SCIBA Offers an October Feast & Trade Show

On Saturday, October 20, the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association (SCIBA) will hold its 2007 Author's Feast & Trade Show at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Slated for the day- and evening-long event are opportunities to preview publishers' latest titles, meet authors, and take part in education programs. ABA's educational offerings include "Participating in the Digital Revolution: Low Altitude" and "How to Be the Story: Developing and Implementing a Public Relations Plan."

Other highlights include SCIBA's "Writing and Selecting Books for the YA Reader," where Henry Holt children's literature authors will discuss how they write for the YA reader, and "Pop-Up & Novelty Books: Creating, Selling and Sharing With Children," with Robin Corey, children's book editor/publisher (Random House), and John Stadler, author of 30-plus children's books.

SCIBA Executive Director Jennifer Bigelow noted that for the first time this year the regional will be allowing librarians and teachers to participate in its children's programming and author lunch.

ABA programming on Saturday includes:

• "Participating in the Digital Revolution: Low Altitude," presented by ABA Education Director and Director of BookSense.com Len Vlahos from 9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Booksellers will explore how phenomena such as digitization of content, print-on-demand, social networking, and open source computing are affecting their businesses today, as well as scenarios for the future. This session will provide information on how booksellers can create MySpace pages and blogs.

• "How to Be the Story: Developing and Implementing a Public Relations Plan," presented by ABA Membership Marketing Director Meg Smith from 10:45 a.m. - Noon. Independent booksellers spend an average of two percent of their annual budgets on advertising. But what is their budget for public relations? What is the difference between advertising and PR? This session will show how a comprehensive public relations plan can have greater impact on a store's visibility than advertising, at a much lower cost. Learn to create and execute a PR plan. Booksellers will break into groups to tackle hypothetical PR problems.

The SCIBA trade show floor will be open from 1:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. More than 50 authors are expected at the SCIBA Authors Feast & Book Awards Dinner, including Robin Preiss Glasser (Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy, HarperCollins Children's), Salvador Plascencia (The People of Paper, Harcourt), and Lillian Faderman (Gay L.A., Basic Books). Following the feast will be the Emerging Leaders After Feast Party. Other events include a free (for SCIBA members) Authors Lunch at noon.

ABA will have a booth at the conference where booksellers will be able to talk to staff about any issues of concern; learn about the many new features of the redesigned trade website, BookWeb.org; and enter drawings for chances to win fabulous prizes, compliments of BookExpo America and ABA. Prizes include hotel accommodations at the 2008 Winter Institute, accommodations at Hotel ABA at BookExpo America 2008 in Los Angeles, an iPod, and a color inkjet printer.

ABA is also inviting booksellers who are not currently members of the association to a reception exclusively for them. Non-members are invited to join ABA staff, including CEO Avin Mark Domnitz, for a snack from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The gathering will be an opportunity to mingle, say hello, and get a taste of what the association has to offer. There is no planned agenda. Non-ABA members who are interested in attending are asked to contact Membership Marketing Coordinator Sarah Rettger at [email protected].

For a look at SCIBA's complete program, including author events, and to register, visit www.scbabooks.org. --Karen Schechner