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What do Michele Lewis of AfroAmerican Bookstop in New Orleans, LA and Tamra Dore’ of Katy Budget Books in Houston, TX have in common? They are both current members of the American Booksellers Association’s Booksellers Advisory Council (BAC). The purpose of the BAC to advise the ABA Board of Directors. One of the interesting things learned at the most recent meeting was that ABA is working on the development of a Booksense Gift Card! Gift cards are easier to market than gift certificates (with the same terrific profit margins)!
Book Expo America returned to New York City for the first time in twelve years, and what an experience it was! Although I have attended BEA many times in many venues, there is no question that this show was quite different for many reasons. As could be expected for the first show following the tragic events of September 11th, the tone was more businesslike with much less glitz and gimmicks. The attitude, however, was far from depressed. As a first time visitor to NYC, I came away with a tremendous amount of respect for the resilience and friendliness of the city’s residents. Despite some concerns about low attendance, the show floor traffic was good. In fact, the aisles were so crowded that I often thought longingly about the laid back atmosphere of our regional show. The educational programming provided by ABA was well done and very well attended by booksellers always hungry for knowledge. As reported at the ABA membership meeting, the number of independent booksellers continues to decline. The good news is that the decline has slowed dramatically, and that the independent stores remaining have managed to hold the same market share for the last few years. I am even more convinced of the benefit of our banding together as independent booksellers. Individually our clout is small, but as Mid-South Independent Booksellers, or as a Booksense member, we have the ability to be heard and to make a difference. In reflecting on my BEA experience in 2002, two thoughts stand out from the others—pride and professionalism. The overall feeling of the show was realistically optimistic, determined and full of pride in independent bookselling and for the country in which we live and work. Tamra Dore’
What do you get when a great group of booksellers travel from around the region to converge on a fabulous children’s store to network, eat, and learn a great deal from our speakers and each other? You have a very productive and enjoyable MSIBA/ABA Spring Forum. About twenty five booksellers came from all over Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and even Kansas to The Enchanted Forest for a busy day beginning with a morning dialogue with Oren Teicher from ABA. The primary focus of the morning session with Oren Teicher of ABA was to gather input from the booksellers present for the ABA’s New Strategic Plan. The Mid-South booksellers were not shy about expressing their opinions on a variety of issues including the need for more ABA sponsored educational resources. Following a great networking lunch, the day continued with an excellent discussion of great ideas for sidelines for bookstores led by Debbie McClure of Abilene Bookstore. Debbie has done incredible things with sidelines at her store in Abilene, Texas, and the audience of booksellers were delighted with the practical ordering information and hands on display of some of her most successful items. Debbie exemplified the true benefit of Mid-South membership with her willingness to take the time to share ideas and help fellow independent booksellers. The day concluded with a drawing for the winner of the EARLY BIRD membership contest. Michele Lewis of AfroAmerican Bookstop was the lucky winner of two nights at the New Orleans Hyatt during our September trade show.
While there are many interesting and unique bookstores in the very large and diverse MSIBA region, Beauty and the Book has to be one of the most original bookstores in the entire nation. After Kathy Patrick, owner of Beauty and the Book called me recently just to offer some of her creative ideas and contacts for the upcoming trade show, I decided that everyone in the region needed would enjoy hearing her story. Beauty and the Book is reported to be the only bookstore/beauty salon in the United States. Kathy opened Beauty and the Book in 2000 following an award winning career as an independent bookseller and as a publisher’s representative. In order to meet the needs of a young family, Kathy decided to combine several of her strengths to open a beauty salon/bookstore combination. The bookstore features local, regional, and southern authors. While it is quite common for people to wish to open a bookstore in their old home town, it is much less common for a new small bookstore to attract the kind of national publicity that Kathy has make her trademark. Beauty and the Book and Kathy have been featured on Good Morning America, Texas Country Reporter, and Oprah Winfrey’s Oxygen Network as well as Book Magazine, Southern Living, and over two dozen newspapers. The store has also been host to an incredible number of creative author events including the First Ever Pulpwood Queen Library and Home Tour which featured the homes of several of the "Pulpwood Queens’, Beauty and the Book’s very popular in-store book club. There are many stores in large urban areas who would like to have the type of author events that Kathy has in rural Jefferson, Texas. Despite her busy schedule, Kathy is still interested in sharing her expertise with fellow booksellers. She has offered to do a seminar for MSIBA members about the best ways to get press attention for your store. You can be sure that you will be hearing more from Kathy Patrick and Beauty and the Book at future MSIBA events.
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