'Eye-Opening' Forum Held in Iowa

On Saturday, April 8, about 35 booksellers attended an American Booksellers Association Booksellers Forum and Education Program, held at the Iowa House Hotel on the University of Iowa campus in Iowa City, Iowa. The event was held in conjunction with the Midwest Booksellers Association (MBA) Spring Meeting. Featured ABA educational sessions were "Increasing Margin," presented by ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz, and "Marketing Your Website," led by Len Vlahos, director of BookSense.com and of ABA's education program.

"There was a good cross-section of bookstores," said Susan Walker, MBA's executive director. "It was a good venue and Iowa-based stores were delighted to have a meeting within easy reach." She noted that the day's events "went very well.... We filled the meeting room to capacity."

This was the first forum for Nancy Simpson, whose bookstore, the Book Vault in Oskaloosa, Iowa, opened in December. "We brought three people from our store ... it was really awesome. Avin's and Len's workshops were filled with good, concrete information that we could use in our bookstore -- it wasn't just theory. And it was great to connect with MBA leaders. We came away with a natural high and [a lot of] enthusiasm."

The day began with ABA's "Increasing Margin: An Advanced Course in Growing Your Bottom Line." At the session, Domnitz compared and contrasted a profitable and unprofitable bookstore. He discussed topics such as controlling product mix, direct versus wholesale ordering, electronic ordering, understanding the value of early payment discounts, and managing seasonal title orders.

MBA President Ellen Scott of The Bookworm in Omaha, Nebraska, said this was "the second or third time" that she had seen Domnitz's presentation, and, noting that there's so much information to absorb, she added, "It's always good to see it more than once. It's always very practical information, and it's accessible to everybody, regardless of their level."

"It was really, really eye opening," said Matthew Lage of Iowa Book Company in Iowa City. "It's common sense sort of stuff, but it has to be retold.... There was a lot of information you could really use. I had heard about the seminar and was finally able to attend. It was well worth the time."

Just prior to the ABA Bookseller Forum and Luncheon, MBA's Walker provided attendees with a preview of a new marketing program that the regional is creating, a component of which deals with the best ways booksellers can attract authors to their stores. "We talked about our book awards and how we need people to nominate titles through the end of the month," said Walker.

The topic of bringing authors to bookstores carried over to the Bookseller Forum and Luncheon, which was moderated by Domnitz and Vlahos. Said Heidi Nelson of A Room of One's Own in Madison, Wisconsin, "The forum was good -- we talked about how to make your store appealing to authors, how to create a press kit to sell yourself to authors."

"That's a big concern to us in the Midwest," said Simpson," to let publishers know that we're here. We have held lots of events, but mostly with regional or local authors."

Nelson noted another topic of discussion was Above the Treeline, an online software product designed to help bookstores improve finances by optimizing inventory selection, now available to ABA members through a special partnership agreement. "We're strongly looking into adapting [the software] into our program -- it's a good time saver."

At the forum, there was also discussion of the Winter Institute, Walker said. "Booksellers were encouraging ABA to have it in the middle of the country, but given that it's the winter, [to hold it] in the southern part [of the Midwest]," she explained. Other topics discussed included the Patriot Act and how any bookseller who receives a 215 order should contact the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression; and creating customer databases and whether or not this data collection represents a privacy issue.

After lunch, Vlahos presented the seminar "Marketing Your Website," which examines the basics of using a website as a marketing tool and offers 10 key tips about marketing the website to increase traffic and sales.

"Len mentioned a lot of stuff ... and I wondered, Why are we not doing that?" said Lage. "That was really helpful. He said you have to update your website weekly ... it gives [users] the instinctive feeling that, Wow, there are people reworking this everyday. If it's not updated regularly, then no one is going to go to it."

Following the seminar, MBA held four 40-minute publisher presentations featuring PGW, Phaidon Press, The Creative Company, and Heineken & Associates. In addition, the University of Iowa Press, Scholastic, Tristan Publishing, and Ingram provided materials for the event.

The day finished off with an ABA- and MBA-sponsored cocktail reception.

"Booksellers were really enthused about the day," Walker concluded. "And we received good feedback from publishers." --David Grogan