SCBA Holds Its Biggest Trade Show Yet

At the Southern California Booksellers Association (SCBA) Authors Feast and Trade Show, held on Saturday, October 21, in Los Angeles, booksellers enjoyed the Spoken Word Radio Show Luncheon, presentation of the SCBA 2006 Book Awards, and educational programs, including ABA's "Shop Local: Forming Business Alliances in Your Community" and "Handselling: Customer Service With Results."

The event, which was held at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, also benefited from a touch of Hollywood. There were numerous authors associated with the film industry, including Leonard Maltin, Janet Fitch, and Kenneth Turan, and the show made use of the Biltmore Bowl, site of many Academy Awards presentations in the 1930s and '40s.

Ray Bradbury at the SCBA trade show.

According to SCBA Executive Director Jennifer Bigelow, this was a record-setting event. "We had more people at the education sessions, the luncheon, and Authors Feast, and on the show floor than we've ever had in my eight years here," she told BTW. "I know that we printed 348 badges and they were all picked up.... It's really such a blast to watch the association grow."

Terry Gilman, president of the SCBA board and owner of Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego, was also enthusiastic. "It was a terrific show and the education sessions were incredibly well attended. We had more booksellers than we've ever had, and the Spoken Word Luncheon was fabulous."

At the ABA/SCBA booth on the trade show floor, booksellers were able to learn about ABA products and services including Book Sense gift cards, Constant Contact, and Above the Treeline. Visitors to the booth included Melony Vance, owner of the 18-month-old Books in Nooks store in Julian, who won a four-night stay at Hotel ABA in Brooklyn for BookExpo America, courtesy of BEA.

Vance was enthusiastic about the show and particularly pleased with her prize. "It's just great, because I couldn't have afforded it otherwise," she added. With almost 20 years of experience working in and managing other independent bookstores, Vance is a first-time owner. She told BTW that the education sessions now had even greater relevance for her. "I'm so happy that the ABA is refocusing on education. I attended the handselling session ["Handselling: Customer Service with Results," presented by ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz] and had thought, after all these years, I had it pretty well down. But I found out that there are still things to learn, and things that I need to remember to pass on to the staff."

Vance added, "I got a tremendous amount out of the Local First session ["Shop Local: Forming Business Alliances in Your Community," moderated by ABA COO Oren Teicher with panelist Betsy Burton of The King's English in Salt Lake City], because I'm currently on the board of our local merchants' association."

John Hughes, bookseller and buyer for Warwick's Bookstore in La Jolla, won ABA's random drawing for a color inkjet printer. Hughes, along with the eight printer winners from the other fall trade shows, is now entered in a grand prize drawing for hotel and airfare expenses to attend ABA's Second Annual Winter Institute.

ABA's handselling session was also a highlight for Hughes, who said, "It was very productive. There was a lot of give and take with very useful material. I got many ideas that will be helpful in training our staff. The results of research, including ABACUS, were fascinating."

In an e-mail to BTW, Mike Russo, of Russo's Books in Bakersfield and an SCBA board member, also mentioned the education component of the show. "We sent staff to both the young adult [SCBA's "How to Target the YA Market" panel discussion] and handselling sessions," he wrote. "Both yielded great ideas, some of which we will be implementing immediately, and some providing validation for things we are already doing."

Russo, Vance, Hughes, and Gilman all described the Spoken Word Radio Show Luncheon, with speakers Ray Bradbury and Gail Carson Levine, as a high point of the show. The event was recorded for a future broadcast on the Spoken Word Radio program. Vance told BTW, "This was the first time I had ever heard [Bradbury] speak, and it was an honor. Gail Carson Levine was delightful."

Hughes concurred, observing, "The two of them were great speakers; they got people fired up."

About the show floor, Russo was "very impressed by the number of publishers and their displays." Hughes said, "I saw lots of reps and could interact -- it was a good opportunity to touch base and talk about show deals."

Vance, whose bookstore is located one hour east of San Diego, told BTW that book reps never come to her, so the trade show offers the opportunity to meet them. "All my contacts with reps are by phone," she said, "so I met a lot of people and made contacts with publishers I hadn't known about before."

Concluding the day's events was the well-attended Authors Feast accompanied by the presentation of the fifth annual SCBA Book Awards. These were presented in the Biltmore's elegant Gold Room, minus a red carpet and golden statuettes, to Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack in the fiction category for Literacy and Longing in L.A. (Delacorte); Tony Cohan for the nonfiction work Mexican Days: Journeys Into the Heart of Mexico (Broadway); Celeste Davidson Mannis for the children's title Snapshots: The Wonders of Monterey Bay (Viking); and T. Jefferson Parker in the mystery category for The Fallen (Morrow). --Nomi Schwartz