In less than a week, some 500 indie booksellers will be gathering in San Jose, California, for the kickoff of the American Booksellers Association's Fifth Annual Winter Institute. There's a lot packed into the three-day event, including 30-plus education sessions and roundtables, special events, and networking opportunities. To help you get the most out of your time in San Jose, we've put together some program highlights and timely reminders.

A Few Education Program Highlights

One of the highlights of next month's Winter Institute will be a panel discussion on the challenges and opportunities presented by digitization that will feature three of the book industry's top executives.

Daniel Clancy, director of Google Books, will be the keynote lunch speaker at the Winter Institute's Technology Day, on Wednesday, February 3. Clancy, who has given tech talks at a variety of venues, including South by Southwest and Stanford University, will discuss the soon-to-be-launched Google Editions and diversity in the e-book marketplace.

There are still dozens of booksellers hoping for room reservations at the Winter Institute's sold-out host hotel, the Doubletree San Jose.

If you're registered for Wi5 and no longer plan to attend, or if you no longer need your hotel reservations or are willing to share your room with another bookseller, you're asked to contact ABA now at wi5@bookweb.org so a waiting bookseller can be accommodated.

For more on ABA's Fifth Annual Winter Institute, sponsored by Ingram, visit BookWeb.org.

The list of participants in the Winter Institute's popular Author Reception grew by five this week. Joining the Wi5 roster, which was announced by the American Booksellers Association in mid-December, are:

The Doubletree San Jose, the headquarters hotel for the American Booksellers Association's Fifth Annual Winter Institute, is sold out. Currently, more than 50 booksellers are on a waiting list hoping to book a room. If you have a room and no longer plan to attend, you're urged to contact ABA immediately, so your room can be filled by a waiting bookseller.

Winter Institute programming is open to all registered booksellers, and the majority of sessions do not require sign up. There are nine sessions where space is limited, however, so ABA is asking interested booksellers to sign up for these sessions in advance. Spaces are being filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

With the February 3 - 5 Winter Institute in San Jose just weeks away, the American Booksellers Association sends some important reminders.

This week, the American Booksellers Association announced the names of 37 authors and illustrators who will participate in the publisher-sponsored Author Reception at the Fifth Annual Winter Institute (Wi5).

Graphic novels have reached a tipping point, and booksellers can position themselves to benefit, says Diamond Book Distributors sales manager John Shableski, a presenter at ABA's upcoming Winter Institute.