SIBA has created the Reader Meet Writer Author Series as an alternative for bookstores that—now that most of the country in under some version of a shelter-in-place order—are seeking to create ways to engage with their customers online. Participating stores will be able to invite their customers to exclusive video events with authors which are only available to SIBA stores. Events will be hosted by SIBA and can be attended by up to 1000 people. Bookstores handle all ticket and book sales from their customers.
We are adding authors to the schedule. First, if you haven't signed up to promote the Reader Meet Writer (RMW) events and sell the books to your customers and want to, email wanda@sibaweb.com. We have two events coming up next week. Lee Smith is on Tuesday, and Ruthie Lindsay is on Wednesday. Their books, Blue Marlin, and There I Am: The Journey from Hopelessness to Healing - A Novel, are both perfect books for the times. And we will soon be offering three or more events a week. Lee Smith has signed a limited number of bookplates in preparation for her SIBA Reader Meet Writer event (April 21 at 4 p-m). Booksellers who are interested in having some bookplates for their readers and/or those who are interested in hosting virtual events should email Lynn York at lynn@blairpub.com.
Let us know how the events are working for you by participating in our survey, and by sending us quotes we can use for promotion with publishers or naysayers. Is this helpful? Is it working? Let us know. We are happy to do this heavy lifting but not if we are getting in the way.
There is an Edelweiss collection of RMW titles and new titles will be added and, of course, we are keeping the website as up to date as possible. Finally, some of you have asked for all of the zoom links and passwords in advance and I'm happy to provide these if you want to get everything created in advance. These passwords simply cannot end up on any public-facing websites or social media. Let us know if you'd like to have all of that in advance.
What booksellers are saying about Reader Meet Writer:
Doing Great today!
"Our web traffic had fallen off then I sent out the notice for Lee Smith in (our version of) Shelf Awareness and we now have more than 35 participants and more than 20 books sales.
I am working hard to get the promos going on the rest of them. I don’t know if the others will be as popular - Lee Smith is a favorite in the mountains as you know - but its a great profit to effort ratio - thanks your and Wanda’s efforts.
Our sales were only averaging about $200 a day - but we’ve hit $550 plus today.
Hope you’re finding some fun time out there. I enjoy your flowers and outdoor pics on Facebook. I hope it won’t be too long till I can post grandkid pictures again."
Stay safe
Doloris Vest
Book No Further
112 Market St SE | Roanoke, VA 24011
dolorisvest@booknofurther.com | www.booknofurther.com
540-206-2505
Bookstore Day has been tentatively rescheduled for Saturday, August 29
Some important news...
• You will be able to amend or cancel your order of IBD exclusives before May 1. Please only do this if you feel you absolutely need to as all exclusives have already been printed and produced according to your original orders. This applies only to the exclusive items coming from Ingram, and does NOT include totes, t-shirts, or bookmarks.
• You can check your IBD order on your iPage (it will show as backordered). Then simply email me with any changes. Please include your Ingram number, store name, the ISBN for each changed item, and the NEW TOTAL. If you originally ordered 10 of something and you want to change it to 5, just put 5 next to the title and ISBN.
• If you missed the original order deadline and still want to place an order of the exclusives for the August 29th date, please use the ORDER FORM (visible on indiebookstoreday.com) and we will see what we can accommodate as the new numbers shake out. You can see the 2020 catalog here.
• A reminder that none of IBD orders will ship from Ingram until the beginning of August (if all goes well) and you will not be billed until it ships. Shea Serrano's Basketball book has been postponed and we are rolling out online sales of Renee Watson's WAYS TO MAKE SUNSHINE this month (see below). Bookmarks and tote bags are no longer available.
Posted By Linda-Marie Barrett,
Thursday, April 9, 2020
Simon & Schuster is partnering with Bookshop.org and Libro.fm to support independent bookstores. For the rest of 2020, Simon & Schuster will donate any affiliate fees earned through sales at Bookshop.org to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation.
In addition to this financial support, they’ve created beautiful assets for booksellers to use on Instagram and Facebook, in which authors like Stephen King, Jason Reynolds, Cassandra Clare, and Lisa See express why independent booksellers need support now more than ever.
Booksellers are unique people who possess equally the rugged individualism of the entrepreneur and a citizen-steward mindset when it comes to our towns, organizations, and communities. Our perspectives can provide insight into the transformation necessary to reemerge from the COVID-19 crisis stronger people that are part of stronger groups.
Ahead of our regularly scheduled May meeting, the SIBA Board would like to invite all members to share the concerns, thoughts, and challenges facing you as members. We would also ask you to bring, if you have them, any contributions of insight or solutions you have found to problems related to this new reality, things that are providing you comfort and inspiration right now, and any ideas you have to share with our organization and our industry for the future. The format will be open. We encourage you to bring your perspectives.
The constantly-changing information regarding this ongoing pandemic and our various states' policy changes surrounding it are causes of fear and insecurity and we are all facing daily, even hourly, personal and community uncertainties. The sudden onset of an increased amount of difficult, important decisions to make and conversations to have is overwhelming for many of us.
The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance is an amazing community of booksellers and entrepreneurs that share together in the best of times and uplift each other during the worst. The SIBA Board of Directors invites all members (owners and managers, we encourage you to also invite your staff members) to participate in a town hall forum on Friday, April 17th from 1-3 PM EDT to begin a discussion designed to determine what we can all do for each another right now, in this incredibly difficult time, and going forward.
Reader Meet Writer, Okra Pick with Steven Wright Coming Up April 16th @ 5 pm – Are you in?
It was so wonderful to hear Steven Wright at #SIBA19 and I’m excited for him to share his book with readers across the south. If you haven’t signed up to participate in SIBA’s Virtual Author Series Reader Meet Writer, you can do so by emailing wanda@sibaweb.com.
And if you have, Steven’s The Coyotes of Carthage is “a blistering and thrilling debut—a biting exploration of American politics, set in a small South Carolina town, about a political operative running a dark money campaign for his corporate clients.” (Edelweiss)
Steven Wright is a clinical associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School, where he co-directs the Wisconsin Innocence Project. From 2007-2012 he served as a trial attorney in the Voting Section of the United States Department of Justice. He has written numerous essays about race, criminal justice, and election law for the New York Review of Books.
Bookseller Chill with Bryan Robinson, Ph.D. is a six-week series beginning March 26 at 2 PM EST and continuing each Thursday, same time, same zoom link, till April 30. Each session will last approximately 30 minutes and include concepts from Bryan's book: #Chill: Turn Off Your Job and Turn On Your Life (HarperCollins, 2019), followed by what Bryan calls simple, short "MicroChiller" meditations that will help us relax and restore during this time of great uncertainty. You can read Bryan's recent post at Forbes.com: The Psychology of Uncertainty: How to Cope with COVID-19 Anxiety.
SIBA and participating publishers are giving away the galleys and other materials below to southern indie booksellers on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you are interested simply email the publisher to request a copy. Supplies are limited, so act quickly!
Worie Dressar is 17 years old when influenza and typhoid ravage her Appalachian Mountain community in 1877, leaving behind a growing number of orphaned children with no way to care for themselves. Worie's mother has been secretly feeding a number of these little ones on Sourwood Mountain. But when she dies suddenly, Worie is left to figure out why and how she was caring for them.
Plagued with two good-for-nothing brothers—one greedy and the other a drunkard—Worie fights to save her home and the orphaned children now in her begrudging care. Along the way, she will discover the beauty of unconditional love and the power of forgiveness as she cares for all of Momma's children.
Storyteller and popular speaker Cindy K. Sproles pens a tender novel full of sacrifice, heartache, and courage in the face of overwhelming obstacles.
Edelweiss has created a hub page of special offers from publishers, including offers specifically for bookstores facing the challenge of closures and interrupted sales. There are dozens of offers listed, from Arcadia to Wiley Press.
Macmillan has posted their first-ever virtual event grids to Edelweiss, as well as an offer to share some digital marketing tips for successful virtual/live streaming events. Email Melissa.Campion@macmillan.com for more info or start requesting authors now--they're sharing requests with publicists daily, as they come in. Here are the links to them: Macmillan Virtual Event Grid - Adult / Macmillan Virtual Event Grid - Kids/YA
Sign up fo the Workman Chalkboard Digital Resources: Authorless event kits, educational/homeschool materials, author videos, and downloadable visuals for social media to help promote titles and bookseller contests and giveaways for stores and staff plus extra swag for customers! Here is the March chalkboard if you would like to take a look through and get an idea of what it's like. Booksellers that are subscribed are really enjoying it so far.
Simon & Schusterindies.
And so do our authors! Please feel free to download the assets and share the love.
Holiday House has added a new resource page to meet the needs of those booksellers who would like to connect authors/illustrators and their books with community members in a virtual environment. Please feel free to download and print all materials and link to this page on your website, enewsletters, or any other platform. This page compiles all their materials, which includes activities, lesson plans, event kits, read-aloud guidelines, and more. They are adding additional resources daily!
Cavalier House Books co-owner and SIBA Board member John Cavalier presents "Tips for Managing an Unexpected Crisis," focusing on business strategies during COVID-19. During a time of crisis, it's vital to put a plan in place, as a thoughtful response can mean the difference between persevering and closing up shop. John talks generally and specifically about how you can work with your staff and community to craft a plan that will help you achieve your goals. He also provides a list of concrete steps you can take to build resiliency for your store's future and daily operations.
RSVP to Wanda Jewell wanda@sibaweb.com to sign up for Reader Meet Writer
One of the earliest effects of COVID-19 on the book industry was the cancellation of almost all scheduled author tours and book events – with devastating impact on both the authors and bookstores.
SIBA has created the Reader Meet Writer Author Series as an alternative for bookstores that--now that most of the country in under some version of a shelter in place order—are seeking to create ways to engage with their customers online. Participating stores will be able to invite their customers to exclusive video events with authors which are only available to SIBA stores. Events will be hosted by SIBA and can be attended by up to 1000 people. Bookstores handle all ticket and book sales from their customers.
The schedule of events for the next three months is already in place, beginning with many of the writers whose books are Spring Okra Picks, including Grady Hendrix's highly anticipated “The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires,” a SIBA bookseller favorite.
Here is the confirmed schedule so far:
Reader Meet Writer, Okra Pick April 7 Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires / Grady Hendrix
April 16 The Coyotes of Carthage / Steven Wright April 21 Blue Marlin / Lee Smith
April 28 Feels Like Falling / Kristy Woodson Harvey
May 5 Before She Was Helen / Caroline B. Cooney May 20 The Prettiest Star / Carter Sickels May 21 A Taste of Sage / Yaffa Santos
Reader Meet Writer, Southern Edition
May 6 Native / Kaitlin Curtice
May 12 Hello Summer / Mary Kay Andrews
More events will be added as authors are confirmed. To participate, email wanda@sibaweb.com. IMPORTANT! You must contact SIBA by Saturday, April 4th to be included in the first event with Grady Hendrix
“We sold out of copies of Taylor’s book and have re-ordered to meet demand. We were really pleased to be able to offer this to our customers and it came at just the right time. It gave folks something else to think about and our community really loves hearing from authors. We’re so grateful that SIBA is doing the heavy lifting. That really helps us out right now with the 75 thousand things we are doing.” -Serena Wycoff, Copperfish Books
What participating stores do:
Promoting the event to their customer base.
Handling ticket and book sales, and providing SIBA with the number of RSVPs.
Providing their customers with the specially created link and passcode to attend the online event.
Reporting book sales and feedback to SIBA after the event is over
What SIBA does:
Scheduling all Reader Meet Writer events
Preparing presenters with what they need for the event
Preparing all the materials participating bookstores will need to promote the event
Hosting the event itself, including handling all technical issues and managing all event logistics
“We had 35 people RSVP and sold 20 books. I call that a success.” – Tom Lowenburg, Octavia Books
A pilot event was held on March 31 with eight bookstores and Taylor Brown, an Okra Pick author whose book tour for his new novel, Pride of Eden, had been scheduled for over a dozen of southern bookstores before being cancelled. The test event attracted almost 100 attendees, which stores were able to leverage into book sales.
“What I loved about this is that all the work was done for me.... I have a ready-made virtual event that I just need to share. It is a part of my store it is a part of my store community and it is something I can offer with No Work on my part. I create a special email address for RSVPs. I create an event page (with the verbiage already templated by SIBA) and push it. I wait for the link from Wanda and send that to my RSVPS. I am offering something to my customers that some of them really need- the ability to connect with people and authors around books. I can keep them engaged with our platform and our store... and I can focus on the time-consuming drain that is all the other work.” – Kimberly Daniels, The Country Bookshop
Please fill out our COVID-19 Bookstore Impact & Best Practices survey, to let us know how COVID-19 has affected you and your bookstore. We want to stay connected to member stores, and find out what’s going on in your communities. We're also looking to share with other member stores those best practices that you have implemented in your store. This information will be shared with the ABA to advocate for financial relief funding for independent bookstores and small businesses.
As this is a rapidly evolving situation, we encourage you to return to this form at any time to submit a new response.
SIBA promotes six new books every month to readers, the customers of our member stores, in our Lady Banks Bookshelf promotion.These titles appear at the top of our weekly Lady Banks Commonplace Book newsletter, which has a circulation of over 60k. We also feature them above the fold on the homepage of Authors 'Round the South and as the cover image of the ARTS facebook page, with buy links promoted to our 15,000 Facebook friends. Plus, we boost these titles on our Facebook page for thousands more views. A different member store is featured with the titles every week.
For publishers looking to promote their new titles out to readers across the South, Lady Banks Bookshelf is our greatest value because of high visibility and engagement across multiple platforms. To support the efforts of publishers launching books during this challenging time, we're offering this, and all of our other promotions (except the RAMP holiday catalog) for half-price. Contact us for more information or to get your titles on "The Shelf" in coming months.
Posted By Nicki Leone,
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Updated: Wednesday, April 1, 2020
With so many people now staying at home, good books are more essential than ever. Southern independent booksellers have selected thirteen titles for their 2020 Spring Okra Picks, their seasonal list of great forthcoming Southern books. The Spring Okra Picks publish in April, May, and June and feature southern voices, southern stories, and southern writers. Each and every one of them also has a cadre of southern bookseller champions, eager to share their enthusiasm with other readers. Visit https://authorsroundthesouth.com/okra to read more, and see a sneak peak of the first chapters of some of the forthcoming books.
Southern independent bookstores: we grow good books!
The 2020 Spring Okra Picks
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
Quirk Books, April, 2020
"I flew through this book! It was a great depiction of Southern housewives in the 90's. The mixture of quirkiness, horror, and Hendrix's unique take on vampires made it hard to put down." ~ Amanda Bradley, Blytheville Book Company, Blytheville, AR
Simon the Fiddler by Paulette Jiles
William Morrow, April, 2020
"Like her splendid earlier novel, News of the World, Paulette Jiles' Simon the Fiddler is set in a post-Civil War Texas. I was instantly charmed by this beguiling tale, equal parts adventure yarn, love story, and candid chronicle of life after great conflict." ~ Clara Boza, Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe, Asheville, NC
The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels
Hub City Press, April, 2020
"Told with empathy and heart, as well as a pitch-perfect sense of time and place, The Prettiest Star is a deeply affecting story about what it means to understand each other and where we come from, even when our lives have taken us light years away." ~ Ashley Warlick, M. Judson Booksellers and Storytellers, Greenville, SC
The Coyotes of Carthage by Steven Wright
Ecco, April, 2020
"Dark humor and dark money make for a compelling combination and Dre Ross may be the most sympathetic villain around. A cautionary tale for our times full of heart and dire warnings of how politics can go wrong." ~ Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books, Davidson, NC
Blue Marlin by Lee Smith Blair, April, 2020
"Lee Smith is a remarkable voice and someone you hope to spend an afternoon with. Her sense of humor and attention to detail make this quick read a delight. How would you feel when your parents try to take you away on a 'we have to patch up the family' trip? You can sense the tension and laugh out loud at the lens of Jenny's point of view." ~ Suzanne Lucey, Page 158 Books, Wake Forest, NC
Feels Like Falling by Kristy Woodson Harvey
Gallery Books, April, 2020
"Diana is one of my top five favorite book characters of all time: she's witty, she's got a spine of steel, and she's from a social class that tends to be glossed over in women's fiction. I loved how heartwarming this book was. I say this about all of Kristy's books, but it genuinely made me laugh out loud and tear up, too!" ~ Lizy Coale, Copperfish Books, Punta Gorda, FL
Before She Was Helen by Caroline B. Cooney
Poisoned Pen Press, May, 2020
"If you read Caroline B. Cooney back in the day like I did, you will love this new one. No one is who they seem to be. Cooney keeps you on the edge of your seat as the narrative flashes between the main character and her past, describing how she evades an old stalker to reclaim her life. Cooney reminds the fans why she's been a huge name in thriller fiction for decades." ~ Andrea Richardson, Fountain Bookstore, Richmond, VA
Lobizona by Romina Garber Wednesday Books, May, 2020
"This is not your typical werewolf book. Think more Harry Potter meets Argentinian folklore meets the hope/terror of people coming to the US to start a better life. The world-building in this book is amazing because it's familiar yet so new at the same time." ~ Candace Conner, The Haunted Book Shop, Mobile, AL
Boys of Alabama by Genevieve Hudson
Liveright, May, 2020
"Genevieve Hudson brings to life a brutal yet spellbinding exploration of teenage masculinity, and the horrors that it is capable of setting loose. In her haunting debut novel - part coming-of-age, part Southern gothic, part queer lit - she highlights the fear and excitement, the love and the loss, that inevitably accompanies being a new face in a new place." ~ Gage Tarlton, Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill, NC
We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez
Philomel Books, May, 2020
"I still don't know if I have fully recovered from reading this novel, but I know that I needed to read it. It is both devastating yet compulsively readable; difficult to get through yet necessary. One in the ranks of The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead and should be put into every American's hands." ~ Olivia Schaffer, The Bookshelf, Thomasville, GA
A Taste of Sage by Yaffa S. Santos
Harper Paperbacks, May, 2020
"When you mix delicious food and hate to love romance in a book, you instantly have me hooked. Julien is a celebrated chef who is known for his good looks but bad attitude. Lumi can't stand Julien, but tastes his cooking because it looks so irresistible and she's overcome with intense emotions and has her wondering if she wants more. If you are looking for something fun, tasty, and will test your senses, you will enjoy this book." ~ Deanna Bailey, Story on the Square, McDonough, GA
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Riverhead Books, June, 2020
"This beautifully paced and thought-provoking novel is one to enjoy slowly, savoring as you consider the big questions this book poses: who are we when we shed the markers that once defined us, how do our pasts inform our choices and desires, and what does it mean to be a family. ~ Megan Bell, Underground Books, Carrollton, GA
The Unwilling by John Hart
St. Martin's Press, June, 2020
"With his signature beautiful writing style, Hart leads readers on a mystery that ends up not being the one you might not have thought it would be, and each twist and reveal brings up new questions to keep the reader engaged in a big way." ~ Melissa Oates, Fiction Addiction, Greenville, SC
Bookseller Chill with Bryan Robinson, Ph.D. is a six-week series beginning March 26 at 2 PM EST and continuing each Thursday, until April 30. Each session will last approximately 30 minutes and include concepts from Bryan's book: #Chill: Turn Off Your Job and Turn On Your Life (HarperCollins, 2019), followed by what Bryan calls simple, short "MicroChiller" meditations that will help us relax and restore during this time of great uncertainty. You can read Bryan's recent post at Forbes.com: The Psychology of Uncertainty: How to Cope with COVID-19 Anxiety.
Libro.fm Programming to Support Your Online Store. Stephanie Ballien and Mark Pearson of Libro.fm provide helpful information about driving audiobook sales and growing your online presence with the aid of authors, influencers, Bookstore Link, and more.
The ABA's resource page is the absolute best source of information for booksellers and is constantly updated. Pay special attention to CEO Allison Hill's updates, now archived here. If you aren't an ABA member, we highly encourage you join (ask about their dues relief plan during the crisis). Below are links to specific areas of interest. Do check back for further updates!
Here's a gathering of ideas and links from across the internet that I believe could prove useful for booksellers:
Use an expense line item called COVID-19 in your operation and dump all extraordinary expenses in there--not just supplies, but also time (safety meetings). You may need it for relief programs from the government and it will help you and your financial support staff understand these unexpected costs down the road.
Continue to message your customers with COVID-19 sensitive promotions on all your newsletters and platforms. Keep them informed and act as a consoling and thoughtful community leader who understand the importance of safety, but wants to supply books during the quarantine, directing them to online sales platforms.
If you'd like to pursue essential business designation for your store within your community and state, we ask you to read this advice from the ABA and pursue grassroots efforts with your fellow booksellers to lobby for this designation if you choose. More info below:
Who do I reach out to regarding permission to carry on business?
Consistently stores reaching out on the state level have been turned down
Focus your efforts locally
We have seen access granted to bookstores by local government including city council, mayors, city attorneys, and local assemblymen
Contacting local government also encourages them to promote and support business in this time
What to do when making your request:
Avoid requesting to be considered essential on social media.
Emphasize public safety. Businesses remain closed to the public, only handling online orders with minimal staff maintaining safe distances
Keep in mind:
There is some question as to whether staying open in these ways might hurt your chances for loans or grants later. We have no information on this but it is possible showing a complete loss of income may give you a better chance at loans and grants. Something to consider though most likely your store, like others, will have evident losses to document regardless.
Looks at the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which creates the Family Medical Leave Expansion Act and Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act that goes into effect April 2. Business Resource Hub (Facebook) Note from Franklin Fixtures
Stay up to date on tools, resources, and supports made necessary during this time. #WhileAtHome is a clearinghouse for credible information and action steps.
Fill out this form: Join other retailers to tell your senators a "No" vote that needlessly delays passage of small business relief legislation is not okay.
Spread the word: Share the above-mentioned letters to the Senate with your customers and network. Ask for their help lobbying on behalf of your bookstore, small businesses, and the best interest of the local and national economy. Some sample social media captions:
Your monthly operating expenses from March through September of last year.
Note:Some loans and grants may make you ineligible for others. For example, a disaster loan may make you ineligible for the proposed forgivable loans that are in the proposed senate relief legislation. Ask questions and check ABA's Coronavirus Resources for Booksellers page for updates as we attempt to find out more.
Blog Home
All Blogs
RSS
