The 52nd annual New England Independent Booksellers Association fall conference, held last week in Manchester, N.H., drew 547 attendees, including 265 booksellers and 70 authors, and featured three days of lively, informative panels, author events, the trade show, parties, fundraising events and contests, and a banquet dinner celebrating the winners of the 2025 New England Book Awards, reps, and bookstores. The smoothly run event addressed a range of issues, from the state of the country to nuts-and-bolts concerns--and of course allowed attendees to mix and share tips and advice. 

Highlights included the opening and closing keynotes. Jon Meacham's opening keynote on Tuesday was a funny, chilling, and ultimately hopeful speech, in which he called booksellers "soldiers in a cause of enlightenment, democracy, and dissent," essential for the American experiment to continue. Alix E. Harrow, whose upcoming title is The Everlasting, to be published by Tor Books on October 28, gave the closing keynote (see report below).

The new location--the first time in living memory that the conference was held north of Boston--was an especially easy trip for booksellers from Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Downtown Manchester has a range of restaurants and cafés nearby, and the host hotel was a pleasant venue. Next year NEIBA will return to its 2024 location: Newton, Mass.

The Book Publishers Representatives of New England's Independent Spirit Award was presented to the Silver Unicorn Bookstore, Acton, Mass., during the awards banquet. Afterwards owner Paul Swydan and general manager Megan Birch-McMichael enjoyed the moment.

On the last day, NEIBA held a new raffle for bookstore attendees. Prizes included free imprints in the summer and holiday catalogue, retreat scholarships, and travel scholarships to Ci26 and Wi26 (won by Andrea Iriarte of Molly's Bookstore in Melrose, Mass., and Brian Phillips of Maxima Book Center, in Lexington, Mass., respectively).

At the annual meeting, president Liz Whitelam of Whitelam Books, Reading, Mass., praised the conference, calling it "a chance to step outside of our day-to-day group, take a breath, and get inspired. Coming together to share ideas, commiserate about challenges, and rejoice in each other's successes is always the motivating tonic I need to take back to the store, look the oncoming season in the eye, and say, 'Let's go.' "

Calling this past year "a modestly difficult year," NEIBA executive director Beth Ineson noted that holiday catalog income was "way down," causing budget problems; the very capable Evelyn Maguire was out on a six-month maternity leave, which has had a big impact on a "two-person office"; and "the incipient fall of democracy, which colors everything."

At NEIBA's just concluded Fall Conference, a slew of book people joined Newtonville Books general manager Nick Petrulakis at the Hilton's "Newtonville Books Suite": (from left) Emma Kaas, co-owner, Norwich Bookstore; Geoff Raywood, manager, Trident Bookstore; David Goldberg, sales & marketing director, Pushkin Press/Steerforth Press; Ben White, Macmillan senior national account manager; Keith Arsenault, Chesapeake and Hudson sales rep (and 2025 Saul Gilman Award winner); Sean Maher, sales/marketing/publicity director, Chelsea Green Publishing; Sam Kaas, co-owner, Norwich Bookstore; Clarissa Murphy, general manager, Parkside Bookshop; Emily Holden-Cervone, Chronicle Books New England sales rep; (kneeling) Amy Van Keuren, Charter Books; Steve Iwanski, owner, Charter Books

Still, the association's financial situation is "stable and strong," said treasurer and clerk Sam Kaas, co-owner of Norwich Bookstore, Norwich, Vt. He noted that the budget deficit for the fiscal year was $42,000, citing the drop in catalog sales as well as "the increased costs of putting on a show like this." NEIBA is "working to address both those challenges." He emphasized that he has "tremendous confidence in our ability to do so. We're booksellers. This is what we do, and as the world changes and revenue streams change and evolve, we're constantly working to figure out new ways to deliver the same kind of programming, the same kind of wonderful marketing programs that you've come to rely on." The association is looking to cut last year's deficit in half by reducing spending and hopefully increasing revenue. NEIBA is drawing on its endowment to cover the balance.

Ineson said she's "very excited about 2026 and what we've got coming." The NEIBA booksellers map is nearly done, and it will be available by Independent Bookstore Day on April 25, 2026.

Last year, NEIBA funded an HR resource for bookstores and is renewing it this year. Participating bookstores gave the service "great reviews," Ineson said.

And the association will "shake things up a little" with the 2026 Spring Forum, whose dates haven't been set yet. The first day will be author-focused, and the second day will be "an exhibit day for sidelines only." Ineson called spring "a good time to think about sidelines."

Ineson praised and thanked Maguire as well as regular NEIBA helpers Elissa Sweet and Beth Wagner, "the dream team when it comes to event running." --John Mutter

In the closing keynote at last week's NEIBA Fall Conference, author Alix E. Harrow described her upcoming title The Everlasting (October 28; Tor Books) as being about "a big sad lady knight stuck in a time loop, and the cowardly historian who is sent back in time to make sure she keeps playing her part." Harrow's fourth novel is "a mix of my childhood obsession with lady knights (or any girl with a sword), becoming an adult, and beginning to examine things like knighthood and chivalry through a different lens." Even though she's a grownup now, she said, "and I know that knights were private security landowners and are kind of a bummer (ACAB includes knights), I'm still swept away by the romanticism of the knight as a hero, as a symbol. The entire medieval world still kind of has that romance for me. But it relies on there being a king worth serving."

Liberty Hardy (l.) and Alix Harrow

In a conversation with Book Riot senior contributing editor and podcaster Liberty Hardy, Harrow noted that despite growing up reading secondary world fantasy novels, this is her first time writing one. "It was one of the things that intimidated me the most," she said. "I feel like I rely on real history to make books convincing, but it turns out that what mattered most to me in building a secondary world was the way power and hierarchy worked--all of that has to be absolutely familiar." To illustrate this point, Harrow recounted a question from a fan. "You're such a good writer," the fan said. "Why do you write fantasy?" To the audience, Harrow replied, "Excuse me, ma'am, you are coming to the genre of [Ursula K.] Le Guin and you ask me that?"

But it has only been since she has had "a career writing fantasy" that Harrow has considered why she writes it: "You can use the tools of magic to magnify real things. You can talk about agency or women's agency--or you could have an actual witch. It's a way of literalizing the things that are important to us." Also, it was easy to write a protagonist obsessed with lady knights "because I, too, have been obsessed with lady knights."

Distinctly not easy, she said, was writing a time loop. "I love time loop stories," Harrow explained. "I love time travel as a concept of fiction. And then as soon as you try to plot a book around it, you're like, 'Uh oh, it's really complicated.' " Harrow continued: "I thought I could do it and that it would be fine. I'm never going to do it again. When this book went through copy edits, I had god's favorite copy editor who sent me a 27-page document tracking every time loop." Only once, the copy editor said, did Harrow make a mistake. When Hardy asked Harrow if she would like to time travel herself, the response was quick: "No! The stuff I had to keep track of just to write about it? I would be frozen with terror immediately." What about a tourist time travel trip? "Maybe... Who is in charge of this tour?"

As Hardy brought the conversation to a close, she asked Harrow what indies mean to her. "You warned me you were going to ask me this question," Harrow said, and reminisced about how a librarian once told her not to pander to a crowd of librarians, telling them that she "grew up spending time in libraries" and "loved" them. With that being said, "I am going to pander. I grew up in Kentucky and there was no indie bookstore nearby. I think the reason I have fond memories of indie bookstores is because of fictional ones like The Neverending Story. I very much had an idea of what a bookstore was before I ever stepped foot in one. So, one of the bigger privileges of having this job is getting to fly around the country and go to bookstores which still feel a little mythical to me. Like, ohmygod, it's just like on TV!" --Siân Gaetano, children's and YA editor, Shelf Awareness

Do you carry 50-lb. boxes up and down stairs on a regular basis? Climb up and down ladders? Decide you can totally drag that full bookcase across the floor? To the surprise of no one, you are not alone. Fred Rossero (Oblong Books, Rhinebeck, N.Y.), Kelsy April (sales rep, W.W. Norton), Josh Christie (Print: A Bookstore, Portland, Maine), and Peter Sherman (Wellesley Books, Wellesley, Mass.) have all been there. During their NEIBA panel, Bookseller Wellness 101 (or: Our Bodies Are Prisons of Flesh), they moved the discussion about the physicality and pain of working in bookstores past simple answers--stretch, hydrate--and instead had a conversation that was both broad and specific about bodies, store culture, and taking care of yourself.

Panelists (from l.) Fred Rossero, Kelsy April, Josh Christie, and Peter Sherman feel your pain.

Rossero opened by reminding the audience that the panel did not include medical professionals--"we're just discussing based on our own experiences. There is no one-size fits all advice." The group started off with introductions to their work--and physical--experience. For Rossero, "It's been a process learning to enjoy my job without so much pain." Christie, who is a co-owner of Print, said that "even now, most of my job is frontline bookselling. One of the reasons I wanted to be on this panel is realizing the outcome of bookselling on my body after 20 years." Sherman has been a bookseller for "something like 45 years. I have been lifting and climbing and stretching for most of that time," he said. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I'm the oldest person on this panel and, as that person, I am recognizing my limits more than ever." April, who was a bookseller for 15 years and is now a sales rep for Norton, has worn "many hats as a bookseller: frontline receiving, manager, buying.... As a rep, I do a lot of sitting. And that difference in job has made a difference in how my body feels."

What, Rossero asked, "is something you've done that you look back on that makes you cringe?" Sherman once lifted a hand truck handle directly into his jaw--"it made me realize I'm really stupid." April said the "most regrettable thing I've ever done was pick up three fully loaded Penguin House #18s off the floor just to see if I could. You don't have to do that." Rossero refused help "carrying a very large air conditioner up the stairs" and dropped it on his toe. Christie, who admits his largest flaw in this arena is "thinking speed is the most laudable asset," was excited to show off the store's new ball caps for social media. "We went to a local playground to make some posts. I had not stretched and there were monkey bars, and I tore my left rotator cuff."

From there, the conversation was focused around two main themes: how to be good to your body and how to develop a store culture that allows others to be good to their bodies.

Being Good to Your Body
Rossero asked what things the panelists had done right for their body. "For me," he said, "the first thing was actually getting supportive shoes." Sherman agreed: "Shoes. Definitely. I'm not driven by fashion, but I realized it wasn't just my feet, my legs were hurting, too. I stumbled into a Dr. Scholl's device at a CVS store and never looked back. Now I own six pairs of the same shoes." For Christie and April, including more movement in their lives was an improvement. Christie said that a "lot of [being good to his body] was prioritizing activity and cardiovascular activity. Hiking and golfing during the summer and skiing during the winter." April said "the most valuable thing that I've learned is that bodies like consistency, and the body you have at home is the same body you have at work. Bodies are highly adaptable, so incorporating activity when I'm not at work is important. I focus mostly on core strength."

April discussed getting in tune with your own body: "Learning the difference between soreness and pain is key. Finding a regular exercise that I liked to do was huge in figuring that out." Christie agreed. "Being a skier, I think about good sore versus bad sore. If your job is making you sore, you can certainly work with your bosses to reduce that load; if your job is making you feel pain, that's not okay." April also mentioned focusing on that which we all know we should be doing--stretching and moving. But she expanded the concept, saying, "the best posture is the next posture--moving your posture throughout the day is what's good for you."

Creating a Culture
Have you ever found yourself setting a precedent you didn't realize you were setting, Rossero asked. Christie responded, "taking a holistic view of everyone's health has been really important to me, but also really difficult. I repeatedly tell my employees that they don't need to move as fast as me, there is no expectation. But I still move at that pace. So, I have to take better care of myself first." Sherman reminded the audience to do things with intention: "I try to pace things out so that no one person is rushing ahead with stacks of books. When I think about the stakes that are at play when someone is carrying things up or down the stairs, care is important. Speed is not the goal; getting things in the right place in the right way is the goal." April reminded people to ask for help: "Use tools if you have them. If you have a hand truck or a wagon, use it. Create a culture of 'we're all in this together.' At the end of the day, we're all humans in bodies, and we don't want to be hurting these bodies."

Rossero asked the panelists what they should do if their store culture is one in which a bookseller doesn't feel comfortable taking care of themselves. How should the person advocate for their needs? Sherman: "There are so many other aspects of preparing for things that don't necessarily require physical activity--find a way to play a role in the physically lighter tasks." Christie: "Specificity is what I would hope for the most. I would rather not assume malice in place of ignorance. If there are tasks that need to be done, explain why it is you are unable to do them so they can be adjusted." April: "Be honest with yourself and with your coworkers. Think about the workflow of your business and how you can create efficiencies to get things done around the store."

How about offsite events? It is often just one person doing the bulk of the work--how do you watch out for yourself and your staff? "The biggest thing we do is related to time," Christie said. "Give your employees enough time to do a reasonable number of things at a reasonable pace, have time to take a break before the event, and make sure they have the amount of time to do all of that in reverse." Sherman echoed Christie's points and said he does "preliminary run-throughs when doing events at new places." They also "repack boxes, breaking larger ones down into smaller boxes." Rossero smiled and led the group in some of the more obvious things we can do to help ourselves but often ignore or forget. "Check the weather first" if doing something outdoors. "Drink water. Drink more water than you think you need to," Christie said. "Also eat food. Give your body the best chance it has to get through the event without injury."

The panel closed with April demonstrating how to properly lift a box (use your core!) and leading the group through some seated stretching. A personal suggestion? Let's always end panels with stretching. --Siân Gaetano, children's and YA editor, Shelf Awareness

Stable Distribution, the recently formed distribution division of the Stable Book Group in partnership with Hachette Book Group, has announced its "first wave" of publishing partners. The division launches in January 2026.

National Book Travelers, consisting of Imprint Group (West), Fujii Associates (Midwest), and Como Sales (East), has been appointed to represent the U.S. independent and educational wholesale markets. Manda Group will represent all sales channels in the Canadian market.

Chris Gruener, CEO of the Stable Book Group, said, "This first group of 15 publishers reflects what the Stable is all about--distinct editorial visions, entrepreneurial teams, and books with defined audiences. By combining Hachette's world‑class operations with a purpose‑built sales organization and our Perfect Bound technology, we're creating an advantage for independents at every stage of a book's life."

Including most of Stable Book Group's imprints and partners, the 15 distribution publishers are:

Bushel & Peck Books, a children's publisher known for its book‑for‑book promise: for every book sold, one is donated to a child in need.

Empress Editions, which amplifies midlife women's voices with a list that includes rom-coms, humorous midlife fiction, romantasy, and prescriptive nonfiction.

Fayetteville Mafia Press, which specializes in pop culture books with a focus on David Lynch, television, and sports. It will soon enter the adventure genre with The Midas Touch, a new book from the writers of the Natural Treasures franchise.

Galpón Press, the publishing imprint founded by industry veteran Michael Jacobs and Sheridan Hay that specializes in projects of passion and interest--local, regional, seasonal, and literary.

Islandport Press, a Maine publisher focusing on stories rooted in Maine and New England in adult and children's categories.

Notable Kids, a children's house that focuses on picture and chapter books that have won numerous national awards.

Montague Books, Stable's new hybrid imprint offering both fiction and nonfiction publishing, combining editorial and design services with generous royalties and author collaboration.

Mountain Gazette Books, a new imprint from the outdoor magazine focusing on mountain culture and adventure.

PUG (Pan‑Universal Galactic Worldwide), a new hybrid publisher from industry veterans John Nee and John Barber, focusing on comics, graphic novels, art books, and more.

Trafalgar Square Books, an equestrian publisher known for its authoritative and beautifully produced titles on horses, riding, and the New England natural world.

Skybox Press, a custom publisher of sports commemorative books and official team histories created in partnership with professional sports leagues.

Ulysses Press, which focuses on lifestyle, pop culture, self-help, humor, and how-to titles.

VeloPress Books, which specializes in endurance sports, publishing training guides, biographies, and fitness books for runners, cyclists, triathletes, and passionate athletes.

Whitefox, a U.K. publishing services agency that partners with authors, global brands, and organizations to create books.

Worldwide Buddies, a children's publisher that creates picture books and games designed for little ones to explore the world and celebrate cultures through fun, playful ways.

Tim Hepp

Tim Hepp, longtime sales rep at Simon & Schuster, is retiring on September 30. During his 33-year career at S&S, he sold early on to magazine and book wholesalers when mass market paperbacks were so popular, and has been selling for many years to Bookazine, Brodart, B&N College, and independent bookstores. He won the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association's Helmuth Sales Rep of the Year award in 2009 and was twice a finalist for PW's Rep of the Year award.

In a memo to staff, Wendy Sheanin, v-p, independent retail sales at S&S, called Hepp "an exceptional sales rep, a generous colleague, and a dear friend... He's been a tireless advocate for our books, authors, and publishers--and especially for his accounts all these years.... Tim has always worked to make us better publishers. He loves to learn our list, curate it for his accounts, attend author events, visit new stores, to offer merchandising suggestions, go to trade shows, emcee NAIBA events."

She added: "We will miss Tim's insights, his humor, and his poetry, but we wish him well as he begins this next chapter where he will get to spend more time with his wife, Lynn, and their child, Jules, and much less time on e-mail."

New Dominion Bookshop in Charlottesville, Va., hosted Tochi Eze in celebration of her debut novel, This Kind of Trouble (Tiny Reparations Books). She was in conversation with author Bruce Holsinger.

"If you're from Michigan, then you know how serious us Michiganders get about which college football team we support," Schuler Books, which operates bookstores in Grand Rapids, Okemos, Ann Arbor, & West Bloomfield, Mich., posted on Facebook. "You're either a MSU fan or a UofM fan and there's no in between! If you're looking for some goodies to show your pride in your team, stop by our stores. We carry jewelry from Stone Armory, puzzles showcasing your favorite stadium, stuffies for the little fans, and more!"

Debra Linn has been joined TvS Media Group as marketing director. She was previously marketing director for Algonquin Books.

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Emily Engwall has joined Kensington Publishing as communications manager. Engwall formerly was senior marketing & publicity associate at Sourcebooks.

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Gary Lovely has joined Abraham Associates as a sales rep. He was most recently co-owner and managing partner at Two Dollar Radio HQ bookstore and café and is vice-president of the board of the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association.

The Book of Fairies by Susie Spikol, illus. by Reina Metallinou (Gibbs Smith).

Today:
Good Morning America: Samin Nosrat, author of Good Things: Recipes and Rituals to Share with People You Love (Random House, $45, 9781984857781).

Today: Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, author of Just Shine!: How to Be a Better You (Philomel Books, $18.99, 9780593206294).

CBS Mornings: former Senator Joe Manchin, author of Dead Center: In Defense of Common Sense (St. Martin's Press, $32, 9781250411631). He will also appear on the View.

Fresh Air: Trymaine Lee, author of A Thousand Ways to Die: The True Cost of Violence on Black Life in America (St. Martin's Press, $29, 9781250098016). 

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Gary Myers, author of Brady vs. Belichick: The Dynasty Debate (St. Martin's Press, $31, 9781250381194).

CBS Mornings: Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham, mother and daughter and authors of The Academy: A Novel (Little, Brown, $30, 9780316567855).

Today: Matthew McConaughey, author of Poems & Prayers (Crown, $29, 9781984862105).

Also on Today: Terry and Tammy Bradshaw, co-authors of The Bradshaw Family Cookbook: Our Favorite Recipes for Game Days, Weekdays, and Any Day (Flatiron, $34.99, 9781250344939).

The View: John Edward, co-author of Chasing Evil: Shocking Crimes, Supernatural Forces, and an FBI Agent's Search for Hope and Justice (St. Martin's Essentials, $32, 9781250291752).

At last night's Emmy Awards celebration, book-related productions had few moments of glory, though Slow Horses did manage to pick up some hardware for best director. Bookish Emmys went to:

Slow Horses, based the Slough House novel series by Mick Herron: Directing for a drama series (Adam Randall, "Hello Goodbye")

The Penguin, based on the DC Comics character: Lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie (Cristin Milioti)

Babylonia by Costanza Casati has won the 2025 £10,000 (about $13,550) Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, sponsored by the Wilbur & Niso Smith Foundation. This was the second year in a row that a work of historical fiction won the prize.

Organizers wrote: "Set in 9th-century BC Assyria, Babylonia follows Semiramis, an orphan who rises from obscurity to claim the ancient throne, navigating love, war and betrayal in a world obsessed with power."

One member of the panel that selected the longlist and shortlist said: "Ancient Assyria is a culture shock in many senses. The juxtaposition of the beauty and excesses of those in power and the brutality meted out to those without is breathtaking... Semiramis's tale feels wholly unique--bold, rarely told, and brought to life with ferocious intensity. I haven't read anything quite like this. Casati takes a semi-mythical figure and gives her depth, rage, love, and vision--elevating the narrative beyond the usual rise-to-power arc."

The National Book Foundation released longlists for the 2025 National Book Awards last week. Finalists will be announced October 7, and winners named November 19 at the 76th National Book Awards Ceremony. This year's longlisted fiction titles are:

The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) by Rabih Alameddine (Grove Press)
Flashlight by Susan Choi (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy (Mariner)
The Sisters by Jonas Hassen Khemiri (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar (Knopf)
Only Son by Kevin Moffett (McSweeney's)
The Antidote by Karen Russell (Knopf)
North Sun: Or, the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther by Ethan Rutherford (A Strange Object/Deep Vellum Publishing)
Palaver by Bryan Washington (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
The Pelican Child by Joy Williams (Knopf)

For anyone who's followed John Irving's nearly six-decades-long literary career, settling into another of his novels feels like stepping into a beloved pair of slippers. But, as he demonstrates in Queen Esther, that sense of homecoming shouldn't distract readers from the insight and empathy that have consistently characterized his work, including this tenderhearted bildungsroman about a writer whose life, not surprisingly, bears some similarity to Irving's own.

Irving's previous novel, The Last Chairlift, clocked in at more than 900 pages, and though Queen Esther doesn't make it to even half that length, there's no shortage of engaging characters and complications to keep the plot pulsing along. In what's clearly a homage in both substance and style to Charles Dickens's Great Expectations, it tells the story of Jimmy Winslow, whose grandfather Thomas teaches English at Pennacook Academy, a New Hampshire boys' prep school, and who's instilled in his grandson a love of the Victorian novel.

Jimmy's story is intertwined with that of Esther Nacht, who is Jewish and was born in Vienna in 1905. She emigrates with her parents at age three, but after her father dies in transit and her mother is murdered in Portland, Maine, she's abducted and taken to an orphanage operated by Dr. Wilbur Larch (whom readers might recognize from Irving's 1985 novel The Cider House Rules). As a teenager, Esther is brought into Jimmy's grandparent's household to serve as an au pair for the daughter they're expecting.

Irving (Avenue of Mysteries), who has tackled the issue of bigotry against sexual minorities in novels like The World According to Garp and In One Person, turns his attention here to antisemitism. It manifests in the genteel-seeming bigotry of Pennacook's townspeople toward Esther, and surfaces in Esther's native Austria, where Jimmy spends his junior year of college in 1963-64, feeling the first stirrings of his dream to become a writer. Without sacrificing the demands of his story to that concern, Irving subtly but persistently raises awareness about the pervasiveness of the ancient hatred.

With its New England and Vienna settings, presence of a handful of wrestlers, the prominent role of an animal (no bears, but there is a German Shepherd named after a Bob Dylan song), and lots of talk about sexual subjects (circumcision is a big one), many of Irving's familiar tropes are here to delight his longtime readers. At its heart, Queen Esther is a gentle story about identity and family, the one we're born into and the one that, if we're fortunate, grows organically out a lifetime of loving relationships. It clearly reflects John Irving's compassion and generosity of spirit, recognizing our flaws while still focusing on what's best in us. --Harvey Freedenberg, freelance reviewer

Shelf Talker: A novel instantly recognizable as the work of John Irving tells an affecting story of a writer's origins and the influence of a strong-minded Jewish immigrant woman on his life.