Geek Out at the #SIBA18 Discovery Show! Sign up for an Escape Room Experience!

After taking off in Asia, Western Europe, and the West Coast, escape rooms are popping up across the country. Will Shortz, the crossword puzzle editor for The New York Times, says it makes sense that escape experiences have become the puzzling trend of the moment. "If you were a brainy person 20 or 30 years ago, it was looked down upon. Nowadays, nerds have some of the biggest incomes in the U.S. and want to get together to geek out."  Now you have an opportunity to geek out at #SIBA18! 

Escape rooms are real-life team-based puzzle games, where you are locked in a room and have to solve puzzles together to get out.  Once your team solves the mystery or reaches the end of the time limit, you're "set free.”  

Escape rooms aren’t just problem-solving exercises. They’re fun and engaging, and encourage working together to crack codes, solve puzzles and follow clues. Studies have found that those who play games are better learners. Think what this could do for your team!

Want to sign up your team for an hour? Or get on the schedule to be part of a team? Contact wanda@sibaweb.com and get ready for some fun!

REGISTER FOR #SIBA18     CHECK OUT SCHEDULE OF EVENTS     SEE CONFIRMED AUTHORS

Do You Want More Joy in Your Life? Don't Miss Ingrid Fetell Lee at the #SIBA18 Discovery Show

Do you want more joy in your life? To find it in unexpected places? To create an environment for your staff and customers that brings smiles? Then don't miss Ingrid Fetell Lee at the #SIBA18 Discovery Show in Tampa, Florida. "Cherry blossoms and rainbows, bubbles and googly eyes: Why do some things seem to create such universal joy? Ingrid Fetell Lee will reveal the surprisingly tangible roots of joy and show how we all can find -- and create -- more of it in the world around us.” 

Lee's TED talk, "Where Joy Hides and Where to Find It" has over a million views. View Lee's TED Talk here! Fans of Marie Kondo (The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up), who advises we surround ourselves with things that bring us joy, will especially enjoy this.  Lee is the author of Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness.

Thursday, September 13 at 9am at the #SIBA18 Discovery Show, don't miss "Make Your Mark on Life: #SIBAJoy with Ingrid Lee--The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness"

REGISTER FOR #SIBA18          CHECK OUT SCHEDULE OF EVENTS       SEE CONFIRMED AUTHORS

Hop on the Bookstore Tour at the Discovery Show!

You'll need some downtime after the morning with Doug Hall's Driving Eureka! A Bookstore Tour to Oxford Exchange, Inkwood Books, and Mojo Books & Records will be just the right transition. Make plans to join the tour on Wednesday, Sept 12, 1:30-730 pm which includes lunch, store visits, and so much fun with your author tour guides: Laura Mize, MarkDeNote, and Mark Muncy!   

The tour begins at 1:30pm. What better inspiration than seeing what your colleagues are doing at their stores, and visiting their communities? Thanks so much to Arcadia Publishing/History Press for providing tour authors steeped in Florida lore, who promise to deliver lots of Florida trivia. Laura Mize is the author of Florida Made: The 25 Most Important Figures Who Shaped the State, Mark DeNote is the author of Tampa Bay Beer: A Heady History, and Mark Muncy is the author of Freaky Florida: The Wonderhouse.

If you'd like to join us, please email wanda@sibaweb.com for more details.

Thanks to Generous Inkreadible Sponsor Baker & Taylor for making the tour possible!

REGISTER FOR #SIBA18          CHECK OUT SCHEDULE OF EVENTS             SEE CONFIRMED 

AUTHORS

Magic Time Literary Agency

Author advocates who are passionate about literature and represent award-winning and bestselling authors from around the country. Focusing on creation of national tours, many authors achieve bestseller status through heartfelt representation. It is a great honor to partner with booksellers to create meaningful events with libraries, universities, nonprofits, and professional and civic organizations.

http://www.magictimeliterary.com/

Register for #SIBA18

See the full exhibitor list

Matchbook Marketing

Matchbook is a marketing firm dedicated solely to independent bookstores. Sign up at our booth and receive $100 off any website package and/or $200 off our coop-based Dec/Jan print newsletter for first-time participants.

https://welovebooksellers.com/

Register for #SIBA18

See the full exhibitor list

Binc and Macmillan Diversity Scholarship Returns
Nine scholarships will be awarded in 2018

The Macmillan Booksellers Professional Development Scholarship, a program sponsored by the Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation and Macmillan Publishers to provide professional development to booksellers traditionally underrepresented within the industry, is returning for 2018. The application period will begin on June 1, 2018 and will end on July 1.

The program is intended to encourage a greater number of individuals from underrepresented groups to choose and/or continue careers in bookselling by offering up to a maximum of $500 for a bookseller from a traditionally underrepresented group to attend a regional trade show.

"We were delighted by the response to the scholarships last year and are so pleased to be able to offer them again in 2018. Judging by the responses we received from last year's participants, this is a worthwhile and rewarding program, which opens up a valuable experience to booksellers who would otherwise find it out of reach," said Macmillan Diversity & Inclusion Co-Chairs Monique Patterson, Editorial Director, St. Martin's Press and Angus Killick, VP, Associate Publisher, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group.

Each scholarship will cover the cost of travel, lodging, and meals for one bookseller to attend their regional trade show. Nine scholarships are available – one for each regional independent bookseller association. To be eligible to apply for a scholarship, a bookseller must have worked in a bookstore as a regular full or part-time employee for a minimum of 90 days. The bookstore must be a member in good standing of one of the regional trade associations. The applicant will answer three brief essay questions and the winners will be selected by a panel composed of Binc board members, booksellers, bookstore owners, and publishers.

Binc Executive Director Pam French said the Foundation is excited to continue programming that strengthens the bookselling industry by providing support for the diverse booksellers already working hard to make their communities great. 

"The Binc Foundation exists to help booksellers thrive," French said. "By working with Macmillan Publishers to bring diverse voices to regional trade shows, we're enriching conversations and improving the story of the bookselling industry."

Booksellers can find out more details and apply at https://bincfoundation.submittable.com/submit. Applications must be completed by July 1, 2018.

Eligibility:

1. Applicants must fall into one of the following categories
   a.    People of color, defined as people of African/African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Latin American, Middle Eastern, or Native American/Indigenous descent
   b.    People who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer
   c.    People with disabilities (includes but is not limited to physical, sensory, cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities, chronic conditions, and mental illnesses).    
2. Applicant's store must be a member of one of the regional IBA organizations.   
3. Applicant must be a regular part-time or full-time employee of the bookstore.
   
4. Applicant must be currently employed and have 90 days of continuous employment with the bookstore.

About The Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation
The Book Industry Charitable Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that coordinates charitable programs to strengthen the bookselling community. Established in 1996, the core program provides assistance to bookstore employees who have a demonstrated financial need arising from severe hardship and/or emergency circumstances.
Since its inception, the organization has provided over $6.5 million in financial assistance and scholarships to more than 7,300 families. Support for the Foundation's programs and services come from all sectors of the book industry. The Book Industry Charitable Foundation's mission is to strengthen the bookselling community through charitable programs that support employees and their families. The Foundation was imagined and built by booksellers and proudly continues to be their safety net. It is our vision to be a caring community of book people. Additional information can be found at http://www.bincfoundation.org. 

About Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers is a global trade book publishing company with prominent imprints around the world. Macmillan publishes a broad range of award-winning books for children and adults in all categories and formats. US publishers include Celadon Books, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Flatiron Books, Henry Holt & Company, Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Picador, St. Martin's Press and Tor Books. In the UK, Australia, India and South Africa, Macmillan publishes under the Pan Macmillan name. The German company, Holtzbrinck Deutsche Buchverlage, includes among its imprints, S. Fischer, Kiepenheuer and Witsch, Rowohlt and Droemer Knaur. Macmillan Publishers is a division of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, a large family-owned media company headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. www.macmillan.com

Make your mark at #SIBA18!
A call for Bookstore Branded Bookmarks and Swag

The theme of this year's Discovery Show is "Mark Your Mark," with an emphasis on the many ways bookstores can brand themselves and become icons in their own communities and in the industry. To that end, SIBA is going to feature bookstore-branded merchandise in an exhibit at the show, and we'd like to incorporate your store-branded bookmarks into show materials.

So here's what we'd like to have from stores:

1) Store Bookmarks. These will be featured in the show directory in other show materials. Stores can provide either electronic files or actually send the printed bookmarks, or both. Electronic files should be sent to nicki@sibaweb.com. Any pdf or high resolution image format is fine. Print materials should be sent to:

Make Your Mark at SIBA
c/o Nicki Leone
718 Hughes Rd.
Hampstead, NC 28443

2) Store Swag. SIBA will have a display of store-branded merchandise in the Exhibit hall during the show, so now is the time to let your store shine. If you are interested in having your store swag featured contact Linda-Marie at lindamarie@sibaweb.com. Bookmarks, coffee mugs, tote bags, t-shirts, bags of coffee, buttons, magnets, aprons, tea towels. . .the sky's the limit.

We also want to help you pocket some hundreds, as in dollars.  Help us recruit new exhibitors to the #SIBA19 Discovery Show, and for every first-time exhibitor that pays full price to exhibit that credits your store with bringing them in, both the bookstore and the exhibitor will receive $100 towards their show expenses.  Let your favorite vendors know how much you’d love to see them in Spartanburg in September and make your plans to be there.  For every new vendor you recruit, there’s $100 in it for you.  

Here's a link to the exhibitor information you can share with your favorite vendors:

Exhibitor Show Package & Registration Form 

(Be sure and put the name of your bookstore where indicated on p.3 of the Exhibitor Show Package & Registration Form.)

There is no limit to the number of first-time vendors you can collect $100 each for getting to the #SIBA18 Discovery Show!

Meanwhile, go ahead and get yourself registered as well. Register Now!

Happy Hunting!

Click here to view online | Like us on Facebook! NOTE THE DATE: 3/21: Non-Traditional Bookstores: Hybrids, Pop-ups, Non-Profits Webinar (details) (rsvp) 3/23: ABA/SIBA Bookseller Forum at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill (rsvp) Important and useful links: #SIBA18 Discovery Show Coming up on Lady Banks' Pick of the Week The current Southern Indie Bestsellers (PDF): HC | PB | Kids Bookseller Benefits Package || The Booksellers' WaterCooler || Read This! THE SITE VISIT (AKA, Nicki goes to VALSPAR) When Wanda Jewell told me that our annual site visit to the Innisbrook Resort in preparation for upcoming Discovery Show in September would be in March, she did warn me. "It will be during Valspar" she cautioned. I must have looked blank, because she added "the golf tournament." I shrugged and nodded. It was Florida. There would be golf, I thought. It wasn't until we hit the traffic on US 19 and found ourselves behind a row of coach buses that I realized, oh it's a GOLF TOURNAMENT. I'm not a huge golf fan, but I still immediately called my dad. "Guess where I am!" I gloated. (Read more! || Register for #SIBA18) So what do we have to look forward to in September? Well, the place is beautiful. The exhibit hall is fantastic. The rooms are really, really comfortable. USEFUL TIP: CO-HOST YOUR FACEBOOK EVENTS WITH SIBA Are you creating events on Facebook?  SIBA would like to co-host those events with you.  When creating the event just choose Authors 'Round the South as your co-host.  It's easy and likely to increase not only awareness but attendance at events.  This makes it easy for SIBA to share the upcoming event with her 15,000+ Facebook friends and followers.  Be sure to tag the author and publisher in your events post.  We are at your service.       EUREKAsiba: BUILDING LITERARY BRIDGES with Broche Fabian "Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance."   MEET THE BOOKSELLER Tony Peltier, Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, NC website || facebook || twitter How long you've been a bookseller: I've been a bookseller for 16 years. 10 years at Borders and 6 at Quail Ridge. Best part about being a bookseller: . . .is the books! I get to buy and sell books for a living! And, of course, connecting with people through books.     Books I'm reading: I just finished Sadness is a White Bird by Moriel Rothman-Zecher. Almost finished The Sea Beast Takes a Lover by Michael Andreasen. In the middle of Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi. And just started The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner. They are all wonderful and completely different from each other.             Favorite handsell of 2017: Spill Simmer Falter Wither by Sara Baume So beautiful and beautifully written, devastatingly sad, but in a way that reminds you that you're alive. Social Media Handles: I'm not on social media. I did Twitter for about 6 months, but made myself delete it. Best thing we did this year at the store: I'd have to say, the amazing people we hired this year. We have a wonderful staff, but this year in particular we added some incredible people with great experience in and out of bookselling Top priority for 2018: Get the word out. Get all these amazing books in people's hands and brains. And get people to realize that if they don't buy from us, we won't be around forever. Don't take your independent bookstore for granted. Favorite SIBA programming benefit: SIBA gave scholarships to two of our staff to go to New Orleans, which they raved about. I'd love to learn more about what SIBA does. BRILLIANT BOOKSELLER IDEA(S) OF THE WEEK: Use Your Sidewalk Sign to bring Staff Favorites to the Street! via Shelf-Awareness Mystery to Me bookstore, Madison, Wis., added a new twist to its staff recommendations by featuring selections on its sidewalk chalkboard: "New board outside! Ever wonder what your booksellers' favorite books are? Every week we will tell you! This is our first one with Jayne, Joanne and Morgan's favorite books currently! Ask us about them on your next visit!"   THE BOOKS YOUR COLLEAGUES ARE TALKING ABOUT Submitted this week on Edelweiss+ using the "send to SIBA" option. Thanks to Avid Bookshop, Octavia Books, Square Books, Turnrow Books, Bookmarks, The Country Book Shop, McIntyre's Books, Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe, Quail Ridge Books, Fiction Addiction, Union Avenue Bookshop, and Fountain Bookstore. 9780525508748 The Distance Home 8/1/2018 "Saunders shows us a world where hate and love are made of the same stuff." 9780763696078 Square 5/8/2018 "OMG! Can this pair get any cuter?!" 9781476756554 The Mars Room 5/1/2018 "There is so much messy complexity here. Growing plant life in the cracks of a concrete slab. How do you describe such beauty?" 9780399180989 Spinning Silver 7/10/2018 "This book is filled with clever women making clever plans and saving the day." 9781617756276 Beautiful Music 5/1/2018 "Like beautiful music, this book is permeated with the power to make you sad, lift you up, and carry you home." If your store does not have an Edelweiss+ account and need help setting one up, contact Linda-Marie. In the last issue: Read This Next! Is your membership current? Your name: @@first_name@@ @@last_name@@ Your store: @@employer@@ Your member type (store/staff): @@member_type@@ Your membership expiration: @@membership_exp_date@@ * Your B3! Credit: ##B3TOTAL## **if your member type says "staff" then your expiration date is whenever your bookstore's membership expires. Stores can add staff to their accounts under the "Subaccounts" link under the "Information & Settings" tab. Renew here | Booksellers Benefits Package --- Thank you for your interest in SIBA,   Nicki Leone SysAdmin nicki@sibaweb.com Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance 51 Pleasant Ridge Drive, Asheville, NC 28805 803.994.9530 Fax: 309.410.0211 www.sibaweb.com   #siba18: Fall Discovery Show Sept 13-15 THU-SAT | Tampa, FL   Many thanks to our 2018 Inkreadible Sponsors below:

SIBA | 51 Pleasant Ridge Drive | Asheville, NC 28805
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