News

February 2010

SIBA Industry member Unbridled Books advertises this compelling letter from one author about another.  Elise Blackwell’s An Unfinished Score is a current Okra Pick!

Dear Unbridled Books,

I pushed to sign Elise Blackwell to the Alabama Book Festival because she's just the sort of writer these events are designed to introduce audiences to: literary and yet accessible, challenging but not alienating, uplifting without pandering. 

A lot of readers crave sophisticated, complex characters instead of stereotypes. They want fictional people whose actions offer a way of assessing the way we live now, and for me that's what Elise's novels do. To my thinking, her work has the same broad appeal as Anita Shreve's and Carol Shields'.

Book festivals are great opportunities to bring these sorts of deserving writers onto the radar of audiences who might not otherwise know about them. I have a feeling readers who come out to meet Elise and learn about An Unfinished Score on April 17 will walk away saying, 'Why am I only now discovering this person?

Sincerely,

Kirk Curnutt

author of Dixie Noir and Breathing Out the Ghost,

Fiction Selection Committee, Alabama Book Festival

Check Out the Okra Picks Here

NEW - Independent E-Books Affiliate Program for Independent Booksellers

One of the fastest growing sectors in the publishing industry is that of digital media, (eBooks and Digital Audio Books).  Consumer demand is increasing rapidly and revenue from eBooks alone has increased nearly 700% in just 3 years.  We expect that with improved reader devices and formats the demand will continue to grow substantially for the foreseeable future.  With a low cost of entry, the expanding e-book and digital audio market offers retailers the opportunity to sell more content to more readers than ever before.

Independent eBooks is an independently owned digital media website created by book industry and technology professionals. Independent eBooks provides the independent bookseller the opportunity to interface your bookstore website with Independent eBooks to sell digital media to your market 24/7.  With over 290,000 titles available, (which is updated weekly) you are enabled to offer eBooks to your customers in 3 popular formats: Adobe, Microsoft, and eReader (formerly Palm).  The formats available for each title are dependent upon what formats the publisher delivers to us.  When a purchase is made we operate in the background to deliver the eBook to the customer in the format ordered and with the DRM (Digital Rights Management) that the publisher requires.  The retailer is paid for each eBook successfully downloaded by their customers.

More information here

Collect Your Co-op AND Get Your 2011 SIBA Core Member Dues Paid

There is over $10,000 in  co-op available annually to bookstores from major publishers and many stores do not collect their co-op. SIBA has partnered with Paz & Associates to help you increase your customer base, collect your co-op, and get your 2011 dues paid.

More information here

Lady Banks’ Pick of the Week to Encourage Consumers to Buy the Circle of Sites Banner Ad Books

SIBA is encouraged both by the number of indie bookstores that are participating in the Circle of Sites Program and the publishers that are stepping forward and buying ads and SIBA wants to do everything she can to ensure the success of this program.  So besides offering free dues to core members, creative, affordable pricing, and placement on the AuthorsRoundTheSouth.com (ARTS) website, we have added a new component that makes this information more tweetable.  Going forward, the Circle of Sites ad is on every page of ARTS, and is designated as the Lady Banks’ Pick of the Week with a link to Free Book Stimulus Plan where consumers are encourage to buy the book and send the receipt in for a free book, and they are driven to a list of stores that are participating in the Circle of Sites Program to purchase the book. 

More information here

Isn’t it a little early to pick okra? SIBA Announces the 2010 Winter/Spring Okra Picks—great southern books, fresh off the vine.

It may still be frosty outside but in the South it’s always Okra Season!  Southern Indie Booksellers have a selected a basket full of books for the 2010 Winter/Spring Okra Picks—great southern books, fresh off the vine. From aliens to debutantes, Barbie dolls to black-eyed peas, these titles highlight just what it is that makes Southern literature great.  All the books have the following things in common:  1) They are Southern in nature. 2) They are Winter/Spring 2010 releases and 3) There is a SIBA member Bookstore who is really excited about the book. Southern booksellers love their Southern authors!

More information here

2009 Holiday Catalog Summary – SIBA Stores Distribute Over One Million Catalogs

Every fall SIBA sponsors a consumer holiday catalog for its members. The full color catalog is professionally designed, customized with each individual store’s logo and address, and features titles of both national and regional interest. Because the catalog is provided free of charge to SIBA member bookstores, it has become the major marketing piece for many stores during the busy holiday season. Bookstores distribute over one million of these catalogs to their customers and their communities through mailings, handouts, store displays and newspaper inserts over the holiday selling season. SIBA augments store marketing efforts with a special catalog “toolkit” containing marketing materials, shelf talkers, flyers, posters, links to publisher resources and online title and information.

More information here

Southern Social Networking Summit a HIT!

The Southern Social Networking Summit in Greenville, SC was an exhausting & exhilarating two days.  So many people have written blog posts, posted videos & photos, twittered and facebooked, and we have a video of Gary Vaynerchuk’s talk at the Summit.  We hope to host a second summit in Greenville this summer. 

More information here

SIBA Document Library Highlights ABA Social Media Info

The SIBA Document Library is a great tool and provides content on tons of topics and social media is one of them.  Set aside some time to take a look at some of this great info and tour the document library to find a time-saver. 

More information here

Call for Authors for SIBA Trade Show 2010, Daytona, Florida – Sep. 24-26

The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance invites exhibiting publishers to submit authors in consideration for special events to be held on Friday through Sunday, September 24-26, 2010. These programs will be held at the SIBA Trade Show in Daytona, FL. It is imperative that you have registered to exhibit at the SIBA Trade Show before authors can be considered.   Exhibit registration will open on March 1, 2010. 

More information here

Web Tool of the Month – http://search.twitter.com/
see what’s happening right now

I hope by now you have a Twitter account.  It is so simple to set up and use. . .and one day, having a microblogging account will be as expected of a business as having a telephone, or a website.  Don’t underestimate the power of this tool.  It’s email on steroids.  And even if you are unwilling to set up a Twitter account for your store, be willing to search twitter and listen in on what customers are saying about your store.  This kind of marketing feedback would have cost thousands of dollars less than ten years ago. Search Okra Pick and see what tweeters are saying! 

Useful Twitter links

Wanda Jewell
Executive Director
Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance
3806 Yale Dr.
Columbia, SC 29205
803.994.9530

Trade Show 2010: Daytona, FL, The Plazas; Sept. 24-26

Find your favorite authors at authorsroundthesouth.com
Become a Fan of SIBA's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Columbia/Southern-Independent-Booksellers-Alliance/5479739307?ref=ts
What I'm blogging: Wanda's Wonderful Book Blog
Follow me at www.Twitter.com/RubyJewell
Ask me about Free Book Stimulus Plan