Mark your calendars for Wed, October 16 at 2pm EST, to hear from four booksellers whose bookstores offer a profitable blend of new and used books. With higher profit margins and unique inventory possibilities, adding used and antiquarian books into your mix could be a way to bring in new customers, further meet the needs of existing ones, and improve your cash flow. And it can be fun! Highlighting used and collectible books on social media offers creative opportunities to share unusual jacket designs, hilariously dated subject matter, and ephemera left from a book’s previous owner. Unsaleable used inventory can be turned into journals, buttons, and literary confetti, as Underground Books has done so successfully. Join us to listen to four approaches to selling used books, and blending them into your new book inventory. Please rsvp lindamarie@sibaweb.com to attend.

More about our Presenters:

Cathy Graham is co-owner (with Serena Wyckoff) of Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, FL. They started their bookselling business 15 years ago in the garage, selling used books online. Now they have a full-service shop – almost 7 years open – and most of the books they sell are new.  Cathy’s background includes teaching high school, the US Air Force, a couple of corporate sales jobs, and a Benedictine monastery. She grew up in Orlando, spent many years in Maryland, and a few in Costa Rica. Besides reading, she enjoys cooking, music, wine, cats and goats (although she doesn't have any goats at the moment).

Shane Gottwals was born and raised in Macon, GA, attending Central Fellowship Christian Academy from kindergarten until graduation. He has a B.A. in English from Mercer University, spending a portion of his college years at Oxford University in England. He met his wife, Abbey, at Mercer University. They have four children and live in Warner Robins, GA. The couple opened Gottwals Books in 2007. Shane has extensive retail experience which has helped Gottwals Books (franchising nationwide as "Walls of Books") become one of the largest used/new bookstore chains in the United States. He currently serves on the boards of Covenant Care Adoption Services, Robins Regional Chamber of Commerce, Central Fellowship Christian Academy, and Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance.

Frank Reiss has been buying, selling and trading used, out-of-print and collectible books for over 35 years, first at Acorn Books in San Francisco and, since 1989, as the founder and owner of A Cappella Books in Atlanta, which has earned Hall-of-Fame status from "Atlanta Magazine" and is annually selected in "Creative Loafing's" "Best of Atlanta" issue. In the 1990s Frank served as president of the Georgia Antiquarian Booksellers Association. Since then A Cappella has focused more on new books and contemporary touring author signings, but carefully selected older books continue to shape the store's unique inventory.

Josh Niesse is the co-owner of two independent brick & mortar bookstores in west Georgia. Underground Books, opened in 2011, is an 1800 square foot bookstore that is literally underground, a few steps below street level off of the historic town square in Carrollton, Georgia, home of the University of West Georgia. Underground Books is primarily used & antiquarian, with about 20% new books. Hills & Hamlets Bookshop is a 600 square foot bookstore, dealing in about 80% new books, opened in 2016 in the progressive planned eco-community of Serenbe.  Niesse co-owns both stores with his wife and fellow bookseller Megan Bell. Niesse has a bachelor's degree in philosophy and worked as a literacy tutor and bartender before becoming a bookseller. 

Submitted this week on Edelweiss+ . Thanks to Avid Bookshop, Bookmarks, Bookmiser, Books & Books, Copperfish Books, E.Shaver, booksellers, Fiction Addiction, Flyleaf Books, Fountain Bookstore, Malaprop's, Midtown Reader, MoonPie General Store, Novel., Oxford Exchange, Page 158 Books, Parnassus, Read It Again, Reading Rock, Square Books, Story on the Square, Sundog, Sunrise Bookshop, The Booksmith, The Country Bookshop, and The Little Bookshop.

9780062229212 Butterfly Yellow 9/3/2019
"...explores the immigration experience from an intimate point of view...deft, dazzling, and necessary book for our times.." -- Hannah DeCamp, Avid Bookshop, Athens, GA

9781948908344 Refugia 9/4/2019
"an absolute work of art. I'm blown away by the crisp imagery, the powerful messages, and the austere simplicity of the poetry."-- Lizy Coale, Copperfish Books , Punta Gorda, FL

9780316421997 The Ten Thousand Doors of January 9/10/2019
"I am such a sucker for a portal fantasy, so picking up this book was a no-brainer. I didn't realize I'd also get a book-within-a-book AND a girl-and-her-pet love story!" -- Amber Brown, Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, NC

9780062958464 Don't You Forget About Me 9/10/2019
"This book was not what I had expected going in, but I loved what it turned out to be!" -- Emily Knosher, Read It Again, Suwanee, GA

9781534445420 SLAY 9/24/2019
"Brittney Morris does an incredible job of enveloping the reader into another world. In SLAY, Kiera Johnson created a VR world filled with acceptance, pride and best of all duels." -- Angie Tally, The Country Bookshop, Southern Pines, NC

9781492679011 Motherhood So White 9/24/2019
"I was pulled into Ms. Austin's life from the beginning and found myself wanting to visit with her over coffee to discuss each chapter! -- Tricia Nociti, Reading Rock Books, Dickinson, TN

More bookseller reviews

If your store does not have an Edelweiss+ account and need help setting one up, contact Linda-Marie

On Wednesday, August 14 at 2PM EST, SIBA is hosting “Small Presses Present Fall & Winter Lists” as part of our Publisher Picks: Best Bets for SIBA Booksellers series.  In this bi-monthly series, publishers, editors, marketing directors, and reps present their favorite frontlist titles via Zoom to booksellers. Besides forging important connections with publishers and their reps, attending booksellers will discover new titles to add to their store shelves and earn 10 B3! points. The following industry folks will present: Jacqueline Jarik of Agate Publishing, Ellen Zielinski Whitfield of JKS Communications, Jon Sealy of Haywire Press, Steve McCondichie of Southern Fried Karma, and Nanci McCloskey of Tin House Books. Please rsvp lindamarie@sibaweb.com to attend. 

More info on our presenters:

Jacqueline Jarik is the Associate Manager of Publicity at Agate Publishing where she oversees the publicity campaigns and event planning for all titles across Agate’s four main imprints: Bolden Books, Midway Books, Surrey Books, and B2 Books. She has been employed by Agate since 2015 in a variety of publicity roles. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and she lives in Chicago, IL.

Ellen Zielinski Whitfield is a Senior Publicist with JKS Communications, a literary publicity firm that has represented many southern authors and SIBA award-winning books over the past two decades. Before joining the JKS team, Ellen worked at The Dallas Morning News, The Advocate newspapers of Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Waco Tribune Herald and others. She’s also a popular Bookstagrammer, an avid bibliophile living in Louisiana with her newspaper-executive husband, bright-and-spirited daughter, and an ever-growing collection of 550 books.

Jon Sealy is a Richmond, Virginia-based author and newly minted publisher. His first novel, The Whiskey Baron, was published by Hub City Press in 2014 to high acclaim. This year, he launched a small publishing house, Haywire Books, which is dedicated to making sense of a chaotic world. Titles in his catalog include his own The Edge of America (current Okra Pick, pubs Sept. 10), Patricia Henley's Hummingbird House (20th anniversary reprint, Nov. 5), Mark Powell's Firebird (Jan. 7), and Heather Bell Adams's The Good Luck Stone (Summer 2020)

Steve McCondichie is co-founder of Southern Fried Karma, an Atlanta-based multimedia company and the managing partner, overseeing the operation of their independent publishing imprints, their online literary magazine, the retail bookstore, and their film development company.  Steve and Southern Fried Karma are intent on bringing civil, social discourse to the communities they serve by sharing thoughtful, well-written stories that allow for critical reflection and freethinking.  

Nanci McCloskey is the Sales & Marketing Director of  Tin House Books and based, like the press, in Portland, Oregon, where she lives with her two little boys. Tin House Books is an independent press that publishes roughly a dozen titles a year, and its authors have garnered attention from The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and O, the Oprah magazine.

On Wednesday, August 14 at 2PM EST, SIBA is hosting “Small Presses Present Fall & Winter Lists” as part of our Publisher Picks: Best Bets for SIBA Booksellers series. In this bi-monthly series, publishers, editors, marketing directors, and reps present their favorite frontlist titles via Zoom to booksellers. Besides forging important connections with publishers and their reps, attending booksellers will discover new titles to add to their store shelves and earn 10 B3! points. The following industry folks will present: Jacqueline Jarik of Agate Publishing, Ellen Zielinski Whitfield of JKS Communications, and Jon Sealy of Haywire Press. Please rsvp lindamarie@sibaweb.com to attend. 

More info on our presenters:

Jacqueline Jarik is the Associate Manager of Publicity at Agate Publishing where she oversees the publicity campaigns and event planning for all titles across Agate’s four main imprints: Bolden Books, Midway Books, Surrey Books, and B2 Books. She has been employed by Agate since 2015 in a variety of publicity roles. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and she lives in Chicago, IL.

Ellen Zielinski Whitfield is a Senior Publicist with JKS Communications, a literary publicity firm that has represented many southern authors and SIBA award-winning books over the past two decades. Before joining the JKS team, Ellen worked at The Dallas Morning News, The Advocate newspapers of Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Waco Tribune Herald and others. She’s also a popular Bookstagrammer, an avid bibliophile living in Louisiana with her newspaper-executive husband, bright-and-spirited daughter, and an ever-growing collection of 550 books.

Jon Sealy is a Richmond, Virginia-based author and newly minted publisher. His first novel, The Whiskey Baron, was published by Hub City Press in 2014 to high acclaim. This year, he launched a small publishing house, Haywire Books, which is dedicated to making sense of a chaotic world. Titles in his catalog include his own The Edge of America (current Okra Pick, pubs Sept. 10), Patricia Henley's Hummingbird House (20th anniversary reprint, Nov. 5), Mark Powell's Firebird (Jan. 7), and Heather Bell Adams's The Good Luck Stone (Summer 2020).

It's time to place your holiday catalog orders!

Outside of the Discovery Show, the Holiday Catalog is SIBA's most popular member benefit. A gift-giving resource for your customers, it features options for every kind of reader. This great tool for selling books to your customers off-site, virtually, and in-store is beloved by booksellers and customers across the South with a reach of almost a million readers.

The Holiday Catalog has Print, Email, and Web componants, allowing you to mazimize your catalog sales across all your sales platforms: in store, online, and via your store mailing lists.

Don't wait to sign up -- no extra copies are printed, so once the ordering deadline has passed, they will no longer be available

Important Dates:

August 15: Deadline to order Imprinted Catalogs
September 19: Deadline to order non-imprinted catalogs

Click here to place your catalog order.

Click here to read more about the Holiday Catalog, including the new Catalog Email Newsletter, powered by Shelf Awareness

Print | Email (NEW!) | Web

Hollins Exposition Services Provides Bookseller Shipping at SIBA Discovery Show in Spartanburg, SC

Booksellers often want to ship items home after the show in the event they have flown and SIBA wants to provide this service. We also want the pricing to be transparent so everyone understands what they are being charged. On site bookseller shipping services is provided by Hollins Exposition Services.

Bookselling shipping will be available from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the exhibit hall on Sunday, September 15.

There is a charge of $15 per box which covers labeling, taping, transporting back to Greensboro, off loading and delivery to UPS for outbound shipping.  This is in addition to the regular UPS charges which are based on weight and dimensions. 

There is also UPS store 3 miles from the Marriott Spartanburg, and a US Post Office a half mile away.

SIBA promotes six new books every month to consumers in our Lady Banks Bookshelf promotion. These titles appear at the top of our weekly Lady Banks Commonplace Book newsletter, which has a circulation of over 60k.  We also feature them above the fold on the homepage of Authors ‘Round the South and on the cover image of the ARTS Facebook page with buy links promoted to our 15,000 Facebook friends. A different member store is featured with the titles every week.

By promoting through Lady Banks, publishers are making an investment in SIBA member bookstores’ attention and market. SIBA works with them to select titles your customers are looking for, and then we drive those customers to your stores.  It’s very worth your while to bring Lady Banks Bookshelf titles in before the month begins, and put up a display.

Link to the Edelweiss collection of August titles

Link to Greg Lilly's Stray on ipage (must be logged in to ipage to access)

Featured August titles below:

 

Edelweiss announced the release of their new “Edelweiss +Communities” this week. This allows groups of users with similar interests or functions to share reviews, collections, nominations, and more. If you are a bookseller member of SIBA, you most likely are already in our community.  SIBA provided Edelweiss a list of our membership, which they used along with their own list of SIBA Edelweiss users to create the SIBA community. However, if you do not see SIBA among your communities, please join us. You can find SIBA in the list of available communities to join. 

You can access the communities set up tool by clicking on “people” in the top menu, beneath the search bar. Clicking on “people” directs you to the “communities set up tool,” which you can click on for more information beyond the list of available communities to join. 

One important change is the removal of the “Send to SIBA” option with reviews. You can still share your reviews with SIBA by choosing the SIBA community box, along with any other community you’re including in the review share. By sharing with SIBA, your reviews count as Okra Pick and Southern Book Prize nominations, earn you B3! points, plus potential inclusion in our newsletters to booksellers and our industry partners, on our consumer-facing ARTS site, in Lady Banks newsletter, and more. You’re also alerting other SIBA booksellers to the books you’re loving and recommending in your store, which helps everyone stay on top of what’s new and noteworthy. When SIBA booksellers get behind a book, it becomes a regional and, often, national bestseller. So, let’s stay connected in the SIBA “community” on Edelweiss and make great things happen.  If you have any problems joining the SIBA community or accessing "Communities" on Edelweiss, please contact us. We're here to help you!

James Patterson Holiday Bonus Applications Open

Patterson announced in May that he would pledge a personal contribution of $250,000 to independent bookstore employees, which will be granted in amounts of $500 to 500 individual booksellers. New this year, 100 of the bonuses will be set aside for children’s booksellers. This year’s campaign is open to all U.S. independent bookstore employees through October 12.

Click here for more information

Free "How to Buy Direct From Publishers" training session

Jill Hendrix, owner of Fiction Addiction in Greenville, SC will lead a 30-minute Zoom training on Wednesday, August 14 at 2 PM EST focusing on strategies for purchasing directly from publishers. All booksellers are welcome to participate. If you're interested in attending this training, e-mail Jill (jill@jillhendrix.com) with subject line "Direct Buying Training." Zoom details and a reminder will be sent closer to the event date.

San Francisco’s Green Apple Books has created social media posts to bring attention to the value of indie bookstores on Amazon’s Prime Day, which begins Monday, July 15. Green Apple is encouraging all indie bookstores to make use of the posts, customizing with store photos that reflect the importance of shopping local and supporting community. 

• “On this #PrimeDay, remember that Amazon won’t bring scores of authors to your community for FREE events each year. #ShopLocal” (with a photo from an event or of a famous author at the store)

• “On this #PrimeDay, remember that Amazon won’t entertain your kids with a FREE drag queen story hour. #ShopLocal” (with a photo from recent event)

• “On this #PrimeDay, remember that you can’t get engaged to your fellow booklover at Amazon. #ShopLocal” (with a photo of a couple that recently got engaged at the store)

• “On this #PrimeDay, remember that Amazon won’t reinvest all its money in your neighborhood to keep local cafes, restaurants, services, and schools thriving. #ShopLocal” (with a photo of neighboring shops)

• “On this #PrimeDay, remember that Amazon won’t donate a gift card to your school fund-raiser. #ShopLocal” (with a photo of envelopes to schools with the store’s return address)

• “On this #PrimeDay, remember that Amazon employees aren’t represented by a union. #ShopLocal #UFCW #ShopUnion” (with a photo of the store’s collective bargaining agreement)

• “On this #PrimeDay, remember that you never have to pay an annual fee for $.99 shipping at greenapplebooks.com #ShopLocal” (with a photo advertising 99-cent shipping on the store site)