Making Connections at Well-Attended NEBA Show

Attendance at the New England Booksellers Association (NEBA) fall trade show, which was held from Friday, October 8, to Sunday, October 10, at Boston's World Trade Center, was up slightly this year compared to last year's show in Providence, Rhode Island, reported NEBA Executive Director Rusty Drugan, who told BTW that "the educational programming ... was a hit throughout the show.

"We had 86 booksellers pre-register for Avin's [Mark Domnitz, ABA CEO, "The 2% Solution"] presentation on Sunday, which was the highest number for his Sunday presentation in years. And we had a very high number pre-register for Kate Wholey's bookstore makeover session on Friday. Those were our bookends."

Drugan said that there was "buzz" about almost all of the Saturday workshops, which included "Scams and Shoplifting: Theft in the Bookstore" and "Adding Used Books to Your Inventory," among other topics. "These are all are pressing and timely issues that members are facing. The workshops were some of the best aspects of the show."

Also on Saturday, ABA's marketing director, Jill Perlstein, presented a Book Sense Gift Card Users Group, and Len Vlahos, the director of BookSense.com, facilitated a users groups for stores with BookSense.com Web sites. ABA staff also distributed and collected the "ABA Education 2005 Survey," which sought to gather booksellers' input on the direction of future ABA educational programming.

The Sunday Breakfast With Authors made the list of highlights, too. "Attendance for the breakfast was one of the highest in several years, which is important to us because that's when we bestow the New England Book Awards," said Drugan.

Among those making the most of this year's show was Susan Taylor, book buyer at Wellesley Booksmith in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Here, Taylor shares her experiences at the show.

By Susan Taylor of Wellesley Booksmith

I've been attending the NEBA show in various capacities for about 15 years now. When I first attended as a bookseller from the Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, my goals were simple -- to snag as many free books as possible and to hit as many parties as possible. In the ensuing years, my job responsibilities have increased and my goals have become more focused. I've learned to be selective about what I will carry around the trade show floor -- catalogs can always be sent to me after the show! As for parties -- the publishers, like everyone else, have become more conscious of their return on investment; there aren't as many (any?) blowout parties these days, but we are all a lot perkier and better rested at the show. Don't get me wrong -- I still love parties and free books, but now attending NEBA is more about connecting with other booksellers, learning from their experiences, and celebrating the community of New England bookselling. Every year, I am reminded of how lucky I am to be working with such a wonderful group of hard-working, knowledgeable people. (And speaking of hard working and knowledgeable -- a big welcome to Porter Square Books, which opened its doors on Tuesday and attended NEBA the next weekend -- that's dedication!)

This year, my NEBA experience started with the annual industry luncheon, held on Friday afternoon. I can't say the event has been a high point of previous shows, but I can honestly say this year's lunch was terrific. The food was great; Dave Didrikson of Willow Books was especially pleased by the presence of animal protein in his entree. There may have been a vegetarian option somewhere, but no one at my table had it. Following our delicious meal we heard speeches from our honored guests: James Carroll, who won the President's Award for lifetime contribution to arts and letters; Sam Tanenhaus, the editor of the "new" New York Times Book Review, who was our keynote speaker; and, last but not least, John Muse, who was awarded the Gilman Award for outstanding service as a New England sales rep. All of the speeches were lovely, but John's eloquent and heartfelt speech had the crowd wiping their eyes. He reminded us all of why we became booksellers in the first place. Allan Schmid, president of NEBA, did the introductions while wearing a "Faithful to the Sox" button advertising the forthcoming Stephen King/Stewart O'Nan wrap-up of the 2004 season, to be published by Simon & Schuster; just another example of why John Muse won his award.

I got to the show bright and early Saturday morning to place orders and meet Lee, our events coordinator, for a morning of introductions and schmoozing. ( I always hope I will win one of the raffles by placing a lot of orders, but not this year -- I won a crockpot one year though, so I can't complain!) Lee and I walked around the trade show floor, dropping off orders and discussing (in no particular order): the amazing Red Sox win of the night before, John Muse's remarkable speech, and the second Bush/Kerry debate on the previous night. Political passions were running high at this show; we are all waiting with bated breath and fingers crossed to see what Election Day will bring. Publishers with books on Canada displayed them prominently, just in case.

Several hours of walking and talking can make even the most energetic bookseller hungry, so at noon we took a break at the annual Mariner luncheon, sponsored by Houghton Mifflin. Kudos to Carla Gray for organizing it every year! In my opinion, it is one of the highlights of the weekend. Not only do we get to sit down and rest our feet, we get a lovely buffet lunch and a chance to meet a slew of Mariner authors and chat with them about their books. Lee met several authors eager to arrange events at our store, and I managed to end up with a stack of books, blowing my resolution to not collect more than I could carry.

For the rest of the afternoon I walked the floor, talked to sales reps, and continued to hand out orders. The official NEBA activity that night was the Moveable Feast, but I was lucky enough to be invited to a small dinner with S.E. Hinton, courtesy of St. Martin's, so I went to that. Another one of my favorite things about NEBA is the chance to meet authors you have loved all your life in the flesh. I'm afraid I never manage to express my huge admiration and appreciation adequately while in their august presence, but I try. I read That Was Then, This Is Now when I was 10 or 11 years old; it was the first book I had ever read in which the outcome wasn't happy or hopeful. I cried and cried; I loved it. Since then, S.E. Hinton has been one of my favorite authors. Her new book, Hawke's Harbor, is a departure from her books for children, but it makes a fine adventure story. It was an honor to meet her and have dinner with her.

Sunday was my day for seminars. I attended Avin Domitz's "The 2% Solution for Bookstores" in the morning, and I was very impressed. None of the suggestions were "Eureka!" ideas, but seeing all the cost-saving measures at the same time brought home the notion that small tweaks in store operations can reap big rewards. Following that, I attended the "What Do You Do About?" boxed lunch, at which a group of NEBA book doctors/specialists on various topics get together with not-so-experienced booksellers and answer their questions. It was lively and well-attended. Beyond that, the show was winding down. Booksellers were leaving to go watch the Patriots or travel home. I placed an order with a sales rep I hadn't managed to see the previous season, walked around to see if any exhibitors wanted to get rid of any of their heavier books, and finished the show happy and footsore, as usual. I am looking forward to next year in Providence!