Fifth Annual Winter Institute: Another Winner

"Stellar," "inspirational," "encouraging," "wonderful," and "uplifting" are just some of booksellers' words of praise for last week's ABA Winter Institute. The three-day education program gave booksellers, both new and experienced, plenty of practical ideas to bring home to their stores, as well as knowledge to respond to the rapidly changing digital environment. Sessions on everything from e-books and technology issues to handselling and alternative business models were interspersed with plenty of opportunities for networking, two Rep Picks Speed Dating meal events, and keynotes featuring industry leaders, including Ingram's Andrew Weinstein, Google Books' Daniel Clancy, Verso's Jack McKeown, and Daniel Pink, author of Drive: The Surprising Truth That Motivates Us (Riverhead).

ABA President Michael Tucker of Books Inc. in San Francisco opened the Winter Institute with a warm welcome to the approximately 500 booksellers in attendance and sincere thanks to the overall event sponsor, Ingram, and Wi5's publisher partners and friends for their support. Tucker drew a standing ovation when he extended a "special thanks and a show of support to the Macmillan companies" for the "stand they have taken in the face of bullying tactics" by Amazon.com regarding the pricing of e-books. (Read this week's related story.)

There was plenty on the Wi5 schedule for booksellers at all levels of experience: Juliet Sealand and Lara Triona, who are planning to open a bookstore in Boulder Creek, California, were impressed with the wonderful sense of community at Wi5, as well as the educational offerings. "My head is packed," said Sealand as she browsed through Wi5's Galley Room. "Everyone has been so supportive," added Triona. For Mindy Ostrow of The River's End Bookstore in Oswego, New York, the recipient of a Wi5 scholarship from Macmillan, the highlights included the Rep Speed Dating events, the networking opportunities, and the array of educational sessions that left her feeling that her "head was ready to explode" with the amount of valuable information that she would be bringing back to her 12-year-old business.

Tova Beiser of Brown University Bookstore in Providence, Rhode Island, was encouraged to hear Google Books' Clancy talk about the opportunities for indie booksellers to be part of the burgeoning e-book market. And, she, like many other booksellers, put the Thursday night Author Reception at the top of her list of Wi5 highlights.

ABA Board member Ken White of the SFSU Bookstore in San Francisco, picking up ARCs in the Galley Room on Thursday night, told BTW: "I can't remember the last time I wanted to read so many galleys." Though publishers' fall lists had included a number of blockbusters, White said, "There are more books at Wi5 that I really want to read."

Just one day after Wi5's Wednesday "Tech Day" programming, Shirley Mullin, owner of Kids Ink Children's Bookstores in Indianapolis, Indiana, had begun implementing some of the things she had learned. The recipient of a Wi5 scholarship sponsored by HarperCollins Children's Books, Mullin told BTW that she had taken to heart the advice of ABA COO Len Vlahos at "Techniques and Tactics for Online Website Promotion" to make the most of hyperlocal websites, such as Yelp to promote her store. Mullin had already contacted her staff and asked them to look into Yelp. Their response, she said, was to immediately ask her to begin putting together a history of the store to post the Yelp site. Pete Mock of McIntyre's Fine Books & Bookends in Pittsboro, North Carolina, said, "I enjoyed the Winter Institute in Louisville, but I learned so much here. I have a much better understanding of IndieCommerce and Edelweiss and all the technical changes coming, and I am beginning to wrap my head around it."

ABA CEO Oren Teicher, who welcomed booksellers to the second day of Winter Institute programming, stressed that, "although the changes that we are dealing with seem enormous," in 2009 ABA welcomed 40 new indie bookstore members, and, for the third year in a row, a holiday survey of independent businesses proved that "shop local" movements resonate with consumers. "Because of the efforts of some of you, 2010 is the year we will achieve sales tax equity," Teicher said. And, he pledged, "You have my word, and the word of the ABA staff, we will work every day for a bright future for indie booksellers."

An upbeat sign for the health indie bookselling, noted by many on the ABA staff, was the number of young booksellers and new faces among the approximately 500 attendees at this year's event.

The results of a consumer survey presented by Verso's McKeown (who graciously stepped in at the last minute to fill in for John Freeman, author of The Tyranny of E-mail: The Four-Thousand-Year Journey to Your Inbox (Scribner), who couldn't come because of a death in his family), provided booksellers with even more reasons to be hopeful about the future. Key among the surveys findings was that indies' "mind share" was equal to the chains and more than online sellers ("mind share" being book buyers' preferred shopping location as opposed to their actual shopping location). Read more about the Verso study.

But it wasn't all work and no play at Wi5. On Wednesday evening, attendees were invited to an opening night reception hosted by Clark Kepler and the staff at Kepler's Books & Magazines in Menlo Park. Thursday night was the very popular Author Reception, featuring 40 authors and illustrators signing their new works. And, on Friday night, everyone was invited to Wi5's closing reception.

In addition, on Wednesday afternoon, as part of the Behind the Wheel of the Bookmobile film project, Tom Corwin invited Winter Institute participants to visit his bookmobile, which was parked outside the main convention area entrance of the Doubletree San Jose.

For more about Wi5, see this week's articles on the keynotes by Google Books' Daniel Clancy and Verso's Jack McKeown, as well as reports on the "State of General Trade Publishing" Panel and "Handselling 201: Using the Digital Age to Your Advantage." Watch for further reports on Wi5's education sessions and special events in upcoming editions of BTW. Education session handouts are available for download via the Wi5 program schedule on BookWeb.org. --Rosemary Hawkins