We can’t wait to see you in historic Winston-Salem, NC as we “Come Together” for SIBA’s first in-person gathering in more than 2.5 years. It will be a fabulous day of networking, bookstore tours and author events.

The bookstore tour of Winston-Salem & Greensboro will include four bookstores and a tour of the International Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro. The museum's exhibits commemorate the 1960 lunch counter sit-ins in Greensboro and place them in the context of the Civil Rights Movement. Please, no photos inside the museum.

The tour will have us visit Wonderland Bookshop in Greensboro (@wonderlandbookshopnc on Instagram & Facebook), Scuppernong Books in Greensboro (@scuppernongbooks on Instagram & Facebook, @ScupBooks on Twitter), Boomerang Bookshop (@nomadchapter on Facebook, @boomerangbookshop on Instagram, and @boomerangbkshop on Twitter) is a mobile store and will meet us at Scuppernong, and Bookmarks in Winston-Salem (@bookmarksnc on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter). Our local bookstores are excited to welcome you and show off their stores.

It's always groovy when the SIBA community gets to meet. We’ll have an event photographer taking snaps, but we also want to see and share your social media posts before, during and after the event.

As we get ready to attend “Come Together,” show us what you’re packing and the books you’re bringing. Tag SIBA at @SouthernIndependentBooksellersAlliance on Facebook, @siba_books on Instagram and @SIndies on Twitter. Event hashtags are #ComeTogetherSIBA & #SIBAbooksellers.

Our author event, Noir at the Bar will be hosted by screenwriter, novelist, and filmmaker Eryk Pruitt (on Twitter @reverenderyk) will feature eight crime, thriller, and mystery authors as well as literary-themed cocktails and a fun, raucous environment for readers and writers alike. You’ll have a chance to meet:

• Benjamin Gilmer, The Other Dr. Gilmer: Two Men, a Murder, and an Unlikely Fight for Justice (Ballantine Books, March 2022) @theotherdrgilmer on Instagram

• Alison B. Hart, The Work Wife (Graydon House, July 2022) @alisonbhart on Twitter, @alisonhart800 on Instagram

• Misha Lazzara, Manmade Constellations (Blackstone Publishing, August 2022) @mishalazzara on Instagram

• Megan Miranda, The Last to Vanish (Scribner/Marysue Rucci Books, July 2022) @MeganLMiranda on Twitter and Instagram, @AuthorMeganMiranda on Facebook

• Valerie Nieman, In the Lonely Backwater (Regal House/Fitzroy Books, May 2022) @valerienieman1 on Facebook, @valnieman on Instagram and Twitter

• Deb Rogers, Florida Woman (Hanover Square Press, July 2022) @debontherocks on Twitter

• B. A. Shapiro, Metropolis (Workman Publishing/Algonquin Books, May 2022) @BAShapirobooks on Facebook, @ba_shapiro on Instagram and Twitter

• Emily Thiede, This Vicious Grace (St. Martin's Publishing Group/Wednesday Books, June 2022) @ektwrites on Instagram and Twitter.

After the event, keep the energy going by sharing what you learned (maybe a new display idea, event plan or other tips and tricks), share a review of one of the participating author’s books (we’re always looking for what you loved for the Southern Bookseller Review!) or show off your event t-shirt when it comes (get yours here, it benefits Binc).

See you next week!