That the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association fall conference, held just off the smoke-filled casino at the Trump Marina in Atlantic City from September 20 to 22, went on despite the recent deaths of NAIBA president, Joe Drabyak, bookseller at Chester County Book & Music Company in West Chester, Pa., and Workman sales rep Sam Herman spoke reams about the organization’s ability to overcome hardship and loss. If any further illustration were needed, an ailing Carla Cohen, founder of Politics & Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C., made the journey to accept the NAIBA Legacy Award with longtime partner Barbara Meade. Booksellers rose three times to honor Cohen, who has been a mentor to many in the room.
“The vibe [of the show] has been exceptional,” said NAIBA president Lucy Kogler, manager of Talking Leaves Books in Buffalo, N.Y., at the annual meeting. “I was concerned that the sorrow would cast a pall, but it makes us more dedicated to what we do. This conference has really focused me on what it means to be an independent bookseller.”
A triumph-over-setbacks spirit marked many of the educational sessions, including one on Radical Bookselling led by Rob Dougherty, manager of Clinton Book Shop in Clinton, N.J. Drawing on his experiences working with prisoners to stop being victims, Dougherty challenged booksellers to stop waiting for the ABA or NAIBA to do things for them. “We all know what’s happening at Borders and Barnes & Noble. Now is the time to strike,” he said. “We have to take bookselling beyond our front doors and ask what’s in it for me.” Dougherty encouraged booksellers to engage with the entire fabric of their communities, not just libraries and schools. As a result of doing just that, the Clinton Book Shop moved down the street earlier this year with the help of dozens of customers. With the move, said Dougherty, “our head is not above water, but we can see.”
At the Morning Show, Scott Ballum of Sheepless.org, a design and advocacy organization for activist entrepreneurs, discussed ways to grow the economy from the bottom up by changing the world one street at a time. “I want to convince you,” he said, “that running a bookstore is just like running a restaurant. It’s not about competing against a large bookstore.” Among the examples of social entrepreneurship he singled out are: The Linkery restaurant in San Diego, which emphasizes local foods and promotes good service by charging a service fee rather than tipping, and a group that is working to fill a vacant big box store in Mesa, Arizona, with small businesses, a stage, and a lounge.
Heather Hebert and Sarah Todd at Children’s Book World in Haverford, Pa., and Shelly Plumb, owner of Harleysville Books in Harleysville, Pa., offered suggestions for going beyond traditional book fairs at a workshop on Partnering with Schools. As part of her outreach, for example, Todd builds relationships with schools, and increases orders, by making presentations of her ten favorite books to each class in local schools. “The parents are thrilled,” says Hebert, “because they don’t have to buy wrapping paper or candy. It’s a fundraiser for the school and we’re showing we’re a good resource.”
Bloggers Ron Hogan (www.beatrice.com), who works with Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn, among other businesses and venues, and the more monogamous Rebecca Joines Schinsky (thebookladysblog.com), who works almost exclusively with Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, described how such relationships can benefit both groups. Bookstores and bloggers can co-promote each other and create events that marry the online and physical worlds by having a blogger interview an author in-store, for example. Although neither Schinsky nor Hogan is paid by the bookstore, what they do get, said Hogan, is access to books and authors. “From the blogger’s perspective, it helps to build content,” added Schinsky.
But the convention’s tips may come too late for some NAIBA stores. With notable exceptions—like the Trappe Bookcenter in Trappe, Pa., which is getting ready to expand from 5,500 to 8,000 sq. ft., or Politics & Prose—some have watched their sales falter despite their best efforts. Betsy Rider, owner of Otto’s in Williamsport, Pa., which will celebrate its 160th anniversary next year, had a 9% drop in sales this year; others have not been so fortunate. Bookstores that sell textbooks have seen that business erode as students check prices on their cell phones against Amazon. Beyond that, says Talking Leaves owner Jonathan Welch, “I’m convinced that the biggest change is not technological, but that students read less.”
Overall NAIBA’s bookstore membership decreased 20%, from 142 a year ago to 114 in 2010; publishing members dropped 30%, from 67 to 47. NAIBA director Eileen Dengler said that personally, and not speaking on behalf of the organization, she compares what’s happening to the ecosystem of bookstores to the Silent Spring. “It’s so inexpensive to be here,” she said, “but stores can’t afford it.” Although the number of booksellers was the same as last year, roughly 100, they represent fewer stores. The number of exhibitors decreased significantly and the exhibit hall was only three-quarters full.
Even so, the show was not one of doom or gloom, and there were a number of light moments. Among the standouts was former bookseller and Bad Kitty vs. Uncle Murray author Nick Bruel’s talk at the Children’s Breakfast on A Customer Walks into a Store.... “I know the secret that’s in all your hearts at the end of the day,” said Bruel, as he described the moment when most of the lights are out for the day and booksellers take a final look around at the books on the shelves. “Man this place would be awesome if not for all those goddam customers.” And at the Movable Feast lunch Rachel Shukert, author of Everything Is Going To Be Great, provided one of the most memorable sales handles, “My book is the anti-Eat, Pray, Love. It’s Starve, Cry, and Have Sex with Possible Sociopaths.”
Although this is a turbulent time for bookselling and the regionals—three executive directors will leave their jobs between October and the end of the year—NAIBA continues to move forward. At the show it inaugurated the NAIBA Carla Cohen Free Speech Award, which was given to Pam Muñoz Ryan’s The Dreamer, illustrated by Peter Sis, and announced that it will establish a new award to honor Joe Drabyak. “He had a joy,” said Kogler. “It’s easy to focus on the difficulty of just staying in business and forget the joy.”
