A Winter Institute Diary

By Becky Milner, Owner of Vintage Books, Vancouver, Washington

Becky and Alec Milner

Washington, D.C., in January. A good idea? Hmm, with long johns packed, lots of books for the flights (thank you, publishers), and anticipation, we landed under blue skies and found a hotel that seemed to ooze comfort and hospitality, and had a hidden warren of small restaurants and shops.

The ABA staff was ready for us with smiles, welcoming materials, and are they organized! The Winter Institute hummed right along and, although 500 of us must be like herding cats, they did it with grace.

Politics & Prose hosted a Tuesday evening reception and just happened to have a stellar cast of authors on hand, too. The shop is amazing: well organized; an energized, friendly staff; and a large thoughtful selection of books and sidelines.

Wednesday was all politics. We heard from independent sellers of bikes, books, and hardware and how they work within the political dynamics of their communities. We were entranced by Jim Lehrer’s interview of SBA chief Karen Mills. After lunch, some of us headed to Capitol Hill to speak with our legislators or their staff, and others did some serious sightseeing. We visited the Jefferson Library before joining the evening reception to honor NPR.

Workman picked up the tab at a Marriott bar afterwards, as we chatted in small groups and shared stories and tips. Jerome at Prosperity Books shared his ideas on sidelines and not letting anyone walk out empty handed!

Thursday we were down to business. Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor: I must read his book. Why had I never thought of offering a two-minute tour to “new to us” customers, or about hiding a pig? And I loved “Where can we take you today?” Lots of great ideas in one breakfast session.

My coworker Debbie focused on the children’s bookselling sessions; Alec’s picks included “Strategic Thinking” and “Killer Events,” and I focused on the “New Reality: Alternative Business Models,” “Linked by Passion” (working with other independent community businesses), and the sidelines roundtable. The generosity of our fellow booksellers in sharing their knowledge gives an amazing “we’re all in this together” feeling.

Between all that, we had a Reps Speed-Dating Lunch. Our table started with the rock star of publishing, Carl Lennertz, and never went downhill. The reps were ready for us with a dazzling variety of books and stories, and I wanted to read them all. We had the rep lunches on Thursday and Friday. When the galley room opened, we didn’t take one of everything, but even limiting ourselves to what we really wanted to read, well, I can say we did well by FedEx last week. Our coworkers may be looking forward to the boxes arriving as much as we are. Some of our favorite and best-selling titles of 2010 came out of Wi5.

The Thursday evening author extravaganza was just that. Where else are you offered barbecued mealworms, an umbrella for your display of a kid’s book, and an armful of books that must be on your next order, plus a chance to thank an author for the wondrous book you read on the plane?

Friday had the technical sessions – my main mission. Small press reps shared highlights of their lists at breakfast and reminded us they would have authors at a closing reception at the end of the day. Then it was on to the IndieCommerce session. The Consultation Stations stayed pretty busy and, after checking on co-op and IndieCommerce, I slipped into “Efficiency 201” and attended a packed session on e-books.

The sessions were great, the ABA staff and session leaders made it all seem effortless on their part, and I can not imagine a better group of optimists/realists than our fellow booksellers.

As soon as we were home (after being welcomed by our dogs), I headed to the shop, where our coworkers wanted to hear all about the week. (They got the five-minute recap and said they’d wait to read my notes after they were typed and legible.) My other project was to immediately fax our IndieCommerce Agreement to ABA’s Scott Nafz.

All the Wi6 handouts have been printed (whether we attended a session or not) and are in the binder (“Efficiency 201”), with my typed notes. I’m hoping to continue to use the black notebook (thanks, Moleskin) for notes (“201,” again) throughout the year.

Our goal: Wi7, New Orleans. Let’s take that market share, sell those books and sidelines, increase the profit margin, develop our website, be more creative with social media, and meet again next year!