SCBA Trade Show to be a Veritable Feast of Education and Authors

The Southern California Booksellers Association's (SCBA) Authors Feast and Trade Show will be held on Saturday, October 21, in Los Angeles, at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. Among the day's highlights will be the 2006 Authors Feast, Spoken Word Radio Show Luncheon, and ABA educational programs "Shop Local: Forming Business Alliances in Your Community" and "Handselling: Customer Service With Results."

Millennium Biltmore Hotel

"The show will be held in the Biltmore Bowl at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, which was home to the Academy Awards in the late '30s and early '40s," Jennifer Bigelow, SCBA's executive director, told BTW via e-mail. "It just seems particularly fitting -- especially with Kenneth Turan (Now in Theaters Everywhere: A Celebration of a Certain Kind of Blockbuster, PublicAffairs); Leonard Maltin (Leonard Maltin's 2007 Movie Guide, Putnam), Janet Hirshenson and Jane Jenkins (A Star is Found: Our Adventures Casting Some of Hollywood's Biggest Movies, Harcourt); and Janet Fitch (White Oleander and now Paint it Black, Little, Brown) in attendance, to say nothing of our many other authors with ties to the film industry."

The ABA/SCBA booth on the trade show floor will provide booksellers with the opportunity to meet with ABA staff and to learn about the association's products and services. Information will be available about ABA's Second Annual Winter Institute, to be held in Portland, Oregon, on February 1 - 2, 2007, the Book Sense marketing program, and much more. In addition, ABA staff will be available to discuss any issues of concern to members.

ABA member booksellers who stop by the booth and drop off a business card will be eligible to win prizes. In a random drawing, ABA will award a color inkjet printer. The printer winner will then be entered into a grand prize drawing with the eight printer winners from the other fall trade shows. The grand prize winner will be awarded airfare to, and up to a three-night hotel stay at, the association's 2007 Winter Institute.

ABA members will also have a chance to win up to a four-night stay at Hotel ABA in Brooklyn for BookExpo America 2007 in New York City, compliments of BEA. Booksellers can enter the drawing for the BEA prize at the ABA/SCBA booth.

In addition, ABA is asking all member booksellers at this year's shows to participate in the formulation of the association's next Five-Year Strategic Plan by filling out a strategic planning survey. Surveys will be available in the booth.

ABA's education sessions are free to all show attendees. The sessions are:

• Shop Local: Forming Business Alliances in Your Community, from 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m
  Moderated by: Oren Teicher, Chief Operating Officer, American Booksellers Association. Panelists: Betsy Burton, The Kings English, Salt Lake City, Utah
  Not only do locally-owned businesses have far greater economic impact on their communities than do national chains, there is growing evidence that by working with other independently-owned businesses in your town or city you can become a more profitable store. Learn about the important role bookstores can play in the creation of independent business alliances and in convincing more and more consumers to shop locally. Featuring Betsy Burton, owner of The Kings English in Salt Lake City, Utah since 1977. Actively involved in the community, Betsy has served on various literacy, academic, and community boards, including the Salt Lake Vest Pocket Business Alliance (VPBA), which she co-founded in 1999. VPBA is an independent business alliance created to preserve the uniqueness and vitality of neighborhood-based businesses as an important stimulus to community identity and cohesiveness. An outgrowth of VPBA, Local First Utah, is a campaign that encourages consumers to patronize locally owned businesses.
  
  

• Handselling: Customer Service With Results, from 10:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
  Presented by Avin Mark Domnitz, CEO, American Booksellers Association
  Handselling is the key customer service strategy differentiating independent bookstores from all other competitors. Here, attendees will learn how to use or improve this strategy to grow their reputation, energize their staff, and increase their sales. This session will focus on attracting and training good handsellers, integrating handselling into marketing efforts, and ensuring that customers walk away with a unique and positive shopping experience.
  
  

SCBA education sessions on Saturday include "How to Target the YA Market," presented by Nicole White, US Penguin Group; Cecil Castellucci, author of Queen of Cool (Candlewick); Amanda Barillas, Vroman's Bookstore; Cindy Tamasi, HarperCollins; and Jennifer Laughran, Books Inc. This panel will discuss current and future trends in YA and how stores can best attract YA readers.

Following the session on the YA market will be the "Spoken Word Radio Show Luncheon," featuring Ray Bradbury (Farewell Summer, Morrow) and Gail Carson Levine (Fairest, HarperCollins). The Spoken Word will be on hand recording the event for a later broadcast. The lunch is free to all booksellers. Reservations are required for all attending.

From noon - 5:00 p.m., the trade show will be open, featuring over 40 exhibitors and a schedule of author signings. The trade show will reopen from 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. for the Authors Feast Reception. (Authors Feast dinner ticket required.)

From 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. will be "Sales Reps Pick of the List," where some of SCBA's favorite sales reps will be presenting their favorite titles for the fall, holidays, and beyond.

Rounding out a full day, at 7:30 p.m., will be the "Authors Feast & Book Awards," where over 45 authors are expected and bookbags with a minimum value of $125 will be distributed to attendees. Following the feast at 10:00 p.m. will be the "Emerging Leaders After Feast Party," for emerging leaders only.

"SCBA is pleased to be exhibiting side by side with the ABA at our show this year," Bigelow said. "It is a terrific opportunity to showcase what ABA and SCBA provide to our members. The booksellers will have an opportunity to learn about ABA's gift card program, Book Sense and BookSense.com, not to mention ABA. At the same time booksellers will be able to check out SCBA's Bookstore Event Site, this year's Holiday Catalog titles, learn about SCBA's bookstore tours for 2007, and other opportunities for independent booksellers from SCBA for the coming year."

Full listings of educational programming and events, registration information, and more is available on SCBA's website.

Questions and requests for information about ABA's participation at the show may be directed to Kristen Gilligan, ABA's associate director of programming and constituent groups liaison, at [email protected].