with each other, indie booksellers, and the industry-at-large across the south.
We’re all in this together!
Steps to Love an Indie and become a member of SIBA for Free:
- Choose a badge and embed the appropriate code on your website, “above the fold.”
- Email wanda@sibaweb.com when your badge is on your site, and we will give you a free membership in SIBA ($195 value!)
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<a href=”http://www.authorsroundthesouth.com/STARS/bookstore.php”><img src=”http://www.sibaweb.com/luv/baby175.jpg” alt=”I want to grow up in an indie bookstore!” width=”175″ height=”162″ border=”0″></a> |
<a href=”http://www.authorsroundthesouth.com/STARS/bookstore.php”><img src=”http://www.sibaweb.com/luv/redhead175.jpg” alt=”Dahling! Let’s meet up at an indie bookstore.” width=”175″ height=”175″ border=”0″></a> |
<a href=”http://www.authorsroundthesouth.com/STARS/bookstore.php”><img src=”http://www.sibaweb.com/luv/goldfish175.jpg” alt=”Gotta go…to an indie bookstore!” width=”175″ height=”164″ border=”0″></a> |
<a href=”http://www.authorsroundthesouth.com/STARS/bookstore.php”><img src=”http://www.sibaweb.com/luv/monsters175.jpg” alt=”all the cool aliens and monsters are at the independent bookstore!” width=”175″ height=”175″ border=”0″></a> |
<a href=”http://www.authorsroundthesouth.com/STARS/bookstore.php”><img src=”http://www.sibaweb.com/luv/prettygirl175.jpg” alt=”Going my way? I’m going to an indie bookstore” width=”175″ height=”175″ border=”0″></a> |
<a href=”http://www.authorsroundthesouth.com/STARS/bookstore.php”><img src=”http://www.sibaweb.com/luv/werelost175.jpg” alt=”I know we’re close to an indie bookstore” width=”175″ height=”130″ border=”0″></a> |
<a href=”http://www.authorsroundthesouth.com/STARS/bookstore.php”><img src=”http://www.sibaweb.com/luv/flowerpower175.jpg” alt=”Find an indie bookstore” width=”175″ height=”175″ border=”0″></a> |
<a href=”http://www.authorsroundthesouth.com/STARS/bookstore.php”><img src=”http://www.sibaweb.com/luv/catanddog175.jpg” alt=”We need a good home at an indie bookstore” width=”175″ height=”185″ border=”0″></a> |
<a href=”http://www.authorsroundthesouth.com/STARS/bookstore.php”><img src=”http://www.sibaweb.com/luv/moovealong175.jpg” alt=”Moooove along to an indie bookstore!” width=”175″ height=”194″ border=”0″></a> |
Terrified to go to #SIBA10?
Posted by Wanda in Uncategorized on October 27, 2010
Submitted by
Michelle Cavalier, Owner, Cavalier House Books
michelle@cavalierhousebooks.com
http://www.cavalierhousebooks.com
I was terrified to go to the SIBA trade show! I opened my store in September of ’09, and it still doesn’t feel real, so I knew people were going to call me out on it. I thought that people would tell me I wasn’t a real bookseller and that I didn’t belong. Basically, that they would find me out and know my secret. I’m not a bookseller! I’m just a book lover. I don’t know anything about running a business.
And then I got there and I saw it. You are all just like me. Everyone in this business is in it because they love books. Yeah, they may be older and wiser than me and they may have some clue as to what it means to own or run a small business, but really I had nothing to hide or be ashamed of.
The day of education served to solidify this new belief. SIBA is, as the acronym allows, an alliance. The trade show was about being a book lover and learning to be a better bookseller. There were people here to help me learn the business and promotional stuff! I wanted to divide myself into several ‘mini-me’s in order to attend all of the available classes and panels, but alas there is only one of me. However, those I was able to attend were great.
First was “Get in Bed with a Book Blogger” with the bloggers from Beatrice.com (Ron Hogan) and The Book Lady’s Blog (Rebecca Joines Schinsky) as well as Kelly Justice, owner of Fountain Bookstore and SIBA president. I was so looking forward to this because I am ready to jump in bed with a blogger of my own. What should I expect of her? She of me? They answered it all and I am ready to implement their suggestions in my store and online. Then there was what I called the Malaprops’ Twitter Class. I asked several questions, but they were patient with me. I had no idea how Twitter worked really or the etiquette of it. Thanks to the Malaprops’ ladies I have been significantly more active on Twitter, but I still have a lot to learn (and a lot of first day of school awkwardness to get over).
I also attended two author panels (“True Southern: Books Steeped in the South” and “Cooking Up a Storm: Sharing recipes with readers”) as well as all of the author meals (wherein we did not eat authors, but listened to them speak). From the very first breakfast my TBR pile started growing and by Sunday evening it was taller than I am. How could I ever have been intimidated by these authors? They were all so eager to talk about their work and mine. Everyone was so approachable, and I realized – these are my people! Then the exhibits opened and I saw so many people geeking out over new books. It was so exciting and refreshing to see so many people as excited as I was about exactly the same things. Our collected passion: books!
The final coup came on Sunday morning at the “Good Ideas Breakfast.” I shared my idea of partnering with a local travel agent for literary tours, and they liked it. Everyone was so supportive. They liked my idea and counted me as one of their own. As it turns out, all of my insecurities were unfounded. I am not only a booklover, but a bookseller and business owner. So, thanks to you, my fellow SIBA members, for reminding me why I’m doing this in the first place. See you again next year.
Halperin Hails #SIBA10
Posted by Wanda in Authors as Guest Bloggers on October 19, 2010
#SIBA10 was my first SIBA (and my first trade show) ever. I had a great time! I met many wonderful people. I loved participating in the “Aliens to Zombies” panel, masterfully moderated by Brian Lee Knopp. I was particularly impressed by the great volunteers, like Barb and Janine–when a glitch arose with the ARCs of my book, and this shell-shocked author had no idea what to do, these two ladies took the time to give me the guidance I neede
d.
Overall, it’s an experience I’ll remember fondly for a very long time.
David Halperin
Author, Journal of a UFO Investigator (out from Viking in February 2011)
www.davidhalperin.net
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
SIBA stands for “Southern Indies Beat All”
Posted by Wanda in Authors as Guest Bloggers on October 7, 2010
SIBA stands for “Southern Indies Beat All”
What an amazing experience SIBA 2011 was for me!
As a first timer and a non-southerner, my nervousness was only surpassed by my overwhelming desire to be accepted, not unlike meeting my in laws for the first time. But just as my new family from Mobile, AL welcomed me lovingly and sincerely into their embrace, so did the wonderful booksellers of team SIBA! The authors were gracious with their advice as were the people working the trade show. And the staff at SIBA under the direction of Wanda Jewell make it looks so effortless to be so professional, organized, and hospitable, which we all know takes TONS of work behind the scenes.
To all of you who made me laugh and feel so welcome, thank you for making me feel like I have a home away from home!!
Sandra Brannan
In The Belly Of Jonah
Cleaning Out my Email Inbox
How did email become such a burden? I remember the first time I was able to email hundreds of people at one time with information that I had before had to print, proof, fold, insert, address, post, and mail. And the first time I was able to send an attachment to several folks for review. When before we had done these round-robin mailings where folks would make their comments, and mail it on to the next recepient. And likely, it never made its way around and would have to wait until folks got together in person. Email is a beautiful thing.
And yet, I struggle with David Allen’s GTD strategy of emptying my email box daily. When I move items to folders before they are done, I forget about them. And it does not seem productive to have a folder called Stuff To Do. Sometimes I print them out and make a stack in my physical inbox so that I can move them out of my email inbox but that seems counter-intuitive, like handling a piece of paper one too many times. And then there is my volleyball strategy. It is where I basically throw the email back over the net to the person that sent it without really dealing with the issue at hand, by continuing to ask questions, or further delineate, or sometimes to even ask them to call me. (I want to apologize to you personally right now if you see yourself in any of my email responses, and, if you do, feel free to email me about it.)
I have 79 emails in my email inbox right now. I plowed through a ton of them today which led me to thinking about this blog post. And still I have 79. The oldest one is dated Jan. 31, 2010. It is a welcome email to compete.com that I have not visited since I signed up. I have flight info for trips I have yet to take. There are many emails about BEA events and the SIBA Book Awards, SIBA Trade Show Info, and Google reminders. And all of these things are important to me. Proof of their importance is that they are still in my inbox. But at the same time, they are still in my inbox. Tomorrow, it is my goal to empty my email inbox. Wish me well.
“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.
