BookExpo

On Tuesday, May 6, the Women's National Book Association named Kepler's Books and Magazines in Menlo Park, California, and The Flying Pig Bookstore in Shelburne, Vermont, the winners of the 2008 Lucile Micheels Pannell Awards.

A Hotel ABA welcome desk and a lounge, bag check, and shipping center at the Los Angeles Convention -- all exclusively for ABA members -- will make life easier at this month's BookExpo America.

ABA's gift card and e-commerce programs will be the focus of staff-led users group meetings on Friday, May 30, at BookExpo America. Participants, and those who are new to each of the programs, are invited to join in meetings at the L.A. Convention Center, where they'll hear about the latest program developments, as well as have a chance to share tips and tricks with fellow booksellers.

Ingram Book Group and Ingram Publisher Services to Underwrite Bookseller Education

The American Booksellers Association announced today the formation of a new strategic partnership with Ingram Book Company and Ingram Publisher Services to underwrite bookseller education for the next three years. The new partnership will begin with ABA's Day of Education being held in Hollywood, California, on Thursday, May 29, in conjunction with BookExpo America.

As part of ABA's Saturday programming at BookExpo America, the association will host a premiere of Paperback Dreams, a documentary that follows the history and struggles of Cody's Books in Berkeley and Kepler's Books in Menlo Park, California. The bookstores' stories are chronicled via interviews with Andy Ross and Clark Kepler, Joan Baez, Morgan Entrekin, Malcolm Margolin, Michael Powell, and others, as well as with archival film footage and photographs.

Prospective booksellers who are interested in participating in "Opening a Bookstore: Creating Foundations for Success," a school sponsored by the American Booksellers Association and facilitated by Paz & Associates at BookExpo America, must register by Wednesday, May 7. The school program will run from Tuesday afternoon, May 27, through Thursday, May 29, at Hotel ABA, the Renaissance Hollywood, in Los Angeles.

"What can established stores do to increase sales?" will be the subject of a Large-Store Roundtable recently added to the American Booksellers Association's Day of Education at BookExpo America. The roundtable discussion, which is free to ABA members, is being hosted and moderated by Carla Cohen of Politics & Prose Books & Coffee in Washington, D.C.

Due to a few recent cancellations, a limited number of rooms are now available at Hotel ABA 2008, The Renaissance Hollywood. Any ABA member bookseller who would like to reserve a room at the special ABA rate of $164 per night should contact Program Assistant Margaret Nafz at [email protected] as soon as possible.

Materials related to five of this year's ABA Day of Education sessions at BookExpo America 2008 are currently available to all ABA member booksellers via downloadable PDFs on BookWeb: "Building and Rewarding Customer Loyalty," "Green Retailing," "Creating Killer Events," "

Twenty-four of independent booksellers' favorite authors are now scheduled to autograph their latest titles in the ABA Lounge (Room 515A in the West Building of the Los Angeles Convention Center), exclusively for the bookseller members of the American Booksellers Association at BookExpo America.

The National Association of College Stores (NACS) is offering the "College Store Literary Luncheon" and "The 4% Challenge: Strategies to Increase General Book Sales" in conjunction with the American Booksellers Association's Day of Education on Thursday, May 29, at Hotel ABA.

Children's booksellers can look forward to special programming every day from Wednesday afternoon, May 28, through Saturday, May 31, at BookExpo America 2008. Among the myriad events are an author's tea, a game show for lovers of books for teens and 'tweens, speed dating with children's authors, a traditional children's book and author breakfast, a mostly silent auction, and more.

This year's BookExpo America program for African-American book industry professionals, sponsored by the African-American Booksellers Committee, will be held on Thursday, May 29, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Registration for the program, which is open to all BEA registered attendees, is not required.

Ed Begley, Jr., who has become as well known for his environmental activism as for his acting career, will be the morning's keynote speaker at the American Booksellers Association's Day of Education on Thursday, May 29.

The American Booksellers Association is ramping up its efforts to be ecologically responsible at next month's BookExpo America in Los Angeles. This week, as worldwide celebrations of Earth Day brought added focus to the need for individuals and businesses to lessen their impact on the environment, ABA announced changes that will reduce the carbon footprint of its participation in BEA.