NAIBA to Switch to Booksellers Sales Conference

The New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) has announced plans that will transform its traditional fall trade show into a Booksellers Sales Conference, a move that will shift emphasis to providing booksellers with knowledge about the books they will be selling rather than on placing orders.

Noting that by the time of the fall trade shows most buying decisions have already been made, NAIBA President Joe Drabyak of Chester County Book Company in West Chester, Pennsylvania , told BTW, booksellers come to the shows "looking for ways to effectively market what's already in hand."

The change in emphasis is something that Drabyak believes will foster the "joy of discovery" of new titles that are under the radar, as well as help members become better booksellers overall. "Anyone can sell brand-name authors whose works are readily available anywhere," he noted. "Customers rely on booksellers to discover the vast sea of unknowns -- the hidden gems." So Drabyak is hoping that at the next NAIBA fall show, publishers will help booksellers identify specific audiences for their titles and provide details of their marketing plans.

To that end, NAIBA plans to expand its Pick of the Lists sessions, limit the number of each publisher's sales tables, and devote Monday to meetings on the sales floor. Sunday will continue to feature educational programming.

NAIBA Executive Director Eileen Dengler told BTW that she was excited about the new concept for the fall meeting, which grew out of the NAIBA board of directors' retreat following this year's show.

Dengler also noted that NAIBA members will continue to have the opportunity to meet with publishers at its Syracuse, New York, trunk show in June and the association is looking into holding a second trunk show in Pittsburgh also in the spring.

Next year's NAIBA Booksellers Sales Conference will be held on Sunday and Monday, October 14 and 15, at a location to be announced. -Rosemary Hawkins