Upcoming: Emerging Leaders, IndieBound, NAIBA

Okay, heads up! I know it feels like the part of summer that will go on forever (and thank goodness for that, on an at-last-gorgeous day like today after a week of rainy 90 degrees). But the fall is on it's way, and there are a couple of major events coming up you'll want to know about.


Emerging Leaders Night Out, NYC: IndieBound!
On Tuesday, August 19, at 7 PM, Emerging Leaders NYC -- which welcomes young people in bookselling and publishing in the greater New York area -- is hosting a new Emerging Leaders Night Out. That means you come, you drink, you chat with passionate book folks your age, you learn some things, you make new friends. And at this one, you'll learn more about IndieBound, the ABA's buy local revolution. We'll have lots of IndieBound materials available for everyone, and for booksellers who RSVP, free IndieBound t-shirts! These are just for booksellers, and you've got to get in touch fast in order to get your t-shirt at the gathering.

The other great thing is that this gathering will take place at Bar(n) at Flatbush Farm, a beautiful, brilliant Brooklyn bar and restaurant that is committed to using local, sustainable products whenever possible, and has an awesome funky home-grown Brooklyn design. It's the perfect partner for our IndieBound themed gathering, and I'm grateful to the owners for hosting us.

This is a great opportunity for publishers to learn more about what IndieBound is and how they can support it, and for booksellers to learn how they can use it effectively in their stores. We are the generation that can take the local, sustainable, independent movement forward and make it viable -- come talk about the exciting possibilities!

Email me now if you're interested in going, and start passing the word to fellow NYC Emerging Leaders. We'll be sending out invitations to our email lists soon, but you heard it here first!


NAIBA Con 2008
Yeah yeah, ComicCon in San Diego was great and all that, but there's nothing to compare to the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Fall Trade Show in Cherry Hill, New Jersey! I came from our board meeting on Monday psyched (yes I said psyched) about the jam-packed schedule of education, author lunches, discussion sessions, publisher booths, morning yoga (!) and plain old book parties that are on the schedule for this year. You can find more info and download the schedule here (though keep in mind it's still being adjusted). The show runs from the evening of Saturday, September 20, till the afternoon of Monday, September 22. There will be an Early Bird Dinner AND an Emerging Leaders Gathering on Saturday night, so it's worth coming for that.

And, for the first time ever, NAIBA is offering a FREE BUS from New York City to the convention hotel. It's a hugely generous offer for those of us unlikely to own cars (Cherry Hill is a bit hard to get to by public transportation), and another part of NAIBA's partnership with New York City bookstores. My own boss has declared that any bookseller at our store who wishes to go she will send, in part because of that free transportation, and also because it's an especially great opportunity for younger booksellers.

I went to my first NAIBA trade show in 2004, as a wee baby bookseller. And I can honestly say that it changed my life -- it set me on the career path I'm on now. I can't remember any specific author or panel or event that did it, but suddenly I realized that I was part of a wider professional community, that there were all these resources and all these passions out there -- such a different experience than the day-to-day life of a bookstore. The regional show is more affordable and more intimate than Book Expo, and a perfect stepping stone into that larger world. We all go to these things to get reconnected and recharged about our bookselling life by learning and befriending and having fun -- by coming together as a community. I highly recommend it for booksellers both emerging and seasoned. It might change your life.

You can email Eileen Dengler for more information about NAIBA, or sign up for the Con on the NAIBA website. Hope to see you there!

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