African-American Booksellers Conference at BEA Sets Schedule

This year’s African-American Booksellers Conference at BEA will highlight featured authors, prominent figures, and panels geared to helping stores increase profitability. The programming is set for Thursday, May 2, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Emma Rodgers, owner of Black Images Book Bazaar in Dallas, told BTW that "we think we have a very strong lineup of authors and some very good workshops for booksellers. I think we’re all going to learn a lot." Rodgers organized the programming with Clara Villarosa of The Hue-Man of Harlem, in New York City.

The day’s events will begin with an Opening Session (Room 1 E 08) at 11:30 a.m., where Villarosa will welcome attendees.

An hour-long luncheon begins at 11:45 a.m. (Room 1 E 08). The event features speakers Walter Mosley, author of Bad Boy Brawly Brown: An Easy Rawlins Mystery (Little, Brown), Toure, author of The Portable Promised Land: Stories (Little, Brown); Deborah Mathis, author of Yet A Stranger: Why Black Americans Still Don't Feel at Home (Warner); John Ridley, author of A Conversation With the Mann (Warner); and Mawi Asgedom, author of Of Beetles and Angels (Little, Brown & Co. Children's). The luncheon is sponsored by the AOL Time Warner Book Group. To RSVP, booksellers should call (800) 531-7749, ext. 27449.

The luncheon will be followed by a Keynote Address at 1:00 p.m. by Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr.

The afternoon’s programming will feature two workshops, both with an eye toward the bookstore bottom line. Rodgers told BTW that both panels were created "in light of the economy and the drop in sales because of the trickledown effects of 9/11."

From 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m., moderator James Fugate of EsoWon Books in Los Angeles will lead the panel "African-American Bookstores and University Room Presses -- What to Sell and How to Make Money Selling Them." The panel will explore the importance of university press titles for African-American bookstores and will look at recent bestsellers, forthcoming books, and strong mid-list titles.

From 3:45 p.m. – 5:15 p.m., Dr. Rosie Milligan will moderate the panel "We Are the Survivors: Strategies for Successful Booksellers." Joining her on the panel will be Joi Afzal, The Hue-Man Experience, Denver; Andre Kelton, Our Story Books & Gifts, Plainfield, New Jersey; Michele Lewis, Afro-American Book Stop, New Orleans; Carl Weber, African-American Bookstore, Queens, New York; Felicia Wintons, Books for Thought, Tampa, Florida; and Vanesse Lloyd-Sgambati, of the public relations firm The Literary, Philadelphia. The panel will look at a number of issues, including how African-American bookstores can better serve their communities and compete. Rodgers noted that panel grew out of a number of discussions following last year’s BEA, and that booksellers Kelton and Wintons had offered key suggestions and recommendations for the development of the panel.

Following the panel, there will be a reception, sponsored by Ingram Book Company, from 5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.