Posted By Nicki Leone,
Thursday, September 1, 2022
Updated: Thursday, September 22, 2022
The SIBA/RAMP Winter Catalog Bookseller Resource Page is now live. The page is a veritable
treasure chest of materials for stores to use to help promote their catalogs and maximize sales.
Among the many things available are links to the Edelweiss collections, downloadable lists of titles for each catalog, plus a link to a Dropbox folder to download catalog PDFs, art, and other assets as they're being created.
The marketing graphics based on the catalog's cover art are especially great. Stores can find posters, flyers and bookmarks, as well as pull out artwork stores can plug into their own Canva accounts to create beautiful signage and social media graphics.
Posted By Nicki Leone,
Thursday, September 1, 2022
Updated: Thursday, September 22, 2022
See you Soon in New Orleans!
We’re excited to see so many of you next week at our fall conference in the beautiful city of New
Orleans. Over 110 folks will join us for two days brimming with programming and networking
opportunities. The event is sold out, but we’ll share takeaways in future newsletters. And maybe
we’ll see you next time we’re in person!
Our team is finalizing details around a conference with many moving parts. This morning I
purchased batteries for our a/v equipment, and local handcrafted chocolate bars for our author gift
bags, and thought, “we can power this event with batteries and dark chocolate!” We’re
scheduling the on-site staffing, working out bus tour logistics with crowd size and social
distancing front of mind, and in talks with our reception host and hotel on final counts for meal
planning. It’s like planning a wedding, but for booksellers and industry friends who will bond in a
shared adventure at a Sheraton perched next to the French Quarter, within view of the
Mississippi.
This weekend I made bookmarks for attendees, and chose themes of alchemy and
time(lessness) to represent the magic of booksellers and authors and industry friends
connecting through books. Our hope is that everyone leaves feeling refreshed, reinvigorated,
and inspired to try something new in their stores, in their art, and in their publishing work.
That is the alchemy possible at in-persons, when positivity, innovation, and curiosity are
encouraged, and celebrated. We plan on doing just that.
One of the education sessions at New Voices New Rooms this month which received extra attention and feedback from booksellers was Responding to Hate -- a special event where booksellers shared their strategies for dealing with aggression from their communities and sometimes even their customers. NVNR Attendees can now watch the session by logging on to NVNR's Attendee Hub.
Discussion ranged from the general, like creating, sharing, and implementing store mission statements, to the practical, such as always having at least two staff people in the store, to the situational, such as how to tell when a volatile situation can be deescalated, and when it has to be shut down for the safety of everyone involved. One of the resources posted during the session was the Center for Anti-Violence Education (CAE)'s Upstander: Responding to Microaggressions Workshop hosted by the ABA, especially the accompanying"Bystander Intervention" handout.
A bystander, as the word itself makes clear, is someone who stands by. An Upstander is someone who does not. An upstander choses to get involved:
Takes action when they see an act of intolerance.
Speaks or acts in support of an individual or cause, intervening on behalf of a person being attacked or bullied.
Actively works to create an anti-oppressive world.
The term was originally coined as a way for students to confront bullying behavior in school. But the concept has also been applied to other kinds of injustices by encouraging people to speak up and intervene when they see a person being attacked. Being an upstander requires a shift in the way we are trained to think and act. As store owners and staff we were likely encouraged to appease aggressive customers and suppress uncomfortable situations.
But that might not be an option if an employee or another customer is being harassed or threatened. So how do you take action? When do you take action? What do you do?
The Bystander Intervention handout available from the ABA's Upstander session addresses the "What." It has a checklist of possible actions, of things to do to discourage bullying behavior, or to utilize when you intervene to stop an injustice.
The other valuable handout available, "Calling In Strategies," addresses the "How" and "When." This handout works as a kind of self-assessment both you and your staff can use to determine if you are the right person to step into an uncomfortable situation, and how to do so as safely as possible.
Here are some simple ways to be an upstander from The Bully Project, an initiative to reduce school bullying by encouraging students to step in when they see a student being attacked:
1. Help others who are being bullied. Be a friend, even if this person is not yet your friend. Go over to him. Let them know how you think they are feeling.
2. Stop untrue or harmful messages from spreading. If someone tells you a rumor that you know is untrue or sends you a message that is hurtful to someone else, stand up and let the person know this is wrong.
3. Make friends outside of your circle. Reach out to someone who is alone. Show support for a person who is upset by asking them what is wrong
4. Refuse to be a “bystander”. If you see friends laughing along with a bully or a bigot, call them on it.
Note: Some of the links to resources mentioned in this article require a log in to member-only areas of New Voices New Rooms and the American Booksellers Association. Booksellers who do not have accounts with those entities can reach out to SIBA for help.
Southern
indie booksellers have selected five books, their hand-sell favorites for the upcoming month, as September 2022 Read This Next! titles. The chosen books all release in September and have the enthusiastic support of southern booksellers, This month Read Different! Read These Next!
Artemis Made Me Do It by Trista Mateer Every page of this book is chock full of beautiful, enchanting words that dig in deep and tear up the soil to reveal things you might not have thought about in years. Even if a poem doesn’t directly connect with you, it will in fact, ruin you. –Caitlyn Vanorder in Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC
The Fortunes of Jaded Women by Carolyn Huynh
The Duong sisters are cursed. It all started with their ancestor Oanh, who defied tradition and left her husband for true love. With many narrators, whip-smart humor, and at the center of it all family healing, this is a perfect Summer read. – Grace Sullivan in Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, VA
If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery
A unique narrative on identity and belonging that effortlessly mixes the past, present, and future together. The writing in this book is superb and Escoffery’s voice is unflinching in his presentation of the characters, highlighting both their strengths as well as their flaws. –Stuart McCommon in Novel in Memphis, TN
We Spread by Iain Reid I adore the way Iain Reid can make you feel so clueless and enthralled at the same time. The way he writes, even the most horrifying feeling, is soothing. I found myself trying to read slower as I neared the end because the experience passed too quickly. –Mary Salazar in The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, NC
When You Take a Step by Bethanie Deeney Murguia
Follow a trail of color through this book as you see where taking a step will lead. Each page follows a child as they explore the world. And even though everyone’s journey will be different, they can all make a difference. –Jamie Southern in Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC
Current Read This Next! books and what SIBA booksellers have to say about them can always be found at The Southern Bookseller Review
The Banned Books session was one of the most popular events at NVNR August. (Read about it at Shelf-Awareness).
ABFE executive director David Grogan, Sam Droke-Dickinson, co-owner of Aaron's Books in Lititz, PA, and Amy Sarig King, author of The Attack of the Black Rectangles, held a lively, passionate discussion on the upswell of book bans in the
country and what booksellers can do to fight them.
The session also was notable for the lengthy list of resources posted in the event chat. We've pulled those out for booksellers for easy access:
A book-banning group to know:
Moms for Liberty began as an anti-masking group in Florida, and have expanded their scope to "parental rights in schools" -- including lobbying against school curriculum that include Critical Race Theory, LGBTQ+ rights, and discrimination.
Many chapters are active in campaigning to ban books in school libraries that address gender and sexuality. They have chapters in most of the states in SIBA territory. https://www.momsforliberty.org/ https://www.momsforliberty.org/chapters/
The NOLA Galley Room is now open to all SIBA Booksellers
SIBA's New Orleans event has sold out, but booksellers who are unable to attend can still request some of the books and products available in the event Galley Room.
Event attendees will receive signed ARCs of the presenting authors' books on site, but some of the books are also available in limited quantities via the virtual galley room along with other titles and products publishers put in the hands of booksellers.
The NOLA Galley Room will stay open until the end of the event, September 8th. Visit the NOLA Event page for information about authors, and to access the schedule and the Galley Room.
Edelweiss hosts town hall for booksellers from historically marginalized communities
On August 25th at 6:00 PM ET Edelweiss will be hosting a booksellers town hall on Zoom, specifically to discuss the current needs of bookstores serving marginalized communities. This information exchange will focus on what bookstores need and how Edelweiss can help to meet those needs. Register here
ABA Announces Fall Marketing Campaign: Good Books Come to Those Who Shop Early
Fall is near, and with that comes ABA’s Fall holiday shopping campaign: Good books come to those who shop early! Created by ABA, the initial marketing assets for the campaign are now available, including in-store displays and recommended messaging for newsletters and social media. Additional assets will be released on a rolling basis through October including videos, printables, how-to articles, and more graphics. Read more
Bookstores, as retail operations, place a lot of importance on fourth quarter holiday sales. So much so that the American Booksellers Association regularly creates major marketing campaigns for their members, and regional associations like SIBA create special gift catalogs for their members to provide their customers. And while these things are presented as non-denominational celebrations, the industry's investment in the traditions of a Christian holiday remains.
It is easy to downplay, or ignore, other traditions at this time of year. Traditions that are nevertheless important to some of your customers. That is why it is important for an anti-racist bookstore to be mindful of all the major holidays and festivals your customers and employees may celebrate, and to create a calendar the store can follow throughout the year.
One of the best of such calendars comes from Cultures Connecting -- the organization that often provides DEI training at SIBA events. Designed with the school year in mind, it is an invaluable resource for business owners whose diverse staff may require the same consideration and respect for their celebrations and traditions that we currently offer without question for Christmas and Thanksgiving.
"The purpose of this calendar," says the Cultures Connecting mission statement, "is to address and support the diversity of students, staff, and families in K-12 education settings and beyond. We recognize that by increasing our understanding of diverse cultures, group experiences, traditions, values and beliefs, we can enhance our relationships with one another and hence, create culturally responsive environments where everyone feels valued and respected."
Social Media Reach:
FB: 8,429; TW: 8.304; IG: ,832
How long have you been a bookseller? 22 years.
What is the best part of being a bookseller? Putting a good book into the hands of an enthusiastic customer
What are you currently reading?
Rinker Buck's Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure. And we are looking forward to hosting the launch event for this title soon.
What is your favorite handsell title this year?
Taylor Brown's Wing Walkers
What is the best thing you've done this year in the store?
We are working on an expansion and historic building renovation that will double the size of the bookstore.
Is the store doing any community work?
We underwrite THE READING LIFE our WWNO (NPR). We serve as a community gathering place.
What are some community partners you work with regularly?
Stay Local / The Urban Conservancy, Crescent City Farmers Market, local schools, New Orleans JCC, Tennessee Williams Festival, Tales of the Cocktail
What are some of your passions outside of the bookstore?
So many: local culture, literature, building community...
What e-commerce system does the store use?
Indiecommerce. ABA has done a great job developing and supporting a platform specifically for the need for the unique needs of independent bookstores.
What is your top priority for the coming year?
Making a lasting impact on our community as we expanded bookstore space.
What is your favorite SIBA benefit?
Getting together and sharing ideas with fellow booksellers throughout our region. There are so many great ideas and practices being carried out by the most dedicated folks around.
Recordings of all the Author Panels at NVNR August are now available for NVNR attendees to watch. They represent some of the most moving, inspiring, and outright wacky moments of the show, so if you missed seeing an event, now is the time to catch up! Click on the video above for a taste of what's available (and an impromptu song!)
Registration for SIBA's New Orleans event September 7&8 has sold out! Although it is closed, booksellers can ask to be on the waiting list by emailing lindamarie@sibaweb.com. Attendees should bookmark SIBA's event page, which will serve as the program and "app" for the event. https://sibaweb.com/mpage/nola-2022
Who will you meet at the Author Luncheon?
DIANE MARIE BROWN is a professor at Orange Coast College and a public health professional for the Long Beach Health Department. She has a BA and MPH from UCLA and a degree in fiction from USC’s Master of Professional Writing Program. She grew up in Stockton and now lives in Long Beach, California, with her husband, their four daughters, and their dog, Brownie. Black Candle Women is her debut novel.
GRADY HENDRIX is an award-winning novelist and screenwriter living in New York City. He is the author of How to Sell a Haunted House, Horrorstör,My Best Friend’s Exorcism (which is being adapted into a feature film by Amazon Studios), We Sold Our Souls, and the New York Times bestseller The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires (currently being adapted into a TV series). Grady also authored the Bram Stoker Award–winning nonfiction book Paperbacks from Hell, a history of the horror paperback boom of the seventies and eighties, and his latest non-fiction book is These Fists Break Bricks: How Kung Fu Movies Swept America and Changed the World.
CIERA HORTON McELROY was raised in Orlando, Florida. She holds a BA from Wheaton College and an MFA from the University of Central Florida. Her work has appeared in AGNI, Bridge Eight, Iron Horse Literary Review, the Crab Orchard Review, and Saw Palm, among others. She currently lives in St. Louis with her husband and son. Atomic Family is her debut novel.
E. M. TRAN’s debut novel, Daughters of the New Year, is forthcoming from Hanover Square Press/HarperCollins. Her stories, essays, and reviews can be found in such places as Joyland Magazine, Prairie Schooner, Harvard Review Online, and more. She spent an inordinate proportion of her adult life working towards an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Mississippi and a PhD in English & Creative Writing from Ohio University. She is from and currently lives in New Orleans, Louisiana, with her husband and two dogs. She was born in the year of the Earth Snake. Ask her about Gilmore Girls or The Bachelor franchise if you want to be her friend.
DE’SHAWN CHARLES WINSLOW is the author of Decent People and In West Mills, a Center for Fiction First Novel Prize winner and a Los Angeles Times Book Awards, Lambda Literary, and Publishing Triangle awards finalist. He was born and raised in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, graduated from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and now lives in Atlanta.
In response to the growing attacks on books across the country, the American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) has organized a petition for independent booksellers (and consumers if booksellers want to share this with them) to collectively condemn book banning and offer support to schools and libraries. The link to sign the petition is: https://www.votervoice.net/Booksellers/Petitions/3106/Respond.
The plan is to get as many signatures as we can by September 6 and then announce the petition during Banned Books Week!
Respect ethnic names. Learn to pronounce them correctly.
@Anpu, Anparasan Sivakumaran, a photographer based in London and a social media influencer, has created a short but engaging series of graphics on how and why you should take the trouble to learn to both pronounce and spell ethnic names that are unfamiliar to you. Ultimately, this is a matter of basic respect, and not hard to do. For example, under "Things you should never say" is "I'm never going to remember that." This is simply dismissive and offensive. Under "How to help" he suggests repeating a person's name to confirm you are saying it correctly, and points out that in business misspelled and incorrect names can cause time-consuming and expensive legal problems for everyone involved. Jotting down a pronunciation you are uncertain of will help you to remember it in the future.
Watch next week for a more extensive recap of New Voices New Rooms in August. It was an amazing, exciting, moving, energizing and joyful event. In the meantime, here is a glimpse of the goodness to come, with the recording of our Keynote Breakfast Panel, We are Here: Centering Our Black and Brown Community
Featuring Tami Charles, Maria Hinojosa, Linda Sarsour, Ambassador Andrew Young and Paula Young Shelton.
Our Board President, John Cavalier, stepped down this month to focus on his store, Cavalier House Books. Cavalier House Books just purchased their own building and are expanding operations, which is demanding more of John’s time. However, he will remain on the Board through 2022. We are so grateful for his leadership during a time of many transitions.
I am honored to have been selected by the Board to serve as Board President for the remainder of 2022. As the new Board President, I want to hear from you as the Board continues our work for you. The pandemic time vortex has made it seem like forever since the last time we were all together at a regional show. I hope you are making plans to join us in New Orleans this September. I am so grateful for technology that has allowed us to keep in touch and continue our learning through New Voices, New Rooms and other virtual opportunities that the SIBA staff have created for us. We also were able to meet some of you at our recent gathering in Winston-Salem, NC in April, our first in-person meeting in 2.5 years.
I want to assure you that, even though we may not have seen many of you face to face in a long time, your Board has been hard at work. Our priority this year has been to update our bylaws and policy handbook. The SIBA Board began this work three years ago but got a bit derailed (understandably) during the CEO transition from Wanda Jewell to Linda-Marie Barrett, as well as by the pandemic.
In 2019, as part of the CEO transition, SIBA leadership re-incorporated the organization in North Carolina, which prompted a review of our bylaws. Some updates have been made to our bylaws already, such as ensuring we are not using any gendered language. One main issue we are still wrestling with concerns the new parameters for core membership. We need your feedback on this issue. We have had Board coffee chats with the membership about this topic over the past year—thanks to all of you who’ve talked this through with us. However, we need more feedback on this topic. We want to make sure that SIBA is as inclusive as possible to all novel model bookstores and to remove barriers that currently exist for those who wish to join. As we continue the work of updating our bylaws and policies, we hope you will send us your thoughts.
The current bylaws can be found here. We hope you will take a look and send any feedback you may have. We will be happy to discuss during the gathering in New Orleans and will dedicate time to this topic at the annual meeting and town hall which will be held on Tuesday, October 11 at noon EST.
I assure you that the Board always wants to hear from you so please do not hesitate to reach out with questions or comments to any of us. Here is a link to provide feedback. You can reach me via email at jamie@bookmarksnc.org.
Happy reading,
Jamie Rogers Southern
SIBA Board President
A Way out of No Way
by Stephen Lewis and Kimberly R. Daniel BookBaby/Independent Publisher's Group March 15, 2022 9781667824420
Trade Paperback $24.99 USD, $31.64 CAD Religion / Christian Living / Social Issues
For people in marginalized communities who work at the intersections of faith and entrepreneurship, innovation often begins with identifying the needs of the least among us. From Atlanta to the Rio Grande, Christian entrepreneurs are disrupting age-old
practices of innovation.
That is the good news at the heart of A Way Out of No Way, by Kimberly R. Daniel and Stephen Lewis, who in 2017, began hosting small gatherings with entrepreneurs, pastors, and community leaders at the Forum for Theological Exploration
(FTE). What they learned from more than 200 innovators around the country, and as co-founders of DO GOOD X, a community for early-stage social entrepreneurs, inspired and excited them to write a book.
A Way Out of No Way is an approach to Christian innovation grounded in the life
and ministry of Jesus, and African diasporic people's ingenious experiences. It offers a six-step approach to innovation, lessons and stories from the trenches, and theological reflections. This timely resource for entrepreneurs, community leaders,
and congregations builds on the Christian tradition of making a way out of no way.
"At once spiritually grounded, insightful and accessible... required reading for anyone interested in learning how to use their faith as the foundation for their entrepreneurial ventures that help heal the wounds caused by systemic inequality."
– Rev. Jennifer Bailey, author of To My Beloveds
"It starts with assumptions that are uniquely and deeply Christian, because it challenges us to ask, from the start, "Who benefits? And it further challenges us to not just be entrepreneurs, but to create entrepreneurial communities. Highly recommended."
–Brian D. McLaren, Author of Faith After Doubt
People often used the words "equality" and "equity" interchangeably, but they mean different things. They are complementary concepts, not synonyms, and a business needs to pursue and nurture both to create a truly inclusive environment.
"Equality" means each individual or group has the same resources or opportunities. It is “the state or quality of being equal; correspondence in quantity, degree, value, rank, or ability.”
"Equity" recognizes that people and groups face different circumstances, and allocates resources and opportunities to reach an equal outcome. It is “the quality of being fair or impartial; fairness; impartiality” or “something that is fair and just.”
Equity levels the playing field so that everyone has the opportunity to succeed. Organizations struggle the need to maintain equality -- a set of rules and expectations for all their employees -- against the need to address inequity-- when those rules and expectations unfairly disadvantage some employees. When that balance is achieved, workplaces are happier, more diverse, more creative, and more productive.
Human Rights Careers offers some examples of how this balance plays out in common workplace scenarios just as the recruiting or hiring process, the way businesses determine salaries and raises, or what is meant by "reasonable accommodations." For example, it is an example of equality to require all people working the same job get the same pay. But if all the higher paying jobs in the organization are held by white people, and all the people of color in the organization only have lower paying jobs, then that organization has a problem with inequity that needs to be addressed.
SIBA needs your help! If ABA receives enough participation from our region they’ll be able to produce an ABACUS report just for us. Since rent costs, utilities, insurance, and wages can differ greatly across the country, these regional reports will give stores apples-to-apples comparisons to help them find potential for improvement at their store and areas to focus resources. Stores can report their data anonymously and there is assistance to walk you through step by step. For questions or assistance contact PK at ABA at pk@bookweb.org or 914-406-7515, or Sophia at Industry Insights at 380-215-1115.
The ever popular Readers of the Last ARC Galley Room at NVNR is now open to attendees to view. Books will continue to be uploaded by publishers until the start of the show on August 8th. Attendees will be able to start building their request lists in August.
All the books by the authors in the program will be available for request. Selected titles from Book Buzz presentations will also be available.
The owner’s retreat at NVNR is a safe place for bookstore owners to share their thoughts and concerns, and find solutions to problems they are facing. The proposed discussion topics for this Monday, August 8 program are:
What have we learned during Covid?
What positive things have you discovered during this new normal?
How do these experiences position us to meet the challenges of a recession
What are we observing in terms of new customer patterns?
Staff concerns: How do we create & maintain a healthy work culture in an environment of chronic instability & stress?
If you are planning to attend either of the Owners Retreat (08/08 10:30amET) and/or the Children’s Booksellers Retreat (08/09 10:30am ET) at New Voices New Rooms, then NVNR would like to hear from you. NVNR would like to get a sense of the expected attendance and the issues booksellers are interested in discussing. RSVP to Linda-Marie Barrett at lindamarie@sibaweb.com
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See you Soon in New Orleans! 
This weekend I made bookmarks for attendees, and chose themes of alchemy and
time(lessness) to represent the magic of booksellers and authors and industry friends
connecting through books. Our hope is that everyone leaves feeling refreshed, reinvigorated,
and inspired to try something new in their stores, in their art, and in their publishing work.
That is the alchemy possible at in-persons, when positivity, innovation, and curiosity are
encouraged, and celebrated. We plan on doing just that. 
Being an Upstander
ABA Announces Fall Marketing Campaign: Good Books Come to Those Who Shop Early
What are you currently reading?
Dear SIBA community,
A Way Out of No Way is an approach to Christian innovation grounded in the life
and ministry of Jesus, and African diasporic people's ingenious experiences. It offers a six-step approach to innovation, lessons and stories from the trenches, and theological reflections. This timely resource for entrepreneurs, community leaders,
and congregations builds on the Christian tradition of making a way out of no way. 
