SCBA Authors Feast and Fall Seminars Preview

The 2003 Southern California Booksellers Association (SCBA) Authors Feast and Fall Seminars will be held Saturday, October 25, at the Westin Hotel in Pasadena, California. The day will include a full agenda of educational workshops and seminars and will be capped by the 11th Annual Authors Feast.

The day's events begin with a 9:30 breakfast with Book Sense Marketing Director Mark Nichols who will discuss a wide range of Book Sense opportunities and initiatives designed to increase savings and profitability. The session, "New Opportunities With Book Sense," will include information about the new Book Sense Gift Card program, BookSense.com Co-op Reimbursement Program, Book Sense Classics Audio Library, Book Sense Bestseller List reporting options, and more. Nichols will also be available for demonstrations of the new Book Sense Gift Card Program from 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Following the breakfast, Terri Hudson of Ashland University Bookstore in Ashland, Ohio, will conduct a seminar focusing on merchandising for the holidays.

From 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m., SCBA will host its annual Author Luncheon. Jack Mitchell, CEO of Mitchells/Richards clothing stores and author of Hug Your Customers: The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results (Hyperion), will be the featured speaker. Mitchell will discuss his philosophy on customer interactions and host a Q&A session. All attendees will receive a bag of books.

Later that afternoon, from 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., the ins and outs of Nielsen BookScan will be discussed by a panel including Christian Waters, vice president, associate director, retail field sales, Random House, Inc.; Charlie Trachtenbarg, Western regional sales manager, HarperCollins and an SCBA board member; Book Sense's Nichols; and others. The session will focus on BookScan's benefits for booksellers, including how easy it makes reporting to the Book Sense Bestseller List.

Immediately after these sessions will be the SCBA General Meeting at which ABFFE board member Kerry Slattery of Skylight Books in Los Angeles will lead a discussion about the Patriot Act amendments pending in Congress.

The day will be capped by the Authors Feast, which starts with a reception and exhibits at 6:00 p.m. Over 40 authors are expected to attend this year's event including Todd Boyd (Young, Black, Rich, and Famous, Broadway Books); Gayle Brandeis (The Book of Dead Birds, HarperCollins); Laurie Fox (The Lost Girls, S&S); and Amy Stewart (The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms, Algonquin).

Afterwards, SCBA will hold its second After Feast Party, with music and a "no-host bar." Jim McManus, author of Positively Fifth Street (FSG) will be conducting poker lessons.

For the fifth year in a row, Baker & Taylor will be the Premiere Event Sponsor for SCBA's Authors Feast and Fall Seminars. Other sponsors of the day's event include Bookpeople, Ingram Book Company, Partners West, and Random House, Inc.

For more information, contact SCBA at (626) 791-9455 or via e-mail at [email protected]. --Karen Schechner