Anytime I spend blogging now is for the good of the bookstore so come join us at: http://aaronsbookslititz.blogspot.com/
We'll still do some family updates on that new blog, but Little Miss Green Jeans is no more...
November 24, 2008
September 21, 2008
NAIBA, night 2
ran the gauntlet of hte expo. Publishers, wholesalers, books. Oh My! We planned maybe ne bag full.... left 3 stuffed to the gills. Tomorrow it's talk business with reps (the boring and hard part of the conference)
Off to sort and drool over our "take". THere are lots and lots of great looking books coming out this fall and winter. The economy may suck, but the writing in this country is exploding (in a good way!)
Off to sort and drool over our "take". THere are lots and lots of great looking books coming out this fall and winter. The economy may suck, but the writing in this country is exploding (in a good way!)
NAIBA, DAY 2
WOW! Day is a little half over and there's a bunch to blog about!
It started with a moderated chat with the owners of Talking Leaves Books in Buffalo and Creekside Books in the Finger Lakes region. A nice session where we got to here from owners of two very different stores.. took lots of notes. Then publisher reps came in and went over their "picks" for fall and winter sales. Todd went to the kids one and I heard about tons of cool adult books (not THAT kind of adult book!) Lots of great books coming just in time for Christmas and Hanukkah shopping!!! (We'll have them at the store and on the website shortly).
Lunch was what they call a "Movable Feast". They have about 20 authors, and for each course you have a different author come sit at your table, and chat about their books, etc. We had a new author, Carolyn Baugh, whom I would LOVE to spend a whole meal talking with. She went to Cairo as an exchange student in 1992, and has since written a book about women in Egypt. It's fiction, but its based on the women she met while living there. She has also married and Egyptian and converted to Islam... so you can see my loving of her already! Our second author was Carl Capotoro, aka "Little Paulie" from the Sopranos (YES, REALLY!). He's written a memoir of his life growing up in the 60's & 70's with a very unique Italian-American father. It sounds like a really great read if you like quirky and true characters. He was a charmer and, of course, shared stories about life on the small screen. Our third author, whom we didn't get nearly enough time with was Pulitzer Prize winner Oscar Hijuelos. He's got a new YA book out that is a modern day Huck Finn, with a Latino-Irish boy at it's center. It's the debut of a new line of books being published for and about modern Latino youth.
After lunch we had another educational session. This one was about doing a store self audit.... I took about 15 pages of notes... needless to say, the next time you see our little "baby" it may well be very very different. (but change is good!)
Todd is down now for another educational session about IndieBound. Which I've blogged about before (see below). Later they open up the expo and we get to start collecting more and more "swag" and meet more authors.
I just have to say I LOVE ABA & NAIBA! Todd and I come back from these things with so much hope for our little store, that low sales can't get us down (at least for a few weeks). We've already started in a new direction for the store with the off site events we've added this year, and feel good because a lot of talk today has been about the importance of those types of things.
Off to head downstairs for the evening activities.. will blog more later :)
It started with a moderated chat with the owners of Talking Leaves Books in Buffalo and Creekside Books in the Finger Lakes region. A nice session where we got to here from owners of two very different stores.. took lots of notes. Then publisher reps came in and went over their "picks" for fall and winter sales. Todd went to the kids one and I heard about tons of cool adult books (not THAT kind of adult book!) Lots of great books coming just in time for Christmas and Hanukkah shopping!!! (We'll have them at the store and on the website shortly).
Lunch was what they call a "Movable Feast". They have about 20 authors, and for each course you have a different author come sit at your table, and chat about their books, etc. We had a new author, Carolyn Baugh, whom I would LOVE to spend a whole meal talking with. She went to Cairo as an exchange student in 1992, and has since written a book about women in Egypt. It's fiction, but its based on the women she met while living there. She has also married and Egyptian and converted to Islam... so you can see my loving of her already! Our second author was Carl Capotoro, aka "Little Paulie" from the Sopranos (YES, REALLY!). He's written a memoir of his life growing up in the 60's & 70's with a very unique Italian-American father. It sounds like a really great read if you like quirky and true characters. He was a charmer and, of course, shared stories about life on the small screen. Our third author, whom we didn't get nearly enough time with was Pulitzer Prize winner Oscar Hijuelos. He's got a new YA book out that is a modern day Huck Finn, with a Latino-Irish boy at it's center. It's the debut of a new line of books being published for and about modern Latino youth.
After lunch we had another educational session. This one was about doing a store self audit.... I took about 15 pages of notes... needless to say, the next time you see our little "baby" it may well be very very different. (but change is good!)
Todd is down now for another educational session about IndieBound. Which I've blogged about before (see below). Later they open up the expo and we get to start collecting more and more "swag" and meet more authors.
I just have to say I LOVE ABA & NAIBA! Todd and I come back from these things with so much hope for our little store, that low sales can't get us down (at least for a few weeks). We've already started in a new direction for the store with the off site events we've added this year, and feel good because a lot of talk today has been about the importance of those types of things.
Off to head downstairs for the evening activities.. will blog more later :)
September 20, 2008
NAIBA, night 1
Well, after a 3 hours trip to Philly... yes THREE HOURS, we hit every single traffic light between Lititz and Camden.... needless to say we're going turnpike on the way home...but we're here!
This was a light night, with a "Philly buffet"- cheese steak and cheesecake. Before the doors opened we met the owner of a used/new bookstore in Meadeville PA- Tattered Corners. They are very similar to us in style, size, and what they carry. It was nice to see we weren't he only used guys here. Then at the supper we met the couple that owns Harleysville Books in Harleysville PA.
While we were seated we got to meet a few of the evening's featured authors: 2008 Caldecott winner Brian Selznikck (illustrator), Ann M. Martin (of Babysitter's Club fame) & Robin Gaby Fisher. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for a story series she did after the 2000 Seton Hall Fire. She has turned that story into a new book called After the Fire. It's about the two roommates that were seriously injured in the fire. One of them came tonight to talk to us about the book. It sounds like absolutely amazing story of friendship and triumph. There is a short video on our store website about this book (click on the "Bookspots" logo on the main page, then scroll down our new books page to see the video).
So not bad to an hour of "work"! Tomorrow is a luncheon with authors "pimping" their books, and some breakout sessions to discuss bookselling. The most important thing Todd and I get out of this annual conference is a rejuvenation in our dedication to making our fantasy bookstore a reality... more on that tomorrow, after some nitty gritty meetings :)
Peace out book dudes and dudettes (yes, I need sleep! hehe)
This was a light night, with a "Philly buffet"- cheese steak and cheesecake. Before the doors opened we met the owner of a used/new bookstore in Meadeville PA- Tattered Corners. They are very similar to us in style, size, and what they carry. It was nice to see we weren't he only used guys here. Then at the supper we met the couple that owns Harleysville Books in Harleysville PA.
While we were seated we got to meet a few of the evening's featured authors: 2008 Caldecott winner Brian Selznikck (illustrator), Ann M. Martin (of Babysitter's Club fame) & Robin Gaby Fisher. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for a story series she did after the 2000 Seton Hall Fire. She has turned that story into a new book called After the Fire. It's about the two roommates that were seriously injured in the fire. One of them came tonight to talk to us about the book. It sounds like absolutely amazing story of friendship and triumph. There is a short video on our store website about this book (click on the "Bookspots" logo on the main page, then scroll down our new books page to see the video).
So not bad to an hour of "work"! Tomorrow is a luncheon with authors "pimping" their books, and some breakout sessions to discuss bookselling. The most important thing Todd and I get out of this annual conference is a rejuvenation in our dedication to making our fantasy bookstore a reality... more on that tomorrow, after some nitty gritty meetings :)
Peace out book dudes and dudettes (yes, I need sleep! hehe)
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