SCBA Authors Feast and Fall Seminars Earn Rave Reviews

The 2002 Southern California Booksellers Association (SCBA) Annual Authors Feast and Fall Seminars took place on Saturday, October 26, at the DoubleTree Hotel in Pasadena, California. The day included a full agenda of educational workshops and seminars and was capped by the 10th Annual Authors Feast -- an event that earned rave reviews from attendees. "We had a stellar, stellar list of authors [for the Feast]," said Jennifer Bigelow, executive director for SCBA. "Overall, I was very happy with [the show], especially the Patriot Act [panel discussion] and the Authors Feast."

Attendance for the one-day event was approximately 285, including exhibitors, authors, and booksellers, Bigelow said.

SCBA events began with the third annual Children's Author Breakfast, which featured Philip Ardagh (A House Called Awful End, Henry Holt for Young Readers), Kathleen Duey (The Unicorn's Secret: The Mountains of the Moon, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers), and Pam Munoz Ryan (When Marion Sang, Scholastic, Inc.).

The educational seminars and panel discussions followed the breakfast, running until 4:30 p.m.

A morning session "Co-op: How Can Co-Op Be More Effective for My Bookstore?" with Neal Coonerty, owner of Bookshop Santa Cruz, in Santa Cruz, California, and former ABA president, proved to be so popular that "we had to bring more chairs in," Bigelow commented.

ABA's COO Oren Teicher led discussions on "What's New with Book Sense" and the ABA electronic Handbook. Teicher informed booksellers of upcoming book promotions and other Book Sense news. In addition, attendees learned how to make the most out of the new electronic ABA Book Buyer's Handbook.

At noon, SCBA held its Third Annual Authors Luncheon, which featured T. Jefferson Parker (Black Water, Hyperion) and Diane Leslie (Fleur de Leigh's Exile, Simon & Schuster).

The afternoon sessions included two seminars on merchandizing. "Growing Sales One Story at a Time," focused on the fastest growing segment of the publishing industry: audiobooks. "Integrating Used Books and Remainders in the Merchandise Mix," with Mark Sutz of Changing Hands in Tempe, Arizona, presented successful strategies for buying, pricing, and merchandising used books and remainders.

The day's educational programming concluded with two sessions. In "Harry Potter and the Patriot Act: The First Amendment Today," Chris Finan, president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and author of Alfred E. Smith: The Happy Warrior (Hill & Wang) discussed the current state of the First Amendment.

The SCBA general meeting followed the educational sessions.

The day was capped by SCBA's popular "10th Annual SCBA Authors Feast," the highlight of which was the announcement of the SCBA Book Award winners. T.C. Boyle was awarded the Fiction prize for After the Plague & Other Stories (Viking); Patt Morrison won the Nonfiction Book Award for Rio LA: Tales from the Los Angeles River (Angel City Press); and Any Small Goodness: A Novel of the Barrio by Tony Johnston (Blue Sky Press) took the Children's Book Award.

All told, 46 authors were on hand for the feast, including Mawi Asgedom (Of Beetles and Angels, Little, Brown); Michael Graham (Redneck Nation, Warner Books); Cheech Marin (Chicano Visions, Bulfinch); Alice Sebold (The Lovely Bones, Little, Brown); and April Halprin Wayland (A Girl Coming In for a Landing, Random House Children's Books).

Carole Carden, owner of Esmeralda Books & Coffee, in Del Mar, California, attended the Authors Feast. "The quality of authors was terrific," she told BTW. "We had a great time, a fun evening. The best Authors Feast we've ever had."

Alison Hill, general manager of Book Soup in West Hollywood, enjoyed the Feast, as well. "It was fabulous. The energy felt good this year," she said.

After the Author's Feast and dinner was SCBA's first ever "After Feast Party," with music and a "no-host bar." Bigelow noted that, from what she could tell, the after-party was a huge hit. "The party was still going strong when I left at midnight," she said, and added, "Many authors stayed for it."

Noted Book Soup's Hill, "It was nice to have an after-party this year."

Baker & Taylor was the Premiere Event Sponsor for SCBA's Authors Feast and Fall Seminars. Other sponsors of the day's event included Bookpeople, Ingram Book Company, Partners West, Random House, Simon & Schuster, Scholastic, and Henry Holt.