NCIBA Fall Trade Show Preview

The Northern California Independent Booksellers Association's (NCIBA) fall trade show will be held from Friday, October 1, to Sunday, October 3, at the Oakland Convention Center/Oakland Marriott in Oakland. Once again, this year's trade show will feature a stellar lineup of authors and a wide array of educational programming.

New this year, NCIBA has invited ABA to share its booth -- in part to underscore NCIBA's support of ABA's efforts on booksellers' behalf, explained Hut Landon, NCIBA's executive director. "This is something I feel quite excited about," he told BTW. "I'm glad [we] took the initiative. We really think it sends a good message that ABA and NCIBA are working together to improve the lot of their members. And that the things ABA is stressing, we care about as well."

This year's ABA exhibit will focus on "Book Sense Gift Cards: One Year Later" and will feature live demonstrations. Association staff will also be on hand to gather member input on ABA education initiatives, as well as to provide general information.

The Book Sense Gift Card Program, just completing its first year of operation, has already helped more than 200 bookstores dramatically increase their sales. The ABA exhibit will give booksellers the opportunity to see firsthand how the gift card program works. As an incentive to try the gift card, ABA will waive the one-time $25 set-up fee for booksellers signing up at the show. (Booksellers planning to sign up at the show will need to bring their checking account information. For more details about Book Sense gift cards, click here.)

The number-one goal of ABA's strategic plan is to "provide independent professional booksellers with access to the education, information, and business services they need to succeed in a changing world," and ABA staff attending NCIBA's trade show will be seeking bookseller input on how best to construct the association's educational offerings moving forward. An "ABA Education 2005 Survey" was recently sent to members via e-mail and can be downloaded in PDF format by clicking here. Survey forms will also be available at ABA's booth on the trade show floor. (Booksellers returning surveys at the trade show will be entered into a sweepstakes to win a color, inkjet computer printer.)

Here is a look at ABA-sponsored programs to be held at the NCIBA trade show.

On Friday, October 1:

• 10:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. "The 2% Solution," presented by ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz. This seminar -- offered this past spring at BookExpo America to rave reviews -- looks at the drivers of bookstore profitability and examines how they can be reworked to move a business to greater profitability. Specific suggestions and ideas about how a bookseller can work on sales, gross margin, and compensation and occupancy expenses will be provided. The 2003 ABACUS Study of independent bookshop operations showed that the average profitability of all 197 participants was a negative 1.67 percent. While moving from negative profitability to a positive two percent is a long journey, this seminar will help booksellers start drawing the road map.
  

• 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. "Guerrilla Marketing for Independent Booksellers with Jay Conrad Levinson." Jay Conrad Levinson is the author of the best-selling marketing series in history, Guerrilla Marketing, plus 24 other business books, which have sold over 14 million copies and have been translated into 37 languages. In this special session, he will share some of the keys to maximizing a business' success with low-cost, high-impact strategies. Many independent booksellers already understand the potential of Guerrilla Marketing -- this is an opportunity to learn more about it from the man who wrote the book. Levinson will suggest ways that bookstores can effectively use Book Sense tools, as well as ideas he's found to work in other bookstores.
  

On Saturday, October 2:

• 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. "Book Sense Gift Card Users Group." This is an in-depth review of the gift card program and a discussion about future growth. Booksellers will be asked to share their experiences regarding the operation of the program as well as their marketing ideas. Stores that have not yet converted to gift cards are also welcome.
  

• 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. "BookSense.com Users Group." BookSense.com users will learn about the latest features of BookSense.com, as well as planned enhancements to the product. Non-BookSense.com stores are welcome to attend.
  

NCIBA education sessions will be held on Friday, October 1, from 10:00 - 5:00 p.m., and include "How to Start an In-Store Writing Group," a look at how writing groups can increase sales in stores; "Bookstore Loss Prevention," a detailed look at theft prevention and security issues for bookstores; "Selling DVDs in Your Bookstore," a discussion about how to get started, finding the best mix, offering display tips, and theft issues; and "Getting Your Feet Wet With Used Books," a workshop geared to booksellers interested in knowing more about how to add used books to a new book mix.

In addition, on Friday, from noon - 1:30 p.m., there will be an author luncheon at A.J. Toppers in the Oakland Marriott Hotel, featuring Jennifer Haigh (Baker Towers, Morrow); Mary Doria Russell (A Thread of Grace, Random House); and Bart Schneider (Beautiful Inez, Shaye Areheart Books). And at 5:00 p.m. at A.J. Toppers, NCIBA will hold its Welcome Reception, where booksellers can enjoy relaxing, food and drink, and good conversation.

Saturday morning will kick off with the NCIBA Author Breakfast, from 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m., a buffet breakfast featuring three authors whose new books are sure to stimulate and engage readers: historian Kevin Starr (Coast of Dreams: California on the Edge, 1990-2003, Knopf); novelist Francisco Goldman (The Divine Husband, Atlantic Monthly); and ABC News correspondent Jim Wooten (We Are All the Same: A Story of a Boy's Courage and a Mother's Love, Penguin Press).

The exhibit hall is open from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, with author autographings from 10:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. At 4:00 p.m., NCIBA will hold its General Membership Meeting, which will be followed by a cocktail party at A.J. Toppers in the Marriott.

Capping the evening is the "Third Annual Moveable Feast," which promises to again be one of the highlights of NCIBA's trade show. The dinner will give booksellers a chance to eat and converse with authors, and then collect signed books (or, in one instance, galleys) from all 12 of the participating writers. There will be 12 tables seating 10 each, with authors changing tables about every half-hour. Some of the scheduled guest authors are: William Vollman (Rising Up and Rising Down, Ecco); Harriett Scott Chessman (Someone Not Really Her Mother, Dutton); Monique Truong (Book of Salt, Mariner); Gary Erickson (Raising the Bar, Wiley); Marc Acito (How I Paid for College, Broadway); Lawrence Thornton (Sailors on the Inward Sea, Free Press); Gerard Jones (Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book, Basic); and Joshua Braff (The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green, Algonquin).

On Sunday, the day begins with the "Children's Author Breakfast," from 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m., featuring Sarah Stewart and David Small (The Friend, FSG); Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black (The Wrath of Mulgarth, Spiderwick Chronicles #5, S&S); and Lemony Snicket, aka Daniel Handler (The Grim Grotto, A Series of Unfortunate Events #11, HarperCollins).

The exhibit hall will be open on Sunday from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. On Sunday, NCIBA is handling the author autographings in a new way. Following the Children's Breakfast author signings, the Autographing Area will be shut down and all subsequent signings will be held at exhibitor tables. NCIBA will still offer four authors every half-hour, and will still collect the one-dollar donation per book to benefit the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. NCIBA's autographing staff will help with signings at each table, allowing the exhibitors to continue to interact with booksellers.

In the afternoon, from 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m., the "Cookbook Celebration" will be held on the trade show floor near the NCIBA booth. A huge hit over the past seven years, this event celebrates cookbooks by allowing attendees to sample recipes from some of this fall's finest selection of cookbooks.

At 3:45 p.m., the trade show will finish with the annual "Raffle Drawing," at the NCIBA Booth on the trade show floor. The drawing of the winners in the "Place-An-Order-At-The-Trade-Show" raffle will be held just before the show closing. NCIBA will select five $100 winners and one $500 winner.

For more information about the show, contact NCIBA at (415) 561-7686 or via e-mail, [email protected].