ABA Wraps Up Regional Program Saturday at SCIBA

The fall trade show season will end on Saturday, October 20, with the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association Authors (SCIBA) Feast & Trade Show [1] on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. ABA board members and staff will be at the show to listen to booksellers’ concerns and share updates on the association’s programs and initiatives. In addition, ABA staff will present two education sessions:

• “Meeting the Literacy Needs of Your Community,” from 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. in the Royal Salon, and,
• “E-Books and Independent Bookstores,” from 10:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m., also in the Royal Salon. 

ABA will also be staffing a booth where booksellers can learn more about selling Kobo eBooks and eReaders [2] and how to participate in Thanks for Shopping Indie [3], the first-ever multi-publisher print-book promotion exclusively for ABA member bookstores, which starts on Small Business Saturday (November 24, 2012).

The booth will also feature information about the Eighth Annual Winter Institute [4] to be held in Kansas City, Missouri, in February 2013. Booksellers who drop off a business card can earn an extra entry in a sweepstakes to win a Wi8 scholarship, covering up to four nights’ accommodations at the host hotel, a maximum of $350 in travel expenses, and the $75 Wi8 meal fee.

Bookstores that have not been members of ABA in the prior two years can join at the trade show and enjoy a complimentary trial membership until February 28, 2013. Trial membership includes all the benefits of regular ABA membership (except for the monthly White Box mailing). Benefits include the ability to join IndieCommerce, access to ABA Education, and a chance to register for Winter Institute 8.

Questions about ABA at SCIBA should be addressed to ABA Member Relationship Manager Kaitlin Pitcher [5].