As Hurricane Florence approached landfall in the Carolinas last week, booksellers from the region headed to the Innisbrook Golf Resort outside Tampa, Fla., for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Fall Discovery Show, the first of the season's regional conferences. Because of the hurricane, a number of booksellers, mainly in North Carolina, had to cancel. As Florence dumped historic amounts of rain, SIBA officials posted lists of airport closings, Binc reminded booksellers that they stand ready to assist, and ABA notified members that even though WI registration opens today, they would "accommodate those stores affected by power outages or other storm-related impediments." (See above for reports from bookstores affected by Florence.)
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| The SIBA show floor | |
As of the close of SIBA's pre-registration on September 1, the organization had expected 426 attendees and 124 authors on the program--a 2% decrease from last year in New Orleans, but an 11% rise in the number of member stores registered. Hurricane Florence definitely had an impact on attendance, not only on stores in the storm's path, but also on travel plans. A number of exhibitors made last-minute changes to their show staff because of flight delays and cancellations. Among booksellers, said SIBA administrator Nicki Leone, "We had 23 cancellations, mostly from North Carolina stores. Only five N.C. stores were able to attend, none from the eastern part of the state. Several South Carolina stores on the eastern part of the state also canceled because of the hurricane." SIBA board member Kimberly Daniels Taws of the Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, N.C., and ABA v-p Jamie Fiocco, of Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, N.C., were among the absentees.
For those who did attend, the pre-show began on Wednesday afternoon with a bookstore tour, to Oxford Exchange, Inkwood Books and Mojo Books and Records. And on Thursday morning, the show began in earnest, with a very full day of well-attended panels, education sessions and TED-style talks on topics ranging from "How to Beat Your Real Competition" (Kelly Justice, Fountain Bookstore) and "Is Profit a Dirty Word?" (Jill Hendrix, Fiction Addiction) to "The Ultimate TBR Pile: 14 Years in the Making of 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die" (author James Mustich). [Recordings of many of these will be available on the SIBA site.].
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| SIBA board members Shane Gottwals, Stephanie Crowe, Kelly Justice and Doug Robinson | |
Outgoing board president Doug Robinson opened the SIBA annual meeting and town hall on Friday morning by offering "prayers and thoughts to all our fellow book people in the path of the storm," and welcoming two incoming board members: Jamie Rogers Southern (Bookmarks, Winston-Salem, N.C.), and Janet Geddis (Avid Bookshop, Athens, Ga.). Robinson reported that SIBA is in good financial condition: the reserve fund has increased, as has annual revenue (to $600,000, a nearly 20% increase since last year). The organization now has 151 store members (up 13 from 2016).
Executive director Wanda Jewell emphasized that SIBA wants to hear from members, both at the show and through the SIBA watercooler message boards. Several questions had been submitted in advance, and the first one drew rueful laughs: "Why do we meet during hurricane season?" Jewell explained that the organization has always met in the fall, and that discussions in the past had not resulted in a spring Discovery show. Several members emphasized the value of the fall event as the place to build excitement for the upcoming holiday season.
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| Macmillan authors at SIBA lunch: Charlie Jane Anders (The City in the Middle of the Night), Drew Williams (The Stars Now Unclaimed), Mary Kay Andrews (Sunset Beach), Lisa Patton (Rush). | |
Topics also included the relationship between Jewell and assistant executive director Linda-Marie Barrett (board member Kelly Justice noted that Barrett's title "does not imply a succession plan") and Jewell's proposed move to California (Robinson said SIBA has adopted a policy that future directors must reside in the region). Tom Lowenburg, Octavia Books, New Orleans, brought up this year's venue, describing the sprawling country club as "beautiful but isolating. It's not the right place for booksellers." Nearly everyone in the room raised their hands in agreement. (Next year's show will be at the Marriott in Spartanburg, S.C., September 23-25.)
Pam French, executive director of Binc, said the organization had already been in touch with several stores in the hurricane area, and described some of the ways in which Binc can provide immediate relief as well as longer-term recovery.
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| Cathy Graham of Copperfish Books with author (and bookseller) Amy Stewart. | |
ABA executive director Oren Teicher welcomed everyone: "SIBA is the first of the eight regional shows, we get to practice on you," he joked. He went on to laud the indie resurgence and noted the 5.2% increase in units sold in the first nine months of the year." He told the members the BATCH unified invoicing/payment system will be live in 2019, drawing enthusiastic applause.
Immediately following the meeting, the exhibit hall opened. Taking a cue from BookExpo, this year's event featured speakers and panels on a stage on the show floor. The browsing and buying was punctuated throughout the day with doughnuts, cakes and ice cream provided by various exhibitors. At the end of the day, attendees enjoyed a Books & Bourbon & Banter reception, and then the always-popular Parapalooza (with beer). The Friday evening Readers Supper featured authors Max Brallier (The Last Kids on Earth and the Cosmic Beyond, (Viking), Martha Hall Kelley (The Lost Roses, Ballantine) and Walter Mosley (John Woman, Grove Atlantic); Conroy Legacy Award winner Rick Bragg closed out the event.
For those who still had energy left, the day's programming finished up with a screening of the new film The Bookshop, starring Emily Mortimer as a woman who opens a bookshop in a conservative coastal town in England.
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| Elizabeth Alquist and LeeAnna Callon of Blue Cypress Books. | |
On the last day of SIBA, booksellers returned to the still-busy exhibition hall to finish up their buying and browsing, and to see if they'd won any of the many raffles or the scavenger hunt, before the finale of the show, the Moveable Feast.
As first-time attendees Elizabeth Barry Alquist and LeeAnna Callon of Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans tried to cram even more books in their already overfull SUV, they said: "We had a fantastic time--it was just so great to meet everyone, and we can't wait to come back next year!" --Robin Lenz