(Asheville, NC) –Southern indie booksellers have announced their 2019 Fall Okra Picks, a fresh harvest of great Southern books, Southern voices, and Southern stories hand picked by Southern independent booksellers. The Fall Okra Picks release in October, November, and December, and every book on the list has a Southern bookseller ready to put it in the hands of readers with that most exciting phrase in the English language, “You’ve got to read this!”
Southern independent bookstores – we grow good books!
Posted By Wanda Jewell,
Monday, September 30, 2019
New "Shop South” Opportunity for SIBA Members!
SIBA and Matchbook Marketing are collaborating to offer a new website promotional program to highlight SIBA book prize winners. Matchbook Marketing will work with booksellers to incorporate these book prize promotions into their websites, and where possible, link them to online sales pages. The prize lists include the Southern Book Prize, Circle of Sites/Lady Banks, Okra Picks, Southern Indie Bestsellers List, and the Pat Conroy Legacy.
Once stores sign on to the program, the Shop South lists will be updated on their sites automatically.
Cost of the Program: $80 setup (this will be offset with 8,000 B3 SIBA points, which can be exchanged for SIBA dues, meal tickets to the SIBA Discovery Show, and even free travel and hotel accommodations) + $40/month maintenance. All participating booksellers will be required to have an active SIBA membership.
If you would like more website support (maintaining store specific content or website redesign), Matchbook Marketing is offering two additional program tiers as part of the Shop South promotion. Contact matchbookdesign@welovebooksellers.com for more information or for samples of website mockups that illustrate what the promotion would look like on your site.
Booksellers, publishing professionals, authors, and bookstore customers are encouraged to nominate any current indie bookstore employee of an ABA member store to receive a bonus as part of author James Patterson’s 2019 Holiday Bookstore Bonus Program. This year’s campaign is open to all U.S. independent bookstore employees through October 12.
Patterson is pledging a personal contribution of $250,000 to independent bookstore employees, which will be granted in amounts of $500 bonuses to 500 individual booksellers. New this year, 100 of the bonuses will be set aside for children’s booksellers.
To help booksellers promote the program, here are a variety of social media posts that can be adapted for use (Patterson’s social media handles are @JamesPatterson on Facebook; @JP_Books on Twitter; and @jamespattersonbooks on Instagram).
All past recipients of Patterson grants are eligible, and booksellers can self-nominate. Bonuses will be distributed in December 2019. In all cases, the vetting process will include obtaining approval from the bookstore employee and store in question to confirm current employment.
The grant application asks one simple question: “Why does this bookseller deserve a holiday bonus?” Patterson will select winners from bookstores all across the country to receive bonuses this holiday season.
Posted By Nicki Leone,
Thursday, September 26, 2019
THE BOOKS YOUR COLLEAGUES ARE TALKING ABOUT
Some of the reviews submitted this week on Edelweiss+ from your fellow SIBA booksellers. SIBA members earn B3! points for every review if they join the SIBA community on Edelweiss. Email nicki@sibaweb.com to be added.
9781538731338Imaginary Friend 10/1/2019
"Immediately compelling, Imaginary Friend has the grip of those timeless cautionary tales, but related through a child's genuine sense of wonder and apprehension. Real-deal darkness, just peaking around the edges of the rich prose and Mayberry-esque setting.." -- Jilleen Moore, Square Books, Oxford, MS
9781524738174The Beautiful 10/8/2019
"Ahdieh sets her gritty underworld in the perfect environment of New Orleans in the late 19th century. It's dark and dramatic and filled with intense passion. Ahdieh drew me in and left me so frustrated. I need the next book. NOW. This is the YA fantasy you need in your life right now."-- Miriam Meeks, E Shaver, bookseller, Savannah, GA
9780997457858The Gallows Pole 10/15/2019
"A grimy, visceral historical crime novel with prose that feel like they were written with a sledge hammer. Entertaining, yes, but with plenty to say about power and class." -- Justin Souther, Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe, Asheville, NC
9780062913463Nothing to See Here 10/29/2019
"I don't think I've read something so absurd and equally endearing ever before in my life. Kevin Wilson serves us a tale spun around heartbreak, what it means to be family, and honest to God unconditional love. When Lillian's childhood friend, Madison, calls her with a job to be the governess to her step-children, the deal sounds too good to be true. But once Lillian meets Bessie and Roland, she learns exactly what her job is: keep the kids from catching on fire, at (quite literally) all costs. The sweetness of this story is fragrant with smoke and sweet tea, and Wilson leaves the reader feeling completely satisfied and fulfilled by the entirety of Lillian's story involving this twisted and fantastical family." -- Delany Holcomb, Bookmarks, Winston-Salem, NC
Posted By Nicki Leone,
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Anyone who has attended a regional trade show or the American Booksellers Association's Winter Institute or Children's Institute has had the chance to play "Heads or Tails" -- the popular game/fundraiser the last person standing takes home a $500 prize. If you haven't played, you have at least watched, smiling as your colleagues, adorned with flashing pins, tried to decide whether to put their hands on their heads ("heads") or their rears ("tails"). A coin is flipped, heads or tails is called, and pins are turned off as players guess wrong. Every pin represents a $20 donation to Binc. The more pins a player is wearing, the longer they can stay in the game, but eventually only one person is left, still blinking.
At the SIBA Discovery Show the Binc Heads or Tails Fundraiser is one of the last events of the show -- held on the exhibit floor amid a general air of hilarity as booksellers, exhibitors, and even authors ham it up trying to stay on their feet until the end. The event has proved so popular -- and is for such a good cause -- that many authors in the show program who can't stay for the whole weekend arrange for proxys to stand in for them so they can still play. The lucky winner of this year's contest was Rebecca Kauffman, author of The House on Fripp Island, due out in June of 2020.
The fundraiser, which was sponsored by SIBA, raised approximately $3500.
So what, exactly, were all those folks doing by wearing flashy pins and patting their heads?
They were helping SIBA booksellers in need.
"Within 24 hours, Kit called to report that Binc was stepping in to assist with several months of rent payments. What a godsend. It was like I could breathe again." -- Jamie Anderson, Downtown Books & Duck's Cottage, Outer Banks, NC, after Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael
Binc exists to be a safety net for booksellers facing a financial crisis. This has special significance for bookstores in SIBA territory, which face severe natural disasters and weather events with increasing rapidity. Rarely does the South make it through a hurricane season without some of our stores being affected -- by flooding, building damage, lost inventory, lost work, lost wages. Here is what Binc has done for SIBA booksellers since 2014:
Bookstore Disaster Recovery: 2 grants for a total of $12,073
Disaster Relief: 2 grants for a total of $7,975
Financial Assistance: 27 grants for a total of $62,678
Matching Grants: 5 grants fora total of $10,000
All in all, Binc has provided more than $92,000 in aid to Southern bookstores in the last five years. They have helped booksellers pay their rent, keep the lights on, meet serious medical expenses, and provide immediate disaster assistance.
That means if you have ever played "Heads or Tails" with Binc and didn't win, you still won. Your contribution has strengthened the bookselling community by directly benefiting its booksellers.
SIBA promotes six new books every month to consumers 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 on the cover image of the ARTS Facebook page with buy links promoted to our 15,000 Facebook friends. A different member store is featured with the titles every week.
By promoting through Lady Banks, publishers are making an investment in SIBA member bookstores’ attention and market. SIBA works with them to select titles customers are looking for, and then we drive those customers to SIBA member stores. Booksellers can boost sales by bringing in Lady Banks Bookshelf titles before the month begins, and putting up a winning display. Send in a photo of your display and earn 20 B3! points, too!
By Andrea Richardson, Bookseller/Assistant Buyer at Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, VA.
I had a wonderful time at #SIBA19 - the best part was meeting and connecting with fellow booksellers and authors, as well as our publishing reps that I hadn't been able to put a face to before SIBA. Another highlight of my time in SC (and I don't think I'm alone in this) was the lunch with Julie Murphy, Charlaine Harris, Akilah Hughes, Kim Jones, and Gilly Segal. They were so much fun and I am loving all of their books! I also really enjoyed the handselling seminar, where I learned several valuable tips that I'm excited to try out during my store shifts. I really feel like I've found my tribe in the bookselling world and I could not be happier to continue my journey in this amazing business! I am so grateful that I won a scholarship and can't wait to attend more events. Thanks to SIBA, ABA, Wanda, and everyone else that put together this event!
By Carl Kranz, Operations Manager at Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, VA.
SIBA time is always one of my favorite times of the year, and in need of a bit of a motivator this year, the Discovery Show stepped up bigtime. Right off the bat, I was in with my runnin’ buddies, and just seeing colleagues who have become some of my good friends for the first time in a while was rejuvenating in and of itself. But there’s always more people to meet and more work to be done. A full schedule of panels and education sessions filled Friday and highlights for me included discussion on Independent Bookstore Day, returns, and updates Ingram has been working to benefit booksellers through iPage, as well as a panel on nonfiction (which I love).
The main difference though between this year and past years was that I seemed to take a more philosophical approach to learning about bookselling. This is harder to put a price on but is just as important as the analytical tools we work on. Both through the inspirational programming as well as conversations I had up and down the trade show floor, there seemed to be a theme with me about my purpose as a bookseller. How to use my influence to make my community better and then grow that influence. Two events stick out in this regard. The conversation between Sharon Robinson and Peggy Wallace Kennedy about the legacy of their fathers and coming to terms with those legacies and finding their own voices in it all, to promote racial healing and reconciliation. There was also Wiley Cash’s speech at dinner on Friday night where he accepted the 2020 Pat Conroy Legacy Award. Cash spoke about how the right thing is typically the hard thing. We need to pull others up with us if we expect to get anywhere.
But it was also so much FUN, which we all need to stay inspired. The kickoff lunch on Friday with Julie Murphy, Akilah Hughes, Charlaine Harris, Kimberly Jones, and Gilly Segal was probably the most entertaining author meal I’ve ever been witness to. My face hurt from laughing so much! Every night went late for me, drinks with friends, passionate conversations, I couldn’t help but be inspired by my colleagues. I also can’t thank Hub City Press enough for playing wonderful hosts and their party on Saturday night was one I’ll always remember, so many people we had to spill out onto the sidewalk. Ending the show with the Moveable Feast, I met a number of authors that I felt a connection to and I can’t wait to read their books. It was a very proper sendoff. I was sad to leave but felt like I had lived an entire month in one weekend. Out of the three years I’ve been to the SIBA Discovery Show, this was easily the best experience I’ve had. The energy was vibrant and infectious and put a lot of life back into me as a bookseller.
Posted By Nicki Leone,
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Some of the reviews submitted this week on Edelweiss+ from your fellow SIBA booksellers. SIBA members earn B3! points for every review if they join the SIBA community on Edelweiss. Email nicki@sibaweb.com to be added.
9781501137570The World That We Knew 9/24/2019
"An achingly gorgeous piece of work. Alice Hoffman takes the tired genre of WWII historical fiction and enlivens it with mysticism and spirituality. I wept, but more from the beauty of it all than from the gut-wrenching sadness." -- Lucy Stoltzfus, The Bookshelf, Thomasville, GA
9780062871992I Can Make This Promise 10/1/2019
"This book has everything adult books have, only made chewable for middle graders. I loved it. The main character develops in the normal, healthy way a middle schooler would, as she gets to know more about her family and elders, loses a friend, grows her talent, and gets braces. The trust she has with her parents is shaken, but their relationship remains respectful, so that young readers are taught how to navigate growing up in a way that honors their parents. The brilliance of this book, though, is the mysterious family history that Edith uncovers, a topic that I knew nothing about. I learned so much reading this, and I think any kid would enjoy learning more about the Native American history in America, too. Overall, my new standard for middle grade literature. "-- Maria Sivils, M. Judson, booksellers and storytellers, Greenville, SC
9781524738174The Beautiful 10/8/2019
"I’m left with so many questions, but mostly when can I get my hands on the next book? Yes, vampires have been done before and yes, vampires in New Orleans have been done before. This book managed to not feel tired though. Renee’s characters are well-written and the story is lush. " -- Melissa Taylor, E. Shaver, booksellers, Savannah, GA
9780062899873The Sacrament 12/3/2019
"A thoughtful, atmospheric, and quietly intense novel about how choices have effects that must be felt our whole lives and how we grapple with them. I loved settling in with this novel." -- Catherine Bock, Parnassus Books, Nashvillel, TN
Posted By Nicki Leone,
Thursday, September 19, 2019
SIBA 2019: Spartanburg Hosts High Energy Show
Of course, the very point of the show is to put booksellers in front of reps and several publishers and their reps were impressed with the traffic. Steven Wallace, marketing and sales director for the University of Georgia Press, is a veteran of many SIBAs and noted that the traffic on the show floor was “non-stop and didn’t let up for a second” -- Publishers Weekly
On Friday, SIBA offered a packed schedule of education sessions, including the SRO "Independent Bookstore Day: Celebrate with Success," "The Art of the Pitch: Handselling Books to Customers" and "Romancing the Indie Bookstore." The well-attended breakfasts, lunches and dinners showcased a range of authors and titles, but the standout was the Friday lunch featuring authors Julie Murphy (Dear Sweet Pea); Akilah Hughes (Obviously, Stories from My Timeline); Charlaine Harris (A Longer Fall); and Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal (I'm Not Dying with You Tonight). The authors hit it off so well in the green room earlier that they decided to skip the usual individual speeches and just talk to each other--and to the audience. The result was a charming, entertaining, hilarious performance that, in a way, encapsulated the SIBA experience: love and support for each other. -- Shelf Awareness
Scholarships make such a difference, creating the opportunity for stores to send one or more staff to the SIBA Discovery Show. Thanks to generous sponsors like UNC Press, Binc, Penguin Random House (Pat Conroy Scholarships), and Reba and Dave Williams, SIBA is able to help defray the costs of travel, lodging, meals and other expenses. The following booksellers share how attending #SIBA19 made a difference for them.
"Going to SIBA this year was an experience like Peter Wohlleben's The Hidden Life of Trees. Instead of an interconnected system of roots, there exists the life-giving channels of indie bookstores pulsing around the American South. Southern Indies are diverse variations of the same organic matter. They bring reading and intellectual vibrance to a region of the country that has long been perceived as lacking of, or not even wanting to explore, the world of books outside of the caricatures of complicated Southern identity. I witnessed authors on the verge of tears as they gave their precious books into our capable hands. And, I trust in the team of booksellers present this weekend to carry those direct emotional pitches with them onto the bookfloor. I have been a bookseller since 2015. In 2019 at SIBA, l became a bookseller for life."- Davis Shoulders, Union Ave Books, Knoxville, TN
“Main Street Books is truly indebted to the Williams for an unforgettable and impactful experience. Main Street Books is a 90 minute drive from Spartanburg, close enough that we could reasonably send all 6 staff members to SIBA without incurring crazy travel costs. That said, we closed the store on the two busiest days of the week at the start of serious fourth quarter ramping up - a sizable risk, but one I was willing to take so that my booksellers could truly understand the empowering experience of spending 70 hours among booksellers, authors, and publishers. The scholarship allowed us to reduce that financial risk.
Most of my booksellers have had established careers previously and attending a conference was not a novel experience. However, working in a retail job and attending such an enriching meeting was truly remarkable. Each of our booksellers, including our event coordinator, was able to attend at least three author meals and several were moved to tears (Kevin Wilson!) or felled by laughter (Akilah, Julie, Gilly, Kimberly, and Charlaine!) or empowered to embrace our role as community conversation facilitators (Sharon Robinson and Peggy Wallace Kennedy!).
Having our staff attend education sessions like the "Work on your biz" helped us all see better ways for us to redesign the way we work so that I, as owner/manager, can have more time for strategic planning. Staff also embraced their time on the exhibit floor. They had great conversations with every single vendor that attended. I am pretty sure that a Main Street Books staff member visited every table at least once on Saturday. We've come back with new sidelines to stock, stronger relationships with publishers, and great under-the-radar books to read and share back here in Davidson.
We also had valuable time together to meet as a whole staff and to perform a S.W.O.T analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). One effect of attending education sessions and meeting/conversing with other booksellers is that each of my booksellers could informally assess our store, getting a sense for what and how we do things in comparison to other stores. This "intangible" outcome has instilled pride of purpose in us! Thank you so much for helping us gather together at SIBA19!” -Adah Fitzgerald, Main Street Books, Davidson, NC
"Recently I read a middle reader book called The Spinner of Dreams and there's a part of a story where the protagonist is told, "Someday you will walk into a room and everyone will have been waiting for you, there will be a spot for you at the table and everyone will be so glad you came." As someone who is slightly too loud and talks way too much, I've always wondered if that day would come for me. At SIBA this year, this quote kept running through my head as I met friends I never knew I had, wept with authors over their beautiful writing, and laughed with others like me who were just trying to bring books to a hurried world. While the entire weekend was very whirlwind, it was the happiest tornado I've ever been able to be swept up into. I learned more about the industry from all angles, from the author's perspective, from the publisher's perspective, and from other booksellers as well. I was so blessed to be chosen for a scholarship to attend and I will always be so grateful." -Katlin Kerrison, Story On the Square, McDonough, GA
Posted By Nicki Leone,
Thursday, September 12, 2019
SIBA announces Wiley Cash as the 2020 Conroy Legacy Award Recipient!
Wiley Cash, the New York Times bestselling author of A Land More Kind than Home, This Dark Road to Mercy, and The Last Ballad, has been selected to receive the 2020 Conroy Legacy Award. Created in honor of the example set by the beloved Southern author Pat Conroy, the Conroy Legacy Award recognizes writers who have achieved a lasting impact on their literary community, demonstrated support for independent bookstores both in their own communities and in general, created written work that focuses significantly on their home place, and supported other writers, especially new and emerging writers.
“We are so delighted to see that booksellers have chosen Wiley Cash as their Conroy Legacy Award Recipient,” said Wanda Jewell, Executive Director of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance, which oversees the Award. “Wiley is a generous southern friend to bookstores and writers.”
In addition to his novels, Cash is the creator of the Open Canon Book Club, which seeks to introduce readers to “voices and portrayals of the American experience they may not have otherwise encountered” and which is supported by independent bookstores in the South and nationwide. He is also a founder of The Land More Kind Appalachian Artists Residency, a week-long residency program for writers, visual artists, musicians, songwriters, and photographers who are either from Appalachia or devoted to creating art representative of the region.
"Pat [Conroy] was one of those successful writers who was also pushing others ahead of him,” said Cash when he was told he would receive the award, “I've heard story after story from writers whose work he shouldered and shared with the world. He did that for me. We all need to do that for the writers who are coming behind us. He didn't pull the ladder up. He reached a hand down."
Of the role the Southern independent bookstore community has played in his career, Cash was emphatic: “It's only because the independent bookstores and booksellers embraced my debut that my books have had the success they've had. Indie bookstores put me on the literary map, and they've kept me there. Independent bookstores are the literary, social, cultural, intellectual, and ethical lifeblood of our communities. We go to indie stores to meet authors, discover books, discuss ideas, find community, exchange new ideas and challenge old ones."
Suzanne Lucey, co-owner of Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, NC says the regard goes both ways: “We had Wiley to our store and for each book sold he donated a dollar from his own pocket to send to the ACLU. Who does that?”
“He also has asked to do a writing class at our store,” she added, “and applauded a Clay County, NC high school teacher for introducing Appalachian writers like Ron Rash and David Joy. He really is trying from the bottom up to make our state and country better.”
SIBA will make a donation to the Pat Conroy Literary Center and to the UNC Asheville Foundation in the name of Wiley Cash.
Posted By Nicki Leone,
Thursday, September 12, 2019
Some of the reviews submitted this week on Edelweiss+ from your fellow SIBA booksellers. SIBA members earn B3! points for every review if they join the SIBA community on Edelweiss. Email nicki@sibaweb.com to be added.
9780525707370The Babysitters Coven 9/17/2019
"Esme and her best friend have a babysitter's club. Yes, they're 17, but Esme likes to babysit and it beats a regular job any day. And Esme NEEDS a job because suddenly she's got to repair a tree, through no fault of her own, I might add! Enter Cassandra Heaven. She and her brother are new to town and Esme doesn't get why Cassandra really wants to join her babysitter's club. Especially since Cassandra clearly has no idea how to babysit. The Babysitter's Coven will fill the void that Buffy, The Vampire Slayer left in all our lives when it went off the air so many years ago. Through in a dash of Adventures in Babysitting and you'll have a heavy dose of nostalgia in a modern setting. This book is complete fun from start to finish." -- Jennifer Jones, The Bookmiser, Roswell, GA
9780525575474Blowout 10/1/2019
"If you thought the oil and natural gas industries were corrupt, Rachel Maddow will confirm your suspicions - and inject them with steroids. The international players, their secret deals, and legacies are all connected by Rachel's slamdunk reporting. Blowout will make you very mad even as it educates you. "-- Rosemary Pugliese, Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe, Asheville, NC
9780451489579Mumbo Gumbo Murder 10/1/2019
"Mumbo Gumbo Murder is light-hearted cozy with a heavy dose of suspense. There's lots of wine, food, and romance, too-- everything you could want! I loved how atmospheric it was; it really felt like I was in New Orleans. But be warned: this book will make you hungry. From the gumbo cookoff to the takeout po boys, my mouth was watering on every page. The mystery itself was also a page-turner. I truly couldn't have guessed the ending! This fantastic book was such a joy to read. " -- Lizy Coale, Copperfish Books, Punta Gorda, FL
9780062473073Dear Sweet Pea 10/1/2019
"Dear Sweet Pea is the perfect book for both tween readers, their parents, or 20-somethings like myself. In Sweet Pea I see a younger reflection of myself, and it was so affirming to read such a heartfelt and nuanced take about what exactly it means to be a middle-schooler. The protagonist, Sweet Pea, navigates friendships, mean girls, crushes, body-shaming, and her parent's divorce as seventh-grade draws to a close. Julie Murphy tackles all these issues with grace and humor. Don't be surprised if you both laugh out loud and cry while reading; I sure did." -- Gennifer Eccles, Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill, NC
Posted By Nicki Leone,
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
On Wednesday, August 14 , SIBA hosted “Small Presses Present Fall & Winter Lists” as part of our Publisher Picks: Best Bets for SIBA Booksellers series. In this bi-monthly series, publishers, editors, marketing directors, and reps present their favorite frontlist titles via video to booksellers. Besides forging important connections with publishers and their reps, attending booksellers get to discover new titles to add to their store shelves and earn 10 B3! points. The following industry folks presented: Jacqueline Jarik of Agate Publishing, Ellen Zielinski Whitfield of JKS Communications, and Jon Sealy of Haywire Press.
Pajama Party on Friday, September 13 at 10PM at Sparks After Hours!
You heard it right-we’re hosting a milk & cookies (and Kahlua and Baileys) party and silent reading gathering on Friday night, to ease us into the wee hours–in community, in pajamas. Don’t forget to pack some pretty cool jammies (and slippers). Social media opportunities abound, and a lot of fun, too. Hope to see you there! Check the SIBA show app for location.
The Daughters of Jackie Robinson & George Wallace In Conversation with Katheryn Russell-Brown: Friday, September 13, 6PM
Don’t miss this historic conversation between Sharon Robinson and Peggy Wallace Kennedy in conversation with Katheryn Russell-Brown. This event is one of the highlights of #SIBA19 and we want you to be part of it.
Sharon Robinson is the daughter of Jackie Robinson, a legendary baseball player and civil rights activist who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball. Her new book, Child of the Dream: A Memoir of 1963, focuses on the year George Wallace declared “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever” in his inauguration as governor of Alabama. This incredible year of her life, when she was 13, involved her family hosting fundraisers for Martin Luther King, Jr. in their Connecticut home, witnessing her father offering support and advice to other civil rights activists, and attending the March on Washington for Freedom and Jobs. At the same time, Sharon Robinson was dealing with being one of the only black children in her wealthy neighborhood, and her own role in the fight for equality.
Peggy Wallace Kennedy is the daughter of George Wallace. In the summer of 1963, she was a young girl watching her father stand in a schoolhouse door as he tried to block two African-American students from entering the University of Alabama. This man, former governor of Alabama and presidential candidate George Wallace, was notorious for his hateful rhetoric and his political stunts. But he was also a larger-than-life father to young Peggy, who was taught to smile, sit straight, and not speak up as her father took to the political stage. At the end of his life, Wallace came to renounce his views, although he could never attempt to fully repair the damage he caused. But Peggy, after her own political awakening, dedicated her life to spreading the new Wallace message-one of peace and compassion. In her new memoir, The Broken Road, Kennedy looks back on the politics of her youth and attempts to reconcile her adored father with the man who symbolized racism.
Katheryn Russell-Brown is the author of A Voice Named Aretha, a picture book biography for young readers about music icon Aretha Franklin, the first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Raised in a house full of talking and singing, Aretha learned the values that would carry her through life--from her church choir in Detroit to stages across the world. When she moved to New York City to start her career, it took years of hard work before she had a hit song. In the turbulent 1960s, she sang about "Respect" and refused to perform before segregated audiences.
One of the highlights for many booksellers at our Discovery Show is the Education Track. Booksellers and industry experts share their best practices, with room for Q & A to address individual store concerns. This year offers a rich variety of sessions of interest to buyers, owners and managers, and frontline booksellers. Because you can’t be everywhere at the same time, we’re recording many of them for later viewing. Handouts will be available through our Peer Brain Trust after the show.
Here are Education Sessions on Friday to attend or check out later:
9AM: Ingram Insights
Join Ingram as they take a deep dive into their exclusive indie programs, like Booklove and Indie Vault, and explore their latest ipage features. Learn more about the hottest titles from their distribution partners, and also learn how to self-publish like a pro from the Ingram Spark team.
9AM: Are you working "on" your business or just working "in" it?
(For owners and managers/Advanced session).
Whether you have employees or not, the only way to reliably grow your business is to develop systems that let you slowly free up your time from working "in" your business to working "on" it. Systems range from simple documentation so you can delegate work to productivity tools to automation technologies. Led by Shane Gottwals, owner of Gottwals Books, and Jill Hendrix, owner of Fiction Addiction
10AM: Independent Bookstore Day: Celebrate with Success
(IBD) has grown from a handful of bookstores in California to a national celebration involving over 575 stores and, in some cases, city wide celebrations. Participating bookstores see an increase in sales, increased foot traffic and increased brand awareness. This session will offer attendees an overview of the program and tips from booksellers who have figured out how to make the most of IBD. Panelists will offer information on how to order and make the most of the IBD exclusive merchandise; how to organize and publicize your store's party to bring people into your store; and how to use social media strategically to increase sales and community participation. Join ABA staff and IBD superstars for this not to be missed conversation.
11AM: Rewarding Returns
Keep your inventory fresh, your shipping costs down, and your credits flowing with best practices in your returns department. Learn from two veteran booksellers on their successful approaches, and from a publisher rep who will discuss returns from the publisher perspective. Panelists are Doug Robinson, co-owner of Eagle Eye Book Shop, Donna Paz Kaufman, partner of The Bookstore Training Group of Paz & Associates, and co-owner of Story and Song Bookstore, and Leslie Jobson, Manager of Field Sales at the Ingram Content Group
4PM: The Art of the Pitch – Handselling Books to Customers
Listening to customers, discerning their needs, and suggesting the best match is an art form that, when mastered, results in bigger and better sales. As we head into the biggest retail season of the year, what better time to listen to these veterans share their tips and tricks to profitably connect with your customers? This session is for new booksellers learning the ropes, and veterans who seek a fresh look at handselling. Panelists are Doni Kay, sales representative at Penguin Young Readers, Angie Tally, children’s buyer at The Country Bookshop, and Pete Mock, book buyer at McIntyre’s Books.
4PM: Romancing the Indie Bookstore
Panelists will discuss how independent bookstores can bring in new readers and engage current readers in a new way through new or expanded romance sections. The growing diversity of romance novels and the way they are packaged in trade paperback format and marketed to appeal to both a younger and broader audience creates an opportunity for independent bookstores. Panelists are Cindy Hwang, Vice President and Editorial Director (PRH), Kelly Justice, Fountain Bookstore, and Erin Galloway, Deputy Publicity Director (PRH).
Margaret Lane, VP of Retail Sales, offers the following update for indie booksellers:
"Due to high volumes of customer returns, the last of the returns received were just recently completed. The accounts receivable reps worked tirelessly throughout August to collect final payments and close accounts. There are still many bookstores that owe Baker & Taylor money and the team will continue to work with them. There is also a subset of accounts who have a credit balance.
For customers with a credit balance, the refund process is currently taking longer than expected. The remaining AR team is working through the backlog and expect to process all refund requests from July, August, and September over the next couple weeks so that all refund requests are completed and mailed within 5 weeks or less. As the backlog is cleared, refunds should go back to a 2-3 week turnaround time. Refunds cannot be processed without a proper W-9 on file and Baker & Taylor refund form signed by the owner. It is not possible to automatically issue refunds on credit balance accounts or issue refunds back to credit cards or wires."
If you are awaiting a refund or have questions about the timeline for being issued a refund, please contact dl-cfs@baker-taylor.comor call 800-340-5370.
Posted By Nicki Leone,
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
John Cavalier, of Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs, Louisiana, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance. His term is from 2020-2023.
John Cavalier is the co-owner of Cavalier House Books and the Looziana Book Co. in Denham Springs, Louisiana, both of which he owns and operates with his wife, Michelle. Cavalier House Books is a general interest new and used store specializing in large school / institutional orders and school book fairs. Looziana Book Co. is a regional wholesaler / distributor of books that share the history and culture of Louisiana. John is very active in his community and serves as community organizer for Denham Springs' flood recovery efforts as well as serving on the board of the Denham Springs Merchants Association and the Livingston Parish Small Business Council. John is a staunch advocate for independent business, distributed economies, emergency preparedness and climate resiliency. The top industry priorities that he hopes to share with his colleagues and the SIBA board are the shared imperative for emergency preparation and resiliency in our businesses and communities, our need for an omni-channel approach to generating sales through technology as well as the need to encourage new business models across the industry.
Beloved South Carolina author Dorothea (Dottie) Benton Frank died Monday after a brief illness. A native of Sullivan’s Island in South Carolina, she divided her time between the Lowcountry of South Carolina and New Jersey. Her debut novel, Sullivan’s Island,was a New York Times bestseller, as were her subsequent novels, including her latest, Queen Bee, which marked a return to the setting of her first novel.
Dottie Frank was a favorite among SIBA booksellers and their customers, and a familiar face to many as she toured her books and attended SIBA’s Discovery Shows. Jill Hendrix, owner of Fiction Addiction in Greenville, SC shares, "Dottie Frank was a South Carolina treasure. She was as funny as a stand-up comedienne in person, yet her books could move you to tears while transporting you to a magical Carolina landscape. She will be deeply missed by readers and booksellers alike. Our hearts go out to her family and friends."
Author Patti Callahan Henry praises her friend’s legacy, “Dottie Frank was a bright light and powerful force of life; she made us all feel part of something bigger. Her fearlessness, her laugh, her smile and her wealth of stories will be missed more than can be described. She was tender and fierce - a rare and beautiful combination. Her stories were the same. When she loved, she loved fully and she grabbed life by the handfuls!”
Carrie Feron, Executive Editor, SVP of William Morrow, says of Dottie, with whom she worked, "A lot of what I can think of to say is so trite and run of the mill, and Dottie was never either of those things. She was as fierce as a hurricane and as generous a soul as you could find. And I think that fierceness and generosity came through in every page of her writing. But most of all she was an incredibly loyal friend, and she was incredibly loyal to her fans. She was really ailing on her last tour, but she soldiered on, often doing 2 events a day. She was remarkable. I’m not surprised that she hit the New York Times list with her very first book as she never did anything half measure. Everything she did was done fearlessly, aiming for the top. And she made everything she did so well look so effortless."
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(Asheville, NC) –Southern indie booksellers have announced their 2019 Fall Okra Picks, a fresh harvest of great Southern books, Southern voices, and Southern stories hand picked by Southern independent booksellers. The Fall Okra Picks release in October, November, and December, and every book on the list has a Southern bookseller ready to put it in the hands of readers with that most exciting phrase in the English language, “You’ve got to read this!”
Patterson is pledging a personal contribution of $250,000 to independent bookstore employees, which will be granted in amounts of $500 bonuses to 500 individual booksellers. New this year, 100 of the bonuses will be set aside for children’s booksellers. 
Anyone who has attended a regional trade show or the American Booksellers Association's Winter Institute or Children's Institute has had the chance to play "Heads or Tails" -- the popular game/fundraiser the last person standing takes home a $500 prize. If you haven't played, you have at least watched, smiling as your colleagues, adorned with flashing pins, tried to decide whether to put their hands on their heads ("heads") or their rears ("tails"). A coin is flipped, heads or tails is called, and pins are turned off as players guess wrong. Every pin represents a $20 donation to Binc. The more pins a player is wearing, the longer they can stay in the game, but eventually only one person is left, still blinking.
By Andrea Richardson, 
SIBA 2019: Spartanburg Hosts High Energy Show
On Friday, SIBA offered a packed schedule of education sessions, including the SRO "Independent Bookstore Day: Celebrate with Success," "The Art of the Pitch: Handselling Books to Customers" and "Romancing the Indie Bookstore." The well-attended breakfasts, lunches and dinners showcased a range of authors and titles, but the standout was the Friday lunch featuring authors Julie Murphy (Dear Sweet Pea); Akilah Hughes (Obviously, Stories from My Timeline); Charlaine Harris (A Longer Fall); and Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal (I'm Not Dying with You Tonight). The authors hit it off so well in the green room earlier that they decided to skip the usual individual speeches and just talk to each other--and to the audience. The result was a charming, entertaining, hilarious performance that, in a way, encapsulated the SIBA experience: love and support for each other. -- Shelf Awareness
Scholarships make such a difference, creating the opportunity for stores to send one or more staff to the SIBA Discovery Show. Thanks to generous sponsors like UNC Press, Binc, Penguin Random House (Pat Conroy Scholarships), and Reba and Dave Williams, SIBA is able to help defray the costs of travel, lodging, meals and other expenses. The following booksellers share how attending #SIBA19 made a difference for them.
Wiley Cash, the New York Times bestselling author of A Land More Kind than Home, This Dark Road to Mercy, and The Last Ballad, has been selected to receive the 2020 Conroy Legacy Award. Created in honor of the example set by the beloved Southern author Pat Conroy, the Conroy Legacy Award recognizes writers who have achieved a lasting impact on their literary community, demonstrated support for independent bookstores both in their own communities and in general, created written work that focuses significantly on their home place, and supported other writers, especially new and emerging writers. 
Pajama Party on Friday, September 13 at 10PM at Sparks After Hours!
The Daughters of Jackie Robinson & George Wallace In Conversation with Katheryn Russell-Brown: Friday, September 13, 6PM
One of the highlights for many booksellers at our Discovery Show is the Education Track. Booksellers and industry experts share their best practices, with room for Q & A to address individual store concerns. This year offers a rich variety of sessions of interest to buyers, owners and managers, and frontline booksellers. Because you can’t be everywhere at the same time, we’re recording many of them for later viewing. Handouts will be available through our 
4PM: The Art of the Pitch – Handselling Books to Customers
John Cavalier, of Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs, Louisiana, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance. His term is from 2020-2023.
Beloved South Carolina author Dorothea (Dottie) Benton Frank died Monday after a brief illness. A native of Sullivan’s Island in South Carolina, she divided her time between the Lowcountry of South Carolina and New Jersey. Her debut novel,