From the Land of SIBAA message from SIBA to its membership
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First Things First...
4/24: Independent Bookstore Day (
learn more) 4/27: Reader Meet Writer with Jaclyn Moriarty, The Stolen Prince (more info) 4/29: ABA Session
on Nonprofit Business Models (more info) 5/6: Reader Meet Writer with Josephine Caminos Oria, Sobremesa (more info)
5/10: Application deadline for Binc "Survive to Thrive" grants (more info)
5/11: Reader Meet Writer with Laura Dave, The Last Thing He Told Me (more info) 5/13: Reader Meet Writer with Bob Drury & Tom Calvin, Daniel Boone and the
Fight for America's First Frontier (more info) 5/13: ABA Session on Coop Business Models (more info) 5/19:
Bloomsbury Glorious Girls Summer Celebration (register) 5/20: Coffee with the Board (register)
5/31: Nomination deadline for SIBA Board (
here) 5/31: Deadline to submit ABACUS Survey (more info)
Welcome, new SIBA members!
Corks, Cooks & Books in Rock Hill, SC
SIBA Office Hours on Zoom:
Wednesdays from 1:00 - 2:00 PM EST 803-994-9530 | siba@sibaweb.com
We are halfway through our 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge.
For those of you taking the Challenge, how is it going? We'd love to have your (completely anonymous) feedback.
SIBA has not only created this initiative for booksellers, the staff has been participating as well. It has sparked many rewarding discussions here in our virtual office as we support each other through the Challenge and take a hard
look at long-standing assumptions and practices within SIBA.
Today's post has special resonance for booksellers -- it is all about the stories we tell ourselves and others:
Poet and novelist Ben Okri has written, “Beware of the stories you read or tell; subtly, at night, beneath the waters of consciousness, they are altering your world.”
Starting in April, the SIBA Board will be hosting a "Coffee with the Board"
virtual meeting the third Thursday of every month via Zoom. The first meeting was held on April 15th and covered a wide range of topics -- everything from current SIBA programs to the challenges stores face in re-opening to the
public.
Booksellers are invited to log on and talk to board members about anything on their mind. The board is eager hear from SIBA booksellers, and listen to their ideas of how SIBA do better.
Also, don't forget that nominations for the SIBA Board are currently open.
Libro.fm for booksellers
Looking ahead in 2021
Last week the team from Libro.fm offered booksellers a peek into their plans for the rest of the year, including free audiobook offers for Saturday's Independent Bookstore Day, upgrades to the Libro.fm iOS and Android apps, and
the free Canva marketing kits that generated many "oohs" and "aahs" from attendees.
Upcoming programming from the American Booksellers Association
ABACUS returns, for 2019-2020 The ABACUS reports for this cycle will cover 2019 and 2020 financial results, providing participating stores with a user-friendly overview of the economy with regards to the impact of COVID-19, informative graphs, and interpretive information.
(more info)
ABA Session on Business Models: Coops and Nonprofits The American Booksellers Association is offering two education sessions on business models that will look at retail cooperatives and nonprofits. The first session (on non-profits) will take place April 29 at 3pm EST, the second (on
co-ops) will take place May 13 at 3pm. (more info)
In Brief:
Jamie Southern named Executive Director of Bookmarks SIBA Board member Jamie Rogers Southern has been named Executive Director of Bookmarks. Before becoming Interim Executive Director in October 2020,
Jamie worked as Bookmarks’ Operations Director for nine years. She previously served as an education coordinator with the American Booksellers Association, managed an independent bookstore in Alabama, and ran her own
events company.(read more)
Alone Together raises $40,000 Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort During the Time of COVID-19 (September 1, 2020, Central Avenue Publishing) began as one author’s attempt to make connections during the quarantine. One year after Jennifer Haupt
rallied authors and her publisher to get behind this fundraiser to help booksellers in need, Central Avenue Publishing is donating $20,000, all profits from sales, to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc). Independent
Publishers Group (IPG), which donated its distribution fee for the anthology, is also donating $20,000 to Binc for a grand total of $40,000. (read more)
Bind Survive to Thrive Applications are open The Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation announced today that applications for the Survive to Thrive grant program will be accepted beginning, today, April 19 and ending May 10 at 5pm Eastern. Fundraising for the grant program, which
is designed to provide substantial grants to as many as 200 independent bookstores and comic shops, is still underway with a campaign goal of $2 million by the end of May. Grants will be awarded to the selected stores in early
June. (apply)
Reader Meet Writer: Updates
Bookstores who are promoting Sobremesa, the author has sent along a wonderful trailer to help promote the event. Watch it, and you will be hooked. (And hungry!)
Are you interested in joining the circle of bookstores sending invites to their customers? Please email Linda-Marie and we'll discuss what's involved.
Coming up on Reader Meet Writer:
NEW EVENT!
The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst with Jaclyn Moriarty Tue Apr 27th 7:00pm - 8:00pm | REGISTER
What booksellers say:
I grabbed this one because it is an Arthur Levine Quarto imprint and these books are quickly becoming my favorites. I finished it because I believe it to be the best fantasy of the year. I want everyone one to read it because
it weaves magic, ogres, faeries, intrigue, disaster, heartache, boarding school, sisters, friends and parents into the perfect story you won't be able to put down. I will place it in the hands of parents, teachers, grandparents
and kids coming in to find the perfect book to hold their attention and remind them why they love reading. Moriarty gets it just right. Levine finds them. Chronicle publishes them. We have the pleasure of reading them and
sharing them. --Carolyn Roys from Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, IL
Jaclyn Moriarty is the award-winning author of uniquely creative and readable books for adults and young readers including The Year of Secret Assignments, the Colors of Madeleine trilogy,
and The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone. One of the talented and popular Moriarty sisters (including Liane and Nicola), Jaclyn lives in Sydney, Australia. She is very fond of chocolate,
blueberries, and sleep.
Sobremesa: A Memoir of Food and Love in Thirteen Courses with Josephine Caminos Oría Thu May 6th 7:00pm - 8:00pm | REGISTER
Josephine Caminos Oría is an Argentine-American cookbook author, entrepreneur and mom. It was in her early 40s, with five young children in tow, that Josephine took a chance on herself, leaving a C-level career
to make dulce de leche. Today, Josephine, along with her Argentine husband, Gastón, is the founder of La Dorita Cooks, an all-natural line of dulce de leche products and Pittsburgh’s first resource-based
kitchen incubator for start-up and early stage food makers (see www.ladorita.net for more information). In addition, Josephine is the author of Dulce de Leche: Recipes, Stories, and Sweet Traditions (Burgess
Lea Press, February 2017).
This week on Circle of Sites
Read more about SIBA's Circle of Sites Program (aka the "banner for dues" program) and find out whether your store is eligible to participate and
receive free membership dues.
Spotlight on Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
What booksellers are saying
I LOVED this book. Like, deep love. Like help dispose of a body and cover up a murder love. --Kate Towery from Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, VA Buy from Fountain Bookstore
I loved this book!! The aunties were a believable mess of loyalty. I was invested in Meddy's character development. I loved the romance, and I was thrilled by the murder and ensuing foibles. -- Becca Sloan from Novel in Memphis,
TN Buy from Novel.
This book is a hysterical ride full of outlandish circumstances all made possible due to an accidental murder. --Jamie Southern from Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC Buy from Bookmarks
S.E Crosby is the real deal. He is rejuvenating the mystery scene in a way not seen since Elmore Leonard during his prime. And his new novel is the perfect example of how. This story of two ex-cons, fathers, seeking answers to
the murders of their married sons has it all. Fast-paced and relentless, it is an excellent look at our culture wars through the eyes of a parent who can’t understand his child’s choices. Super smart, incredibly
entertaining, and all-around satisfying this is a book no one should skip!
Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby (List Price: $26.99, Flatiron Books, 9781250252708, 7/6/2021) Reviewed by Pete Mock, McIntyre's Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina
The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser On Edelweiss | Buy
Thea is having a terrible Valentine's day. She and her husband are splitting up because he's been cheating on her...with one of her friends. And she's just been let go from her job. So when an uncle she doesn't remember dies and
leaves her his estate in Scotland, she decides to head up there and sort it all out, with a plan to sell. But once she gets there, she decides that she'll stay awhile. She gets a job with the grumpy bookstore owner while she
takes her time in sorting out the estate.
Linda-Marie: on vacation this week! Reading:Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter. A funny and poignant YA romcom with constant movie references and a fun playlist-my kind of read! Listening:First Draft, a podcast about writing by Sarah Enni, Watching: The most recent season of The Great British Baking Show, filmed during Covid..
Lucy: Reading:Crazy Stupid Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams - Hilarious, swoony, and full of men trying to breakdown their internalized toxic masculinity. Oh, and there’s cats! Listening: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - I’m super familiar with this story but have never actually read it until now. That being said, I’m hooked and thus devour this audiobook anytime
I’m able as it’s addictive and I must know the particulars! Watching: Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist - I’ve loved this show since the very beginning, and it’s producing excellent episode after excellent episode this season. The music is great, sure, but
the beauty of this show lies in its characters, its exploration of what it means to be alive, and (arguably most importantly) what it means to care for each other while we’re here.
Nicki: Reading: The Red and the Green by Iris Murdoch for, you guessed it, my Iris Murdoch Fans book club, We Are Each Other's Harvest by Natalie Baszile -- a celebration of Black farmers from the author
of Queen Sugar, and (still) The Whisperers by Orlando Figes, which is a doorstop. Listening: "A Poet's Haven" the really lovely March episode of the Slightly Foxed Podcast. It is a beautiful look at the friendship between the Irish artist Barrie Cooke, and Ted Hughes who
bonded over fishing and the love of rivers and landscape.. Watching: Ken Burns's Hemingway.
1. The Hill We Climb Amanda Gorman, Viking, $15.99, 9780593465271 2. The Midnight Library Matt Haig, Viking, $26, 9780525559474 3. The Four Winds Kristin
Hannah, St. Martin's, $28.99, 9781250178602 4. Klara and the Sun Kazuo Ishiguro, Knopf, $28, 9780593318171 5. The Vanishing Half Brit Bennett, Riverhead Books,
$27, 9780525536291
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
1. Dusk, Night, Dawn Anne Lamott, Riverhead Books, $20, 9780593189696 2. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Charlie Mackesy, HarperOne, $22.99, 9780062976581 3.
The Code Breaker Walter Isaacson, S&S, $35, 9781982115852 4.
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty Patrick Radden Keefe, Doubleday, $32.50, 9780385545686 5. Caste Isabel Wilkerson, Random House, $32, 9780593230251
Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Supporting independent bookstores in the South SIBA | 51 Pleasant Ridge Drive | Asheville, NC 28805
Thank you for your interest in SIBA, Nicki Leone SysAdmin
nicki@sibaweb.com
THANKS TO OUR INKREADIBLE SPONSORS:
SIBA | 51 Pleasant Ridge Drive | Asheville, NC 28805 You have received this email because you are currently subscribed to receive general correspondence. Please click @@unsubscribe_url@@ if you
no longer wish to receive these communications.
We are halfway through our 
Starting in April, the SIBA Board will be hosting a "Coffee with the Board"
virtual meeting the third Thursday of every month via Zoom. The first meeting was held on April 15th and covered a wide range of topics -- everything from current SIBA programs to the challenges stores face in re-opening to the
public.
Jamie Southern named Executive Director of Bookmarks
The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst with Jaclyn Moriarty
Sobremesa: A Memoir of Food and Love in Thirteen Courses with Josephine Caminos Oría
