Posted By Linda-Marie Barrett,
Friday, November 19, 2021
Last week the SIBA staff held our annual work retreat outside of Wilmington, NC, with one of us (the amazing SP) Zooming in. This was the first time in two years I’d seen Nicki, SIBA’s systems administrator and editor of our newsletters, in person. TWO YEARS! We see each other almost every day on Zoom, but it was significant, and moving, to finally be in her presence, and also to visit her lovely home and garden, and meet her pets. My husband and former PGW/Ingram rep, Jon Mayes, profiled Nicki and her home in his blog, Advance Reading Copy, if you’d like a glimpse into her magical, book-filled world.
We sat on Nicki’s back deck and revisited our 2021 programming, as well as planned for 2022. I’m excited about what’s in store for SIBA and our members in 2022, and will share more plans soon. Do make sure to save the dates of March 30-31 for SIBA in the Springtime: Come Together, a spring conference in Winston-Salem, NC. This will be a truly special gathering for our SIBA community to share our strength, support, and sense of fun, as we move forward during this challenging time.
After the retreat we visited four bookstores. First up was Quarter Moon Books, Gifts, and Wine Bar, on Topsail Island. This lovely, beachy bookstore, which also hosts events on the patio outside, is owned by Lori Fisher, and just steps away from the ocean. The space is creatively decorated, and filled with books, gifts, and a full-service coffee bar (staffed by Aurora during our visit).
In Wilmington, we visited the famous Pomegranate Books, owned by Kathleen Jewell. Kathleen warned us ahead of time to “watch out for the chickens” when we parked. Pomegranate had recently undergone a transformation into a film set for a movie filming a fictional bookstore, and was converting back to its usual layout, so timing for photos wasn’t perfect, but it was obvious the book selection is wonderfully curated, with deep connections to the many writers at UNC Wilmington, local writing programs, and book clubs. I also admired the offerings at Zola Coffee & Tea, housed in the same building.
From there we went on to check out a new bookstore, Papercuts, and meet owner Holly Bader. Papercuts offers new and used books and a growing gift selection. It is thoroughly charming in design and aesthetic. Holly’s enthusiasm and positivity were so contagious that I found myself smiling the whole visit. Located downtown, Papercuts is the perfect place to find that special book, and savor the gorgeous ambience of a beautiful book shop.
Our final bookstore visit was toGhost Hill Press, located in a shipping container in Wilmington’s revitalized Cargo District. Ghost Hill Press is owned by two sisters, Pam and Kimberly Sherman, and is small but mighty! Their book selection represents local authors and the owners’ reading passions. They are enthusiastic about meeting their customers’ needs through a highly curated book selection and event program.
The readers of Wilmington are so fortunate to have these great stores, with distinct personalities and spaces, serving their community. I hope to be back for a visit at a future staff retreat!
The regional independent bookseller associations are pleased to invite you to a conversation about the intersection of bookselling and free expression. Understanding that it’s a complicated issue, we wanted to create a space for education and dialogue from a wide array of viewpoints. The goal is for everyone to come away with a framework to use when thinking about what free expression means for our stores (and ourselves).
This event will be moderated by Jonathan Friedman, Director of Education at PEN America, and the panel will include PEN’s Free Expression Education Manager Summer Lopez, along with booksellers and authors from around the country. After the discussion, there will be an opportunity to talk through what you’ve heard and learned in smaller breakout groups.
Presentation Moderators: Jonathan Friedman, Director of Education, PEN America Summer Lopez, Senior Director of Free Expression Programs, PEN America
Panelists: Kenny Brechner, DDG Books, Farmington, Maine, children's book specialist, recipient of the2014 Pannell Award and the 2015 Maine School Board Association Business Friend of Education Award. Writes the Thursday Shelftalker children's book blog for Publishers Weekly Vicky Titcomb, Titcomb's Bookshop, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, past co-chair of the New England Children’s Booksellers Advisory Council Luis Correa, Avid Bookshop, Athens, Georgia, member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee for the American Booksellers Association and a SIBA Influencer Josh Cook, Porter Square Books, Cambridge, Massachusetts, author The Least We Can Do: White Supremacy, Free Speech, & Independent Bookstores Kiese Laymon, Ottilie Schillig Professor in English and Creative Writing at the University of Mississippi, author of the novel Long Division, Heavy, and How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America
Breakout Moderators: John Cavalier, co-owner and founder of Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs, LA. SIBA board president Julia Davis, owner of The Book Worm Bookstore in Powder Springs, GA, SIBA board member Nicole Sullivan, owner BookBar Denver, The Bookies (new owner), BookBar Press, and BookGive, Denver, Colorado, MPIBA board member/past president Beth Wagner, general manager, Phoenix Bookstores, VT and NEIBA Board President Kelsy April, general manager, Savoy and Bank Square Bookstores, RI and CT, NEIBA board director
Posted By Nicki Leone,
Thursday, November 11, 2021
Updated: Friday, November 19, 2021
About Thanksgiving
It's a major American holiday. It is a time weighted with family traditions and memories. It's a vitally important day on the retail calendar. And it is also a Day of Mourning for many Native Americans.
How do retailers, heavily invested in Thanksgiving and post-Thanksgiving shopping excitement and sales, navigate between the idea of Thanksgiving they have always been used to, and the historical reality what colonial settlements meant
for the people who already lived there?
Sean Sherman, the author of The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen, remembers having Thanksgiving dinners with his grandparents.
"I remember the mingling smells of dishes cooking throughout the day as our moms and aunts crowded every kitchen surface preparing for the large offering. We had the staples, like roasted turkey; mashed potatoes and milk gravy;
sweet potatoes with marshmallows...Those were good memories."
Sherman acknowledges that many indigenous people refuse to celebrate Thanksgiving, but says he has not abandoned the holiday:
"We do not need the poisonous “pilgrims and Indians” narrative," he writes, "We do not need that illusion of past unity to actually unite people today. Instead, we can focus simply on values that apply to everybody:
togetherness, generosity and gratitude."
Togetherness. Generosity. Gratitude. Along with honesty and empathy, they make any day meaningful.
Anti-Racism Resources for Discussing Thanksgiving:
SBP 2022 Toolkit: Social Media Graphics, links to the edelweiss collection and the embedding code for adding the SBP Finalist Ballot to your website.
We've also consolidated all the reviews of SBP finalists from SIBA booksellers.
What's next?
The Southern Book Prize Finalists Ballot will open on November 5 at www.southernbookprize.com. Stores are invited to encourage their customers to vote for their choice of "the best Southern Books of the Year."
Voting will run through February 1st. Winners will be announced on Valentine's Day.
The Finalists: Fiction
The Fortunate Ones by Ed Tarkington [Algonquin Books] Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson [William Morrow] Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia [Flatiron Books] Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby [Flatiron Books] When Ghosts Come Home by Wiley Cash [William Morrow] The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins [St. Martin's Press]
Nonfiction
Black, White, and The Grey by Mashama Bailey [Lorena Jones Books] Bress 'n' Nyam by Matthew Raiford [Countryman Press] Bring Your Baggage and Don't Pack Light by Helen Ellis [Doubleday] Fight Songs by Ed Southern [Blair] Graceland, At Last by Margaret Renkl [Milkweed Editions] How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith [Little, Brown and Company]
Children's
Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston [Balzer + Bray] Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas [Balzer + Bray] Ground Zero by Alan Gratz [Scholastic Press] Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli [Balzer + Bray] Keep Your Head Up by Aliya King Neil [Denene Millner Books/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers] The Key to You and Me by Jaye Robin Brown [HarperTeen]
Posted By Nicki Leone,
Thursday, November 4, 2021
Updated: Friday, November 19, 2021
Interrupting Bias in the Book Biz
"There’s been a lot of ferment about racial equity in publishing, but will it yield concrete results? Much of the focus has been on announcing new imprints aimed at people of color, but that’s no substitute for changing
the forces within publishing that create problems in the first place." (via PW)
Do these biases apply to your store?:
Prove-it-again bias: Pedigreed white men are assumed to be competent, whereas other groups have to prove themselves repeatedly.
Tightrope bias: White men need only be authoritative and ambitious to succeed; others need more political savvy to find ways of displaying authority and ambition that are seen as appropriate.
Tug-of-war bias: This occurs when bias against a group fuels conflict within the group, especially when there’s just one “diversity slot.”
Events and buyer contact info: Melissa Bloomfield, Events Manager
Number of years as a bookseller:
Just celebrated 3 years!
Best part about being a bookseller?: Helping readers find and share books that make them feel seen, feel included and feel like magic.
What book(s) are you reading?: HIDDEN VALLEY ROAD: Inside the Mind of an American Family | Robert Kolker In Every Mirror She's Black | LOLÁ ÁKÍNMÁDÉ ÅKERSTRÖM Infinite Game | Simon Sinek
Reading with the Kiddos: With my 9 year old son, Confessions of an Imaginary Friend, Michelle Cuevas. With my 13 year old daughter, Becoming Michelle Obama (Adapted for Young Readers)
Favorite handsell of 2021: Amari and The Night Brothers
Best thing you did this year at your store:
Favorite memory: Helping to launch the newest Bedtime Stories for Rebel Girls, 100 Stories of Black Girl Magic (a favorite series) on our 3rd birthday! It felt (Black girl) magical and full circle. It was our first on site event since the pandemic, we held it on the grassy knoll out back of the store.
What are some ways you work with your community?
Helping to build intentionally inclusive school (and program) libraries. People connect with us because their values align with our values and mission. We consult, build lists, and fulfill.
Do you have any community partners you work with regularly? Page Turners Make Great Learners, Rollins Center for Literacy and Learners, Wild Cumberland,
Do you have passions that carry over into your bookselling life? As a woman of color (and parent of school aged children) I know the plight and struggle of building inclusive home libraries and helping my own kids to see themselves on the shelves. I bring that passion into the store every day.
What e-commerce platform are you using, and why did you choose it? We are using Shopify. Not a traditional choice, but what we were using when the pandemic hit for a handful of services and a landing page. Instead of building a new site, we went with what allowed us to pivot the most expeditiously.
Top priority for 2022: 1.More community impact.
2.Focus on learning more nuts and bolts of the bookselling industry for myself and for the team I am building at Brave.
Favorite SIBA programming benefit: Reaching out to check in and see they can help and that we are doing okay. Education resources for booksellers
Reader Meet Writer returns in November with three spectacular events: Beth Gilstrap (Deadheading & Other Stories), Gayle Forman (Frankie & Bug), and Jerard W. Alexander (Volunteers:Growing Up in the Forever War). There are more details about each event below. What may have been lost in all the excitement around New Voices New Rooms last month, however, are all the Reader Meet Writer conversations that took place in September.
Wiley Cash had a fascinating discussion with JD Jackson, the actor who did the narration for the version of When Ghosts Come Home. Fun fact: did you know if you do a seach on Jackson in the Libro.fm catalog, you come up with over 1500 results? Including the new translation of Beowulf by Maria Dahvana Headley!
Margaret Renkl is a known and beloved voice in the South, both passionate and compassionate.RMW host Wiley Cash talks to her about her latest essay collection, Graceland at Last, although the conversation ranges farther and wider than the Sewanee campus (which comes up as a topic more than once).
Lisa Jewell provides fascinating insight into how finds and constructs a story and where the seed of the idea for her bestselling novel The Night She Disappeared was first planted.
Moderated by Kirsten Hess of Let's Play Books in Emmaus, PA, the NVNR Closing Keynote Event with Ben Hatke, Yuyi Morales, and Peter Reynolds was joyful, magical, and occasionally tearful. You will not be able to watch these amazing writers and not want
to push their books into the hands of all your customers.
On October 7th the Midwest Independent Booksellers hosted a panel on Trans-Inclusive Bookselling featuring panelists H. Melt (Women & Children First) and Misian Taylor (A Room of One's One)
The goal of the event was to discuss both the unique experiences of trans booksellers in the book industry, and to cover some "best practices" for bookstores on recommending titles to trans customers, supporting trans staff, and celebrating trans authors.
Here are some of the suggested best practices that were discussed:
Make sure the "Name" fields in your customer and employee databases are editable so people can change their given name to their chosen name without hassle. Become familiar with what needs to happen in your store's procedures when that person is an
employee, not a customer.
Normalize pronoun awareness, not by requiring staff to state their pronouns, but by making it simple for staff and customers to do so. For example: have baskets of pronoun pins available for staff and customers to use, and by leading by example by
wearing them yourself.
Practice scenarios for supporting both staff and customers who are accidentally (or deliberately) misgendered by others.
The discussion emphasized that listening to the trans community is kit to creating a trans-inclusive space, and that stores should friend/follow trans leaders in their communities and listen to their perspectives. Both panelists noted that bookstores
have to be rigorous in questioning their own assumptions -- that, for example, if you don't believe you know any trans people or don't have any trans people in your customer base, that assumption is almost certainly wrong, and an indication that trans
people are not comfortable in the store. One answer to this is the same kind of self-education booksellers have applied to understanding BIPOC issues: read books by trans cultural leaders, follow them on social media, subscribe to their podcasts.
The same standards of inclusiveness also apply to recommending trans books and authors, and creating trans sections in the store. Be committed to creating quality selections, rather an just a few books. Be aware of the difference between books about trans
people and those written by trans people and for trans people. And watch out for gendered language when offering suggestions to customers. You can recommend a book as a gift for a child without asking if they are a boy or a girl.
In the end, just like the process of making a store welcoming to BIPOC people, creating an identity for your store as trans-safe takes time. You are building trust with a vulnerable community, an ongoing process that happens slowly and involves many big
and little steps.
For stores participating in the holiday catalog program, catalogs will be landing on your customers' doorsteps in just a few weeks. And for those of you who signed up for the winter catalog emails, those will be going out in four separate emails over the season, encouraging momentum on catalog titles.
RAMP has developed a beautiful series of resources and graphics for stores to use in promoting the catalog books to their customers. Here are links to assets available to SIBA stores.
Posted By Nicki Leone,
Thursday, September 23, 2021
Updated: Thursday, September 23, 2021
Fall into a great book!
Announcing Read This Next! 2021 Fall Edition
(Asheville, North Carolina) Southern indie booksellers have selected the 2021 Fall Read This Next! List:
their favorite picks for new summer books. Titles are chosen from books publishing from October through December, representing the full range of reader interests. Each of the fifteen has the enthusiastic support of southern booksellers, marking them
as hand-sell favorites for the fall. Read This Next! is the "You've got to read this!" list of the season.
A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
Tordotcom, October
If you like a fast-paced, unapologetically feminist, unabashedly nerdy, deliciously inventive read that sucks you into a fever dream of fun, then you must pick up this book. Christen Thompson from Itinerant Literate Books, LLC in North Charleston, SC
Fight Night by Miriam Toews
Bloomsbury, October
Fight Night brings it. Every corner of human emotion is nudged, awakened, revealed. This novel is a reminder of the full potential of a book to connect us to our humanity and to inspire us to fight another day. Candice Anderson from TOMBOLO BOOKS in St. Petersburg, FL
Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo
Catapult, October
A master storyteller, Onuzo's third novel is an epic story of belonging and identity. Rachel Watkins from Avid Bookshop in Athens, GA
Frankie & Bug by Gayle Forman
Aladdin, October
New York Times bestselling author Gayle Foreman makes her middle grade debut with the story of Frankie and Bug and the challenges and difficulties they face during the summer the world opens up for them. Angie Tally from The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, NC
The Boys by Ron Howard William
William Morrow, October
The Boys felt like you were listening in at an extended family reunion of the Howards as Ron and Clint held court, retelling some of their favorite family anecdotes from years gone by. Lisa Yee Swope from Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC
Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw
Tor Nightfire, October
Well. That was nuts. Khaw threw together a fast-paced ghost story, the bitter lyricism of her writing conveying the complexity of feelings when you have History with someone, as well as the surreal when an offended ghost decides it's making an example out of you. Alex Mcleod from The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, AL
Everybody in the Red Brick Building by Anne Wynter
Balzer + Bray, October
An engaging story with lyrical language and wonderful sounds to mimic, we will want to live in the red brick building. We won't get much sleep, but we will have a whole lot of fun! A joy to read for the whole family, Kathy Neff from Square Books in Oxford, MS
Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solnit
Viking, October
Whether you are deeply interested in Orwell and his milieu or just a fan of Solnit's incisive writing, you will find this biography/essay collection bears flowers scented with hope, resistance, and pleasure. Hannah DeCamp from Avid Bookshop in Athens, GA
The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven by Nathaniel Ian Miller
Little, Brown and Company, October
I don’t know that I’ve ever come across a book more satisfying to my inner-misanthrope. Anyone who constantly longs for quiet, feels prickly in an overcrowded space, loves the idea of unfettered alone time: this book is for you.Lindsay Lynch from Parnassus Books in Nashville, TN
All Her Little Secrets by Wanda Morris
William Morrow, November
This fast-paced legal thriller hooked me from page one. Definitely a book for fans of Stacey Abrams and Laura Lippman. Lia Lent from Wordsworth Books in Little Rock, AR
Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King
Grove Press, November
Original, literary, human and peppered with heart wrenching, high stakes moments that jolt the reader’s emotions in the best way possible. A wonderful collection. Melissa Summers from Main Street Books in Davidson, NC
Tidesong by Wendy Xu
Quill Tree Books, November
Xu's beautiful artwork in combination with such strong storytelling makes for an enchanting graphic novel. I can see this story so clearly in my mind's eye as a Studio Ghibli film. Grace Quinn from Foggy Pine Books in Boone, NC
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Grove Press, November
This is the book that you will reread every year. Heartwarming and eloquent, it epitomizes the holiday season in all its form and beauty. Easty Lambert-Brown from Ernest & Hadley Booksellers in Tuscaloosa, AL
Murder Under Her Skin by Stephen Spotswood
Doubleday, December
I was already a fan of the series at the first book but this second really sold me on it. Great character development and originality make for a fun read. Jamie Fiocco from Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, NC
Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea
Kensington, December
A great plot that incorporates family, lifelong friendship, betrayal and the specter of 9/11.Jackie Willey from Fiction Addiction in Greenville, SC
Posted By Nicki Leone,
Thursday, September 23, 2021
Dear Friends,
A few years ago, I spent a weekend writing with a friend. We stayed at my house and wore repurposed lanyards that contained “A Retreat of Our Own” badges bearing our names and photos. I’d made these to remind ourselves that our weekend had a specific goal, to devote our time to writing, instead of doing laundry or just goofing off. That would come later :)
I mention this story because next week SIBA and NAIBA are co-hosting an extraordinary virtual conference, New Voices New Rooms: Opening Doors. We know you’re in your stores or at home working, as opposed to the usual setup of traveling to a hotel where you can be more single-focused. Consider taking out an old lanyard from pre-pandemic conferences (even if you only wear it metaphorically), and check out the full schedule of events. Mark off the times you can devote the same single focus to a conference that has been created to educate and inspire you, and improve your business.
Honestly, though, I don’t want you to miss any of it. This conference is an unparalleled bookseller to bookseller experience: booksellers are offering education, running roundtables and retreats, moderating author events, even working behind the scenes with the NVNR staff to run Zoom! As we put together our programming, we reached out to booksellers to find out what education they needed now, what kinds of author events they most appreciated, what key ways they wanted to interact with their reps and publisher contacts. And we created a conference that would meet those needs, and more.
One last comment before I sign off here: Check out our author event programming and consider the panels as inspirations for displays, book bundles, and subscription box offerings. These are the authors your publishing colleagues want you to know about, to handsell their books to your customers. We’ve covered “rewritten classics,” horror, fantasy, thrillers, romance, debuts, international authors, books about food and foodways, mindful books for anxious kids, kids books on science and nature, timely tales of hope and alliances, adult silver linings stories, “big books,” books about the South, and books that explore the Black experience in our country. Stream these author events in your stores so staff (and maybe some lucky customers!) can gather round. Reach out through our Readers of the Last Arc Galley Room to get copies to review and share with your coworkers.
Emily Liner, owner of Friendly City Books, Columbus, MS called last year’s virtual conference her Favorite SIBA programming benefit: She said, “Attending New Voices New Rooms last year was a game changer. It was lovely to connect with other bookstores across the South, and it introduced me to my bookstore mentor, Rachel Watkins at Avid Bookshop in Athens, GA.” We hope you join us next week and up your own game. And bring your lanyard!
Posted By Nicki Leone,
Thursday, September 16, 2021
Updated: Thursday, September 16, 2021
New Voices New Rooms is pleased to announce the finalists for The 2021 VIndie Awards, a celebration of Bookstore videos. Winners will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday, September 30 at 6:00 PM ET during the New Voices New Rooms Trade Show. Michael Triebwasser of Politics & Prose in Washington, DC, will MC.
A panel of judges drawn from book industry partners in publishing, bookselling, and media, reviewed over fifty bookstore videos from two dozen independent bookstores, selecting sixteen finalists in the categories of Drama, Comedy, Animation, and Covid-Related.
Publisher/Bookstore hybrid The Historic New Orleans Collection receives special honors for their video "We are the Holy Ones," a hands-down favorite of all the judges.
From sock puppets to soy candles, store cats to sea shanties, pajamas to pop quizzes, the VIndies videos are a testament to the resilience, spirit, humor, and grace under pressure of independent booksellers. Comments from the judges ranged from the enthusiastic, "“I loved the voice, the editing, the whole vibe,” to the emotional, "Poignant and sad, but sweet...this made me cry," to the delighted, “This kills me. This is brilliant.”
The VIndie Awards Ceremony is a highlight of the New Voices New Rooms: Opening Doors Fall Conference. Get your popcorn, settle into your happy place, and be inspired by the work of incredibly creative booksellers.
Number of years as a bookseller: Almost one. I’m a career changer! I worked in politics and tech in DC for several years before I decided to buy an old house in my home state and start a bookstore in a town that needed one.
Best part about being a bookseller?: I’ve gotten to meet so many wonderful people in the local community through the shared love of books. I love being a matchmaker and helping people find a great book they’ll love, as well as introducing authors to the readers in our community. Just today, author Robert W. Fieseler surprised us with a visit, and we had the best brainstorm about ways to support Hurricane Ida relief.
What book(s) are you reading?: I just finished the audiobook of Sally Rooney’s new book Beautiful World, Where Are You. I think it’s her best.
Favorite handsell of 2021:A Place Like Mississippi by W. Ralph Eubanks. It’s a beautiful tribute to the state that we call home, and it explores every nook and cranny of the land that has produced America’s greatest writers (yes, we’re extremely biased). It’s also such a pleasure to sell because the author is so generous and supportive of our endeavors and the writing community here. And for a hardcover book that could go on your coffee table, it’s a steal for a price point under $30.
Best thing you did this year at your store: I’m really proud of the team that we have at Friendly City Books. I needed a staff who could roll with the punches of our growing pains and proactively come up with ideas to keep the store not only running, but constantly improving. That has involved coming up with unique job descriptions to put the right people with the right attitude in the best positions for them to be successful. I have a part-time bookseller who doubles as my back office manager because she is super detail oriented, and she really thrives in both roles because the combination plays to her strengths and personality. Another bookseller is helping me with a community engagement project that utilizes his academic background, so that he feels fulfilled and gets to build his resume for his future career. I also offered a consulting role and an internship to two of our best customers because they are invested in our success.
What are some ways you work with your community? Our major focus is on supporting education, from the local K-12 schools to the MFA program at the university in town. We also have a great relationship with the county library system, and we share used book donations with them for their fundraising efforts.
Do you have any community partners you work with regularly? We have a close partnership with the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, which was founded by a former governor of Mississippi who recently passed away. We have collaborated on several virtual author events for books about race in Mississippi, and I am in a fellowship program they recently launched for Millennials who are working to make Mississippi a better place to live for young people. I also recently started freelancing for two local news outlets, Mississippi Today and the Columbus Commercial Dispatch.
Do you have passions that carry over into your bookselling life? I am completely obsessed with my beagle Scarlet, and she has become the face of Friendly City Books. I bring her to the store as often as I can, because she loves coming to work! I even wrote a book about her life as a bookstore dog called Stretch Like Scarlet and we do book readings together at the store, local schools, and community organizations. Our book is available on Ingram for anyone who wants to check it out!
What e-commerce platform are you using, and why did you choose it? We really push online sales to Bookshop.org as much as possible. As a young and lean bookstore, it’s really helpful to have an e-commerce platform that’s essentially on autopilot. I’m always amazed by how many sales we can generate by books we don’t even have to touch.
Top priority for 2021-2022: I’d really like to raise capital to redesign our website and continue growing sales outside of the brick and mortar. Now that we are nearing our one-year anniversary, I’m really excited to have a full year of sales and profitability data to analyze.
Favorite SIBA programming benefit: Attending New Voices New Rooms last year was a game changer. It was lovely to connect with other bookstores across the South, and it introduced me to my bookstore mentor, Rachel Watkins at Avid Bookshop in Athens, GA.
Tied Up in Knotts : My Dad and Me
by
Karen Knotts, Betty Lynn (Foreword)
Chicago Review Press
On Sale Date: September 21, 20219781641605120 Hardcover
$27.99 USD, $37.99 CAD
Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs
Biography & Autobiography / Entertainment & Performing Arts
Family & Relationships
Much has been written about Don Knotts's career, especially about his iconic role on The Andy Griffith Show. Personal views into the man himself are few and far between, until now. Karen Knotts delves beyond classic TV nostalgia to tell the full story of her father. From Don's difficult childhood to becoming a household name, Knotts will make the reader laugh and cry. Tied Up in Knotts takes readers beyond Don’s Barney Fife character to tell the life story of a man and father.
Struggling to Learn : An Intimate History of School Desegregation in South Carolina
by June M Thomas
USC Press |
January 12, 2022
9781643362595
Hardcover
$29.99 USD
Education / History
History / United States / State & Local / South
Social Science / Discrimination
In 1964 June Manning Thomas became one of the first thirteen Black students to desegregate Orangeburg High School in South Carolina. This extraordinary experience shaped her life and spurred in her a passion to understand racism and its effect on education in the Black community. In Struggling to Learn, Thomas details the personal trauma she and her Black classmates experienced during desegregation, the great difficulties Black communities have faced gaining access to K–12 and higher education, and the social and political tools Black southerners used to combat segregation and claim belonging. Combining meticulous research and poignant personal narrative, this provocative true story reveals the long and painful struggle for equal education in the Jim Crow South. This is a story of constructive resilience—the fighting spirit of an oppressed people to ensure a better life for themselves and their children.
June Manning Thomas is the Mary Frances Berry Distinguished University Professor Emerita of Urban Planning at the University of Michigan.
And They Lived Happily Ever After, by Therese Beharrie
On Sale: November 30, 2021
9781420153385 | Trade Paperback Original | $15.95 USD
Fiction / Romance / Paranormal
A fun spin on fairy-tale tropes, South African author Therese Beharrie's new #OwnVoices novel is a love letter to the romance genre, a story with a touch of magic loaded with heat, heart, and smart, sexy banter that also addresses timely and weighty issues around the foster care system, mental health, and the power of creativity. In the novel, successful romance author Gaia Anders, a woman literally living her dreams, conjures a real-life hero as she forges relationships, falls in love, has joy and laughter and freedom in her life—all while living and learning to manage her anxiety disorder.
There are two seats coming open on the board in 2021. Board members serve a three year term.
The slate:
Errol "E.R." Anderson, Charis Circle, Decatur, GA
Julia R. Davis, The Book Worm Bookstore, Powder Springs, GA
Janet Geddis, Avid Bookshop, Athens, GA
Candice Huber, Tubby & Coo's Mid-City Bookshop, New Orleans, LA
Doloris Vest, Book No Further, Roanoke, VA
Below you will find bios of each of the SIBA members on the slate. You will also have the opportunity to write in a candidate. Please vote for two candidates.
Errol "E.R." Anderson
Errol "E.R." Anderson (pronouns: they/them or he/him) is the Executive Director of Charis Circle, the non-profit programming arm of Charis Books and More, the South's oldest feminist bookstore located in Decatur, GA. E.R. manages the programming, fiscal, and daily operations of Charis Circle, and is always interested in the ways communities can share skills and resources. A native Atlantan, E.R. came to Charis as one of the founding members of Charis' Young Writer's Group in 1997, and has enjoyed helping build connections between communities of activists, artists, and academics ever since. E.R. proudly co-facilitates Charis' Race Conscious Parenting Collective and the Gender Creative Parenting Collective, because he knows that when children receive a strong foundation in justice and liberation, they go on to change the world in unexpected and beautiful ways. E.R. reads everything from poetry and essays to horror and how-to, but they are a sucker for gritty stories gracefully told. When not running around Charis, E.R. loves reading, writing, taking care of his dogs, playing in the woods, and learning about classic cars and trucks.
Julia R. Davis
Julia R. Davis was born and raised in New York where she embarked on her working career in the legal profession. Always being ambitious, she climbed the corporate ladder fast, spending over 15 years in the legal profession with 7 of those years managing law firms. This was when Ms. Davis decided to venture into something different, something that would impact lives on a different level.
Ms. Davis is no stranger to entrepreneurship and going against the grain. At a young age her parents, who owned a small deli in her hometown, laid the groundwork for being an entrepreneur, thus igniting a passion that would soon grow.
Julia also hosts a series of children’s events, appropriately titled “I Love ME!” designed to encourage children to love themselves as they are. Unknowingly starting the foundation the I Love Me! Book Series would rest upon. Julia has always had a love for reading and writing but never felt she had the time to commit to following that road in her life. But for someone who began reading at the age of 2, it was just a matter of time before her love of books took over.
In February 2014, Ms. Davis published her first children’s book “I Love me because….I’m DIFFERENT.” Currently, there are EIGHT published picture books ONE Chapter Book, and various self-love items in the continually growing I LOVE ME! Book Series.
Most recently, Julia Davis took ownership of The Book Worm Bookstore in November 2020 when the former owner retired. Ms. Davis’ passion for promoting self-love and literacy has become the foundation that The Book Worm stands on.
The Book Worm strives to bring the best in literature, from international bestsellers to local literary giants, to a vibrant growing community that is as diverse as the books on our shelves! The store's motto is "Where love is shared as much as stories!"
The Book Worm Bookstore is located in historic Downtown Powder Springs, Georgia and, home to over 30,000 titles in a wide variety of genres with hundreds of accessories,
Julia is the mother of two adult children who are also entrepreneurs.
Janet Geddis
Janet Geddis (she/her) is a business owner, writer, speaker, and community leader. The owner of Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia, Janet is involved with regional and national book industry organizations, presenting at least twice a year at conferences and volunteering her time for advisory boards. She began her first term on the SIBA Board in 2018. Janet holds an M.Ed. in educational psychology from UGA with an emphasis in creativity studies. Using the moniker "The Migraine Girl," Janet is a professional patient advocate and spokesperson.
Janet has established a robust speaking career, presenting original speeches, commencement addresses, and talks to audiences of all sizes. Known for her inventiveness (she was the first bookstore owner to use crowdfunding to gather some startup funds in 2010!) and positivity, Janet volunteers in Athens and in the book world whenever possible. Her creative entrepreneurism and open leadership style have garnered her award nominations and significant press coverage. One of her lifetime dreams came true in February 2021 when she was chosen to interview Brené Brown as part of an hour-long conference keynote conversation. Recently she and Avid were featured in a WebMD film, a Facebook video series, and even a one-on-one interview with Stacey Abrams. She is a contributor to podcasts and radio programs, including shows on Georgia Public Broadcasting and NPR.
Candice Huber
Candice Huber (they/them) is a sixth-generation New Orleanian who owns New Orleans’ only queer-owned and genre focused bookstore, Tubby & Coo’s Mid-City Book Shop, named after their grandparents. They established TALES Publishing in 2018, which has thus far published three books. They are also a writing, editing, publishing, and virtual event consultant and host The Writers’ Forum on WRBH Reading Radio, focusing on interviewing science fiction and fantasy authors. Candice serves on the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee and the Science Fiction & Fantasy Task Force for the American Booksellers Association and is helping to develop the Store Operations module for the new Bookseller Certification program. They are an avid genre fiction reader, board game player, and nerd.
Doloris Vest
Doloris Vest is co-owner (with husband Craig Coker) of Book No Further, located on the Roanoke City Market in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. The store opened in 2017 and relocated to a larger store in 2019. Book No Further offers new and gently used books, including best-sellers, new releases and classics. The store features the work of local and regional fiction and non-fiction authors as well as books about the Appalachian region.
After working in journalism and public relations Doloris spent 20-plus years in corporate marketing and non-profit management in the Roanoke Valley. She is a native of Radford, VA, and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and business from Radford University where she also did graduate work in corporate communication. Her stint as executive director for the Botetourt Chamber of Commerce, piqued her interest in owning her own business. Doloris has volunteered with a number of local non-profits and currently serves on the board of Blue Ridge Literacy.
She also writes periodically for publications in the area and, maybe, one day, will finish one of the three novels she has underway.
NVNR: The Studio Gallery & Bookstore Row
A different approach to networking at a virtual conference
The most important thing about any conference is not the speakers you come to see or the workshops you sign up to attend, it is the connections you make with your colleagues. Those are the true resources you bring back to help with your business.
In order to foster connections between booksellers, publishers, and vendors, New Voices New Rooms has replaced the static "exhibit hall" and "attendee list" with two highly interactive directories we are calling "The Studio Gallery" (Publishers & Vendors) and "Bookstore Row" (Bookstores, obviously).
The Studio Gallery and Bookstore Row are designed as detailed directories which can be filtered, sorted, searched, and downloaded, and which contain detailed company information and resources that are most useful to bookstores and the publisher/vendor partners of NVNR.
"One of the most common things we heard from booksellers after last year's show was how frustrating it was to re-enter information in form after form for publisher after publisher," notes Eileen Dengler, NAIBA's executive director, "if they were at an in-person show they would be handing out business cards. But in a virtual show, everything required filling out a form."
"Publishers experienced the same kind of frustration," added Linda-Marie Barrett, Executive Director of SIBA. "The Studio Gallery and Bookstore Row makes it much easier for booksellers and publishers to share important information."
NVNR has prioritized the kind of necessary information booksellers and publishers need to facilitate good relationships:
In The Studio Gallery booksellers can find:
Contact info for their sales rep
instructions for setting up appointments during and outside of the show
detailed show specials
links to instructions for setting up a new account
links to event grids, downloadable catalogs and other downloadable resources
links to edelweiss collections and product images.
links to offsite resources, websites, and videos
information about sponsored events and author appearances in the schedule
On Bookstore Row, booksellers and partnering publishers and vendors can find:
Store contact information, website links, and social media accounts
Store descriptions, including any special focus the store has
Staff contact information for buyers, event managers, and other specialized staff positions
links to downloadable and online press kits
a gallery of store photos
Each studio and bookstore row card also has an assigned "permalink" which can be shared with others during the show as a quick way to provide important company information.
The Studio Gallery & Bookstore Row are open to NVNR attendees only, and will remain available through the end of the year.
John Cavalier, co-owner of Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs, LA, Jamille Christman, Marketing and Merchandise Manager of Eagle Eye Books in Decatur, GA, and Rebecca Doel, Digital Media and Event Specialist at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, NC, come
together to talk to booksellers about that mysterious thing known as "Hybrid Events."
RSS
About Thanksgiving
The 2022 Southern Book Prize finalists were announced this week.
Position at the store: Founder/Owner
What book(s) are you reading?:
For stores participating in the holiday catalog program, catalogs will be landing on your customers' doorsteps in just a few weeks. And for those of you who signed up for the winter catalog emails, those will be going out in four separate emails over the season, encouraging momentum on catalog titles. 
(Asheville, North Carolina) Southern indie booksellers have selected the 2021 Fall Read This Next! List:
their favorite picks for new summer books. Titles are chosen from books publishing from October through December, representing the full range of reader interests. Each of the fifteen has the enthusiastic support of southern booksellers, marking them
as hand-sell favorites for the fall. Read This Next! is the "You've got to read this!" list of the season.
A few years ago, I spent a weekend writing with a friend. We stayed at my house and wore repurposed lanyards that contained “A Retreat of Our Own” badges bearing our names and photos. I’d made these to remind ourselves that our weekend had a specific goal, to devote our time to writing, instead of doing laundry or just goofing off. That would come later :)
New Voices New Rooms is pleased to announce the finalists for The 2021 VIndie Awards, a celebration of Bookstore videos. Winners will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday, September 30 at 6:00 PM ET during the 
From sock puppets to soy candles, store cats to sea shanties, pajamas to pop quizzes, the VIndies videos are a testament to the resilience, spirit, humor, and grace under pressure of independent booksellers. Comments from the judges ranged from the enthusiastic, "“I loved the voice, the editing, the whole vibe,” to the emotional, "Poignant and sad, but sweet...this made me cry," to the delighted, “This kills me. This is brilliant.”
Name: Emily Liner
Favorite handsell of 2021: A Place Like Mississippi by W. Ralph Eubanks. It’s a beautiful tribute to the state that we call home, and it explores every nook and cranny of the land that has produced America’s greatest writers (yes, we’re extremely biased). It’s also such a pleasure to sell because the author is so generous and supportive of our endeavors and the writing community here. And for a hardcover book that could go on your coffee table, it’s a steal for a price point under $30.
Errol "E.R." Anderson
Julia R. Davis
Janet Geddis
Candice Huber
Doloris Vest
The most important thing about any conference is not the speakers you come to see or the workshops you sign up to attend, it is the connections you make with your colleagues. Those are the true resources you bring back to help with your business.
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