NAIBA Fall Trade Show Gets Down to Business in Philly

Approximately 1,000 booksellers, publishers, and authors gathered at the Philadelphia Marriott on Sunday and Monday, October 13 - 14, for the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) Fall Trade Show. Included in this figure were owners and staff from 123 stores. "We had a number of stores coming for the first time, and some stores coming back after a brief hiatus," explained NAIBA Executive Director Eileen Dengler.

Booksellers gathered for a day of educational programming on Sunday, which included separate Pick of the Lists sessions for adults and children's books and workshops on sidelines, co-op, book clubs, and dealing with change. ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz led a session on succession planning with the help of Toby Cox of Three Lives & Co. in New York City, and ABA senior marketing consultant Carl Lennertz provided an update on the Book Sense marketing program.

Attendees took a break from Sunday's educational sessions to attend the sold-out NAIBA Book & Author Luncheon, which this year featured both adult and children's authors: Pam Munoz Ryan and Brian Selznick (When Marian Sang, Scholastic); David Wiesner (The Three Pigs, Clarion); Mark Bowden (Finders Keepers, Grove Atlantic); Joe Queenan (Malcontents, Running Press); Brian Haig (The Kingmaker, Warner Books); and Alice McDermott (Child of My Heart, Farrar, Straus and Giroux).

NAIBA's Book of the Year Awards were presented at the luncheon to Maxine Clair (October Suite, Random House) for Adult Fiction; Roger Wilkins (Jefferson's Pillow, Beacon) for Adult Nonfiction; Vera B. Williams (Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart, HarperCollins) for Children's Novel; and Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman and Robin Preiss Glasser (You Can't Take a Balloon Into the Museum of Fine Arts, Dial) for Picture Book. Weitzman and Glasser were not present to receive their award.

The days events were capped by the popular Moveable Feast, which featured 21 authors who rotated among dinner tables meeting with booksellers and publishers' reps, and who also spoke for a few minutes to the general gathering. Among those featured was American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression President Chris Finan, author of Alfred E. Smith: The Happy Warrior (Hill and Wang). Finan told BTW that each author went to four tables, and, "it was fun to be able to talk about Al Smith to a lot of booksellers." Addressing the crowd, "one after another, the [featured] authors talked about how important independent booksellers are," Finan said.

The dinner was preceded by an opening reception on the trade show floor, Dengler explained, "to squeeze in some more exhibition time, as well as allow booksellers who only came for one day to see reps and do some business." During the reception, Chris Kerr of Parson Weems Associates was presented with the William Helmuth Award, in recognition of his outstanding achievement as a sales rep in the Mid-Atlantic region, and for his consistent support of NAIBA and its activities.

On Monday, more than 350 publishers were represented on the trade show floor, and booksellers interspersed meetings with publishers and reps with stops at the autographing tables located right next to the exhibit floor. BTW spoke to Glenda Nixston of Blessings Christian Books in Sicklerville, New Jersey, who was thrilled to have met Jerry Pinkney (The Nightingale, Penguin Putnam). Nixston said that she was working the exhibit floor, especially looking for children's books and mysteries.

Jack Buckley of Ninth Street Books in Wilmington, Delaware, found the "Pick of the Lists" sessions especially helpful. "It's always useful to have a second chance to hear a presentation about something that you may have passed over the last time," he said.

Susan Avery of Ariel Booksellers in New Paltz, New York, said, "You can always get one or two good ideas at each [educational] session, and I got at least two good ideas at each one." P.K. Sindwani of the Trappe Book Center in Trappe, Pennsylvania, concurred, saying," All the educational sessions were worth attending."

The noon NAIBA Annual Meeting was the only event scheduled during trade show hours on Monday. Incoming NAIBA president Sheilah Egan of A Likely Story Children's Bookstore in Alexandria, Virginia, read a note from outgoing president Carla Cohen of Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C., and reviewed the accomplishments of the association in the past year. Highlights included the successful holiday catalog and NAIBA's sponsorship during BookExpo America of a walking tour of Harlem and a Circle Line cruise around Manhattan, which raised money for a New York City school affected by the events of September 11, 2001.

Egan also commented on the well-run trade show. "The dinner was wonderful … the workshops very beneficial. Today, on the floor, I've had a very positive feeling. A lot of orders are being placed," she said.

Later in the day, Egan expressed only praise for Executive Director Dengler's hard work and organizational skills and kudos to the Marriott Hotel for a friendly and supportive staff, which led to a smooth show.

As for the state of independent bookselling, Egan said, "We're bubbling back to the surface. We're still selling books, because we love them and want to share them with others."

Next year the NAIBA fall trade show is scheduled to be held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. --Rosemary Hawkins