Scholarship Winners Applaud Accommodations and Education Sessions

Several of the approximately 900 ABA member booksellers who were guests at this year's Hotel ABA, aka the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, received scholarships to cover the cost of up to four nights accommodations and show admission, courtesy of BookExpo America. Booksellers entered the random drawings for the scholarships at the American Booksellers Association's booth at each of this past fall's nine regional association trade shows; one winner was picked per show.

The appreciative winners included Mary McHale of nine-month-old Fox Tale Books in New Durham, New Hampshire, who attended BEA 2007 with her 20-something son.

"I hadn't even opened the store when I won the prize [at the New England Independent Booksellers Association show]. It was one of the best things that could have happened to me," said McHale. Referring to the Friday Book Sense Author Luncheon, she added, "I would never have believed that I'd be eating lunch with Joyce Carol Oates, and having conversations with Elinor Lipman and Jan Brett. It was fantastic."

McHale, who told BTW that her sales had slumped in May, returned to her bookstore "energized by BEA and full of ideas." And, she added, sales actually picked up upon her return.

"Seeing the people who have done this successfully for years was inspiring, and I got a lot of helpful information about expanding my inventory," said McHale, about the brand-new ABA education session "Expanding Your Bookstore: Why, When, and How." "I realized that I need to sell more non-book items. We're going to buy music and educational materials, and a number of sidelines."

Noting that she "never would have been able to [attend] if not for the scholarship, McHale said, "The hotel was wonderful; I've never had [hotel staff] as nice as that. I loved Brooklyn and all the little places you could eat on the side streets."

Joanie Stephenson of Steve's Books & Magazines in Tulsa, Oklahoma, won her scholarship to BEA at the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association fall show.

"We had a great [BEA]," said Stephenson. "We had already ordered our fall and winter stock, but we went looking for new sidelines and found some great vendors."

The ABA education session "How to Be the Story: Developing and Implementing a Public Relations Plan" clarified a number of ideas for Stephenson about PR versus advertising. "I have a better idea now about buying less advertising and getting the local press to write about us for free," she said.

Stephenson told BTW that she found having Hotel ABA in Brooklyn was great. "I loved the way [ABA] did the restaurant guide. We went to a few of them, and they were wonderful," she added. "We didn't have any problems with the subway or the shuttle."

For Joseph Marsh of Chaucer's Books in Santa Barbara, California, the trip to BEA 2007 was a hat trick, of sorts. Marsh was the grand prize-winner of the Book Sense at Five Contest held at the Celebration of Bookselling at Chicago's McCormick Place Convention Center during BEA 2004. He was awarded hotel accommodations and admission to BEA for five years.

Marsh told BTW that BEA 2007 was excellent, and he enjoyed his stay at Hotel ABA. Part of the fun, he said, was exploring some of New York City by walking to Greenwich Village across the Brooklyn Bridge. He is looking forward to two more years of BEA admission and hotels, courtesy of ABA.

Other BEA scholarship winners selected at the regional shows were Rob Stahl of Colgate Bookstore in Hamilton, New York (New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association); Jeanne Young of C.J. Ford Bookshop on St. Simons Island, Georgia (Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance); Mary Fran Rash of Main Street Books in St. Charles, Missouri (Midwest Booksellers Association); Richard Sovin of the Next Page in Decatur, Indiana (Great Lakes Booksellers Association); Gretchen Montgomery of Square One Books in Seattle, Washington (Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association); Michael Barnard of Rakestraw Books in Danville, California (Northern California Independent Booksellers Association); and Melony Vance of Books in Nooks, Julian, California (Southern California Independent Booksellers Association). --Nomi Schwartz