2003 SEBA Annual Trade Show Preview

The Southeast Booksellers Association (SEBA) Annual Fall Trade Show will be held this year at the Jekyll Island Convention Center in Jekyll Island, Georgia, from September 19 - 21. SEBA Executive Director Wanda Jewell told BTW that she was happy to be returning to Jekyll Island for this year's show "as it becomes SEBA Island for the time that we are there. It looks like attendance is going to be high. We have a great roster of exhibitors, authors, and education lined up over the three days."

The SEBA Annual Fall Trade Show offers up some new programs this year, Jewell continued, such as "Late Night Readings" on Friday, September 19, from 10:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m., "where authors will read from their works in a library-themed theater, and select cordials and coffees with sweets will be available," she said. "Silas House, Kathy Trocheck, George Singleton, and Ron Rash are among those that will be reading from their work on Friday evening."

SEBA will also be kicking off its exclusive sponsorship with Public Radio South's The Spoken Word and the new consumer site "Authors 'Round the South" (www.arts.sebaweb.org) for core SEBA members, Jewel noted. (For a previous article on The Spoken Word, click here.)

Attending the SEBA trade show from ABA will be CEO Avin Mark Domnitz, BookSense.com Director Len Vlahos, and Jill Perlstein, director of marketing.

ABA's educational programming will also be one of the many highlights of the SEBA Trade Show. On Friday, September 19, from 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m., Domnitz will present the session, "ABACUS: Year One." For a number of years the ABACUS study on the financial operations of independent bookshops provided valuable, usable information to those interested in comparing their companies' performance against an industry standard. For various reasons the study was discontinued. For those who valued and needed this kind of analysis, a considerable void was created.

Now, thanks in great part to the generous sharing of their companies' numbers by close to 200 independent booksellers, ABACUS is back. The rich data showing the performance of all participating stores as well as "data slices," grouped by profitability levels, sales levels, area of the country, and more will be presented. Close attention will be paid to those drivers of success that are so clearly revealed by the study's results. As a bonus, any company that was kind enough to participate in the study was given access to a personal review of their companies' performance compared to all relevant segments contained in the study.

Following the ABACUS session, from 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m., will be a session on free expression, "From Monica to the Patriot Act: Customer Privacy Today." Customer privacy is one of the most important First Amendment issues to confront booksellers in many years. Today, the threat comes from the USA Patriot Act, which gives the FBI the right to conduct secret searches of bookstore and library records. Join Chris Finan, president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, in discussing the evolution of the customer privacy issue, including an update on the status of the fight for the Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157), the bill introduced by Vermont Congressman Bernie Sanders that restores the protections for customer privacy that were eliminated by the Patriot Act. The program will include one of the first screenings of a dramatic documentary about the Tattered Cover case, "Reading Your Rights," which will begin appearing on PBS stations around the country this fall.

Later on Friday, from 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m., ABA's Vlahos will present "BookSense.com Co-op Reimbursement Program." Through this program, booksellers with BookSense.com Web sites earn newsletter co-op dollars for featuring titles, both online and in-store, from participating publishers. The program can help booksellers offset the cost of operating a Web site and help publishers promote books. There will be a brief presentation followed by Q&A.

SEBA programming begins on Thursday, September 18, from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. with the "Bookseller School." The all-day session will focus on management, leadership, communications, and problem solving, among other topics. Marion Fleischman will present the session.

Other highlights include the "Breakfast & Annual Meeting with the SEBA Board" on Friday, September 19, from 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. New this year, the SEBA Annual Meeting will be held at this very popular breakfast. The agenda: call to order, minutes, year-end report, installation of new directors, and recognition of outgoing directors, open discussion, and adjournment.

Also, the session "Manga What? Manga Who?" from 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. discusses the Japanese-style comic that is dominating the business, a niche that could be quite lucrative for booksellers.

From noon - 2:00 p.m. is the "Kick-Off Author Luncheon" featuring Pearl Cleage (Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do, Ballantine); Melinda Haynes, (Willem's Field, Simon & Schuster/Free Press); and Michael McGarrity, (Everyone Dies, Penguin/Dutton Gotham Books).

The two-hour "Spoken Word Press Conference & Panel" begins at 2:00 p.m. SEBA will discuss its new relationship with The Spoken Word and talk about upcoming plans and partnership details. Also at 2:00 p.m. it's the "Bookstores Tour." Attendees are invited to visit other SEBA member bookstores: Hattie's Books in Brunswick and two stores on St. Simons Island, The Bookmark and G.J. Ford Bookshops.

Three fun events cap Friday's SEBA programming. From 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. it's the "What We All Love -- Some Free Press Pool Party," and from 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. it’s the "SEBA Supper." Following the SEBA supper will be the "Late Night Readings."

Some highlights of Saturday's programming include the "Taste of HarperCollins Breakfast," from 7:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m., featuring a number of authors, including Judy Jance (Exit Wounds, Morrow); Charles Kimball (When Religion Becomes Evil, HarperCollins/San Francisco); and Jacquelyn Mitchard (Christmas Present, HarperCollins).

The trade floor will be open from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

From noon - 1:30 p.m. it's the "Saturday Book & Author Luncheon," featuring Sarah Weeks (Without You, HarperCollins/Laura Geringer Books); Adrian Fogelin (Sister Spider Knows All, Peachtree Publishers); and Bruce Hale (Trouble Is My Beeswax, Harcourt/Children's Books). From 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. there will be author autographings. The day finishes with "Algonquin's Southern Author Party" from 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. and "The Moveable Feast of Authors" featuring many authors.

Sunday, September 21, is dubbed "Bookseller Business Day -- Let's Wrap it Up!" and kicks off with breakfast from 7:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. The trade floor will be open from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., including more autographings from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Also, in conjunction with the SEBA show, Donna Paz & Associates will be holding "Opening a Bookstore: Business Essentials," from September 15 - 19, in Amelia Island, Florida, and, then, will combine with SEBA's convention and trade show two islands north on Jekyll Island. From financial dynamics to store design and computerizing to choosing the opening inventory, trainees will learn in a classroom environment with more than 12 industry professionals to guide them.

On Friday, the group will travel to the SEBA show, where meetings with publishers, wholesalers, and veteran booksellers will put them in the middle of the industry in action.

"If you're planning to open a bookstore in the near future or sometime down the road, in September you have the opportunity to immerse yourself in the book business," noted Donna Paz. "When you emerge from this workshop, you'll have a better idea of the steps you'll need to take before and after opening your bookstore to achieve an effective and prosperous business venture…. What's best is you can have fun island-hopping while you learn."

For the full agenda, list of trainers and registration form, visit www.pazbookbiz.com. This is the last training program of the year and is a collaborative effort between ABA and Paz & Associates.

Overall, SEBA's Jewell is expecting an exciting trade show this year. "It is going to be a great show because how can it not be when seated beside the ocean?" she said.

To see the full schedule and list of authors attending the SEBA Annual Fall Trade Show, log onto www.sebaweb.org. --David Grogan