Atlanta Forum Inspires, Educates, and Informs

On Friday, March 17, at the Omni Hotel at the CNN Center in Atlanta, the American Booksellers Association held a Booksellers Forum and Education Program in conjunction with the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) and the Spring Book Show, which was at the Georgia World Congress Center from March 17 to 19.

About 50 booksellers from the region attended. Among the highlights were ABA's sessions, "Creating Killer Events" and "Getting the Most Out of Your Website," and the SIBA-sponsored "Resource Roundtables."

Representing ABA at the meetings were ABA COO Oren Teicher, BookSense.com Director Len Vlahos, and Mitchell Kaplan, ABA president and owner of Books & Books in Coral Gables and Miami, Florida.

Sara Look, co-owner of Charis Books & More, a feminist bookstore in Atlanta, told BTW that the ABA education sessions were "as usual" very useful. "I was really excited at the last forum when I learned all about the 2% solution," she said. "[At this forum], the sessions on events and on websites were very well done. I loved the checklists in the 'killer events' session.

"Since some of the people [at the website program] hadn't even opened stores yet, and others of us are experienced BookSense.com users, we could have divided into two groups -- basic and more intensive. But it's always refreshing to hear from enthusiastic new booksellers."

Former cake decorator Tracey Harriman plans to open her bookstore, Coffee Buy the Book, in June in Pulaski, Virginia. "Just before I went to [the forum], "she told BTW, "I finished my business plan, and I'm about to talk to banks. I'm so glad I went, even though I'm in the middle of all this, because it was very informative. I'm in the first part of the process and have never been a bookseller before. I have a location on Main Street and am currently negotiating the lease."

Harriman continued, "I found out about SIBA's mentoring program, and I strongly encourage anyone who is wrapped up in the planning of a bookstore to take advantage of opportunities like that. Talking to experienced booksellers is invaluable. My immediate next step, to find out where to buy sidelines, was easily answered here. Some of the topics, like building websites and authorless events, I am filing away for future reference. I learned about a lot of mistakes not to make when I'm further down the road."

The discussion at the ABA Bookseller Forum, facilitated by Teicher, Vlahos, and Kaplan, was wide-ranging and lively, according to those attending. Many issues of great concern to independents were covered: online sales tax collection, used books, the ABACUS survey, and Above the Treeline, a new online software product designed to help bookstores improve finances by optimizing inventory selection.

Look told BTW that she had found the ABACUS Study invaluable in her store and expressed surprise that not all member stores participate in the survey. "[The ABACUS study] breaks the numbers down in so many different ways -- we can compare ourselves against similar stores in terms of salaries and benefits, as well as sales," she explained.

At the Saturday morning SIBA-sponsored "Resource Roundtable," attendees moved from table to table to spend 20 minutes with each expert in a specific area of the book business. Roundtable experts included ABA's Teicher and Vlahos; Karin Wilson of Page & Palette Bookstore in Fairhope, Alabama; Frazer Dobson of Park Road Books in Charlotte, North Carolina; Kelly Justice of Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia; Sally Brewster of Park Road Books in Charlotte, North Carolina; and SIBA Executive Director Wanda Jewell.

Harriman told BTW that the Roundtable event enabled her to learn in depth about many of the projects she has been considering for her store. "I got a lot of great information on setting up book clubs, both in and out of the store, and activities for children, like story times. It [the roundtable event] was really excellent."

Presenter and participant Kelly Justice, who described herself as Fountain Bookstore's manager, frontlist buyer, events coordinator, and occasional duster, told BTW that she found the number of new and future bookstore owners "inspiring." She said, "If they're here at the beginning of their bookselling careers, it means that they're starting smarter than before." She thought more new booksellers were in attendance than there had been "in a long time."

An expert in authorless events, Justice said that young stores can build reputations with publishers through simple events with very little investment. Documenting the events, including number of participants and number of books sold, can build a case with publishers for scheduling author appearances. In her experience at several bookstores, this approach was successful.

Justice was impressed with the specific ABA education sessions at the forum, but more so with all ABA educational programming. "I am always impressed," she told BTW, "with how ABA handles these programs. The staff are very generous with information and time. Every inquiry is answered thoroughly -- there are no stupid questions." --Nomi Schwartz