Intrepid rep Sean Concannon of Parson Weems reports on the NEIBA show held this past weekend:
The New England Independent Booksellers association rolled into Providence, R.I., last Thursday for three days of celebrating authors, learning more about the business and in a few cases, sneaking away to Federal Hill for some excellent Italian food. The event kicked off with the awards luncheon: Father of the Rain by Lily King took the New England Book Award for Fiction, Let's Take the Long Way Home by Gail Caldwell won for nonfiction and Mo Willems' City Dog, Country Frog took best children's book. Other awards presented during NEIBA weekend: Book Publishers Reps of New England gave its Independent Spirit award to the Harvard Bookstore, Cambridge, Mass., and NEIBA gave its rep of the year award to Ellen Pyle of Macmillan. (Pyle incidentally added some evocative bird and elephant sounds to her children's book presentations at the Publisher Pick-Nic lunch on Friday.)
On Thursday afternoon, Suzanna Hermans of Oblong Books & Music, Rhinebeck, N.Y., moderated one of two New England Children's Booksellers Advisory Council sessions, this one on large-scale children's book events. The panel included Michele Filgate, who runs an excellent series at RiveRun Bookstore, Portsmouth, N.H.; Ruth Liebmann of Random House; Jason Wells, publicity director of Abrams' children's division, and Nikki Mutch, New England sales rep for Scholastic. Hermans offered several tips for booksellers wanting to land marquee authors. The key is keeping the store on the minds of publicity departments at the major houses by cultivating strong ties with sales representatives, providing written feedback on galleys (this suggestion popped up more than once during the show) and generally communicating enthusiasm for books. Filgate offered advice on managing large events and tips for online promotion.
At the other NECBA session, "Multicultural Kids Books: Selling Color in a White World," Elizabeth Bluemle of the Flying Pig, Shelburne, Vt., moderated, and author Mitali Perkins, whose Bamboo People is an Indie Bound pick, shared tips on meeting the children's book needs of multicultural families, how to communicate effectively with hesitant customers and where to go for more information. They also handed out a helpful bibliography of great multicultural children's books, sorted by reading level.
PGW sales rep Mike Katz moderated a panel called "We Love Our Reps!" on how buyers and reps can work effectively together. Edelweiss, the online catalogue system, was praised for its ease of use. Some booksellers wondered if the feedback they provided reps at sales calls was communicated to sales management at the publishing house. Sales reps urged buyers to demonstrate to publishers that galleys get used by providing feedback on them. Some buyers complained that telephone reps couldn't know their stores as well as reps who visit in person.
Other Friday events included a presentation of Verso Digital's recent survey of book buying behavior by new bookseller Jack McKeown of Books & Books Westhampton Beach, Westhampton Beach, N.Y., and sessions on adding sidelines, producing effective e-mail communication, tax equality and tips on accepting payment by credit and debit cards.
Friday morning's author breakfast featured presentations by Simon Wichester (whose new book is Atlantic), Liz Murray (Breaking Night) and Richard Peck (Three Quarters Dead). Because Michael Cunningham (By Nightfall) cancelled due to illness, Charles Cumming presented his new spy thriller, Trinity Six. Among authors who signed books at the opening reception Friday evening were Susan Cheever (for her new book, Louisa May Alcott), Mira Bartok (The Memory Palace) and Meg Wolitzer (The Uncoupling). Later, a party at Books on the Square on Wayland Square drew many attendees.
The Children's Author-Illustrator Dinner Thursday night featured three award-winning authors. Jennifer Donnelly talked about Revolution, consisting of parallel stories set during the French Revolution and the present day. Donnelly was inspired by the story of the Dauphin's heart--the preserved heart of the son of the executed Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. Jon J Muth used Japanese brushes to illustrate his process for conceptualizing a ghost panda for Zen Ghosts. Jerry Pinckney discussed the roles of animals in his work and demonstrated his process for drawing kittens for Three Kittens Who Lost Their Mittens.
The exhibits, open Saturday and Sunday morning, were busy through early Saturday afternoon, with buyers writing orders and looking to share information learned at the show. After consulting with many booksellers at the show about website providers, Susan Porter of Maine Coast Bookshop, Damariscotta, Maine, decided to use IndieBound. Marc and Sarah Galvin, of Bookstore Plus in Lake Placid, N.Y., said that they were inspired by the session on e-mail marketing and were considering using Constant Contact. Robert Utter, of Other Tiger, Westerly, R.I., announced that he was selling the store and returning to school. He received an offer on the store last week. NEIBA executive director Steve Fischer said that NEIBA gained eight new exhibitors this year. NEIBA president Dick Hermans said he thought attendance was "up a little bit" from last year. By 2:30 p.m., the first scrchh-scsrchh-scrchh of tape guns could be heard, and by 3 another NEIBA meeting was in the can.