On Sunday and Monday, October 24 - 25, 578 booksellers, 417 publishers, and a slew of authors gathered at the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City for the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Trade Show. "The show is always a great time for booksellers to meet new booksellers, and see old friends," said NAIBA Executive Director Eileen Dengler.
Attendance at the New England Booksellers Association (NEBA) fall trade show, which was held from Friday, October 8, to Sunday, October 10, at Boston's World Trade Center, was up slightly this year compared to last year's show in Providence, Rhode Island, reported NEBA Executive Director Rusty Drugan, who told BTW that "the educational programming ... was a hit throughout the show.
"The Little Trade Show With Heart" is the way Jim Dana, executive director of the Great Lakes Booksellers Association, described the regional's show, which was held in Dearborn, Michigan, from October 8 - 10. "A number of people commented to me on how 'close-knit' our group is, the 'family feel,' the 'intimacy,'" said Dana.
Among the new and successful events at this year's show was the Quiz Bowl, sponsored by Simon & Schuster and inspired by A.J. Jacobs' book Know-It-All.
On Tuesday, October 5, Florida's Tampa Tribune published an editorial entitled "The Patriot Act's License to Snoop Causes Unjustified Anxiety " that began by stating, "Fears that the Patriot Act allows government agents to spy on everyone's library records are wildly overblown. All the three-year-old law does is open a variety of semiprivate files to scrutiny by agents conducting espionage investigations.
"Total attendance at this year's Upper Midwest Booksellers Association (UMBA) fall trade show, which was held from Friday, October 1, to Sunday, October 3, at the RiverCentre in St. Paul, Minnesota, was a bit lower than last year, said UMBA Executive Director Susan Walker, due in part to the closing of St. Paul's Ruminator Books and a change in the admissions policy, which affected the number of "peripheral people" in attendance.
In July, NEA chairman Dana Gioia announced the dismal results of a survey of America's reading habits, including the news that those people admitting to having read fiction, poetry, or plays had dipped to 46.7 percent in 2002, down from 54 percent the last time the survey was done in 1992.
A copy of the study still rests on my desk, taunting me.
Approximately 500 booksellers representing about 115 of the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Association's 240 bookstore members gathered in Denver from September 16 - 19 for the association's fall trade show. "The exhibitors were absolutely delighted with the show," said MPBA Executive Director Lisa Knudsen. "In some years they have catalogues left over at the end -- this year many of them ran out on the first day .
For its coverage of the fall regional trade shows this year, Bookselling This Week has asked a bookseller at each show to share their experiences with our readers. Here, Dana Harper of Brystone Children's Books in Fort Worth, Texas, provides a lively look at the Mid-South Independent Booksellers Association trade show, which was held from Thursday, September 9, through Sunday, September 12, in New Orleans.
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On Sunday and Monday, October 24 - 25, 578 booksellers, 417 publishers, and a slew of authors gathered at the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City for the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Trade Show. "The show is always a great time for booksellers to meet new booksellers, and see old friends," said NAIBA Executive Director Eileen Dengler.
"Total attendance at this year's Upper Midwest Booksellers Association (UMBA) fall trade show, which was held from Friday, October 1, to Sunday, October 3, at the RiverCentre in St. Paul, Minnesota, was a bit lower than last year, said UMBA Executive Director Susan Walker, due in part to the closing of St. Paul's Ruminator Books and a change in the admissions policy, which affected the number of "peripheral people" in attendance.
Approximately 500 booksellers representing about 115 of the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Association's 240 bookstore members gathered in Denver from September 16 - 19 for the association's fall trade show. "The exhibitors were absolutely delighted with the show," said MPBA Executive Director Lisa Knudsen. "In some years they have catalogues left over at the end -- this year many of them ran out on the first day
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For its coverage of the fall regional trade shows this year, Bookselling This Week has asked a bookseller at each show to share their experiences with our readers. Here, Dana Harper of Brystone Children's Books in Fort Worth, Texas, provides a lively look at the Mid-South Independent Booksellers Association trade show, which was held from Thursday, September 9, through Sunday, September 12, in New Orleans.
From September 10 - 12, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association held its fall trade show at Oregon's Portland Convention Center.