Fat Show for SIBA

Pegasus Books:

Dying to Be Young: A Cosmetic Nightmare, A Spritual Awakening by Eric Kaplan (he lives in Palm Beach, FL)
Now You Know by Susan Kelly (she lives in Greensboro, NC)

Skyhorse Publishing:

On Leadership by Donald Palmisano (he lives in New Orleans)
The Day After he Left for Iraq by Melissa Seligman (she lives in Clarksville, TN)
Hilarious Fishing Cartoons and Hilarious Hunting Cartoons by John Troy (he lives in Dade City, FL)
The Golfer’s Encyclopedia by Sal Johnson (he lives in Leesburg, VA)
It Was Never About the Babe:  How the Boston Red Sox Overcame Decades of Mismanagement and Racism and Built a Dynasty by Jerry Gutlon (he lives in Griffin, GA)

Atlas & Co.:

An Educated Man by David Rosenberg (he lives in FL)

The Countryman Press:

southern alert: The Visitor’s Guide to the Colonail & Revolutionary South by Patricia & Robert Foulke
Backroads & Byways of Florida by Zine Deane (he lives in Ft. Lauderdale, FL)

Norton:

Crime by Irvine Welsh (author of Trainspotting) divides his time between Florida, Ireland, & Scotland.
southern alert: The Himingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed
Something for the Pain by Paul Austin (he lives in Durham, NC)
Carolina Clay by Leonard Todd (he lives in Edgefield, SC)
Orpheus Lost by Janette Turner Hospital (she lives in Columbia, SC)
The Millionaires by Inman Majors (he lives in Waynesboro, VA)
The Last Witch of Langenburg by Th0omas Robisheaux (he lives in Durham, NC)
The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise (they both live in Charles City, VA)
Mirror of the Arab World by Sandra Mackey (she lives in Atlanta, GA)

I’m headed to Mobile in the morning to meet with the SIBA Board of Directors and the Trade Show Planning Team.  And then next week to Minneapolis to meet with the ABA staff.  Until then, happy reading!

Little, Brown and Company Books for Young Readers:

Coming in September:
South written and illustrated by Patrick McDonnell (free full color poster available)
Coming in January, 2009:
Celeste’s Harlem Renaissance by Eleanora Tate (she lives in Knightsdale, NC)

faithwords:

Coming in September:
PURE by Rebecca St. James (she lives in Nashville, TN)
Coming in Winter 2009:
8 Steps to Create the Life You Want by Dr. Creflo Dollar (he lives in Atlanta, GA)
Free Yourself to Love by Jackie Kendall (she lives in Royal Palm Beach, FL)
You Want Me to Do What?  by Michael Youssef, PhD (he lives in Atlanta, GA)
A Walk with Christ to the Cross by Dawson McAllister (he lives in Nashville, TN)
Last Mango in Texas by Ray Blackston (he lives in Greenville, SC)

Center Street:

Coming in October:
Behing the Grand Ole Opry Curtain by Robert Oermann (he lives in Nashville, TN)
Coming in March:
The Killing Tree by Rachel Keener (she lives in Winston-Salem, NC)

innovative kids:

game: repeat or you’re obsolete - this looks like a ton of fun and I love that it was conceived by a 13 year old and The InnovativeKids Preferred Dealer Program looks appealing.

Little, Brown and Company:

Against Medical Advice by James Patterson (he lives in Florida)
Kate Atkinson has a new one:  When Will There Be Good News?
The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly (he lives in Tampa, Florida)
David Sedaris has an expanded holidays on ice
Malcolm Gladwell has a new one:  Outliers
Dan Simmons has a new one:  Drood

Grand Central:

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks (he lives in North Carolina)
The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer (he lives in Miami, FL)
Dewey A Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron appeals to the reader, librarian, and cat-love in me!
Call Me Ted by Ted Turner (he lives in FL)
Kill For Me by Karen Rose (she lives in Sarasota, FL)
Little Pink House by Jeff Benedict (he lives in VA)

Grand Central Publishing Trade Paperback:

The Gifted Gabaldon Sisters Lorraine Lopez (she lives in Nashville, TN)
Erotic City by PYNK (she lives in Atlanta, GA)
Trail of Crumbs by Kim Sunee (she lives in Birmingham, AL)
The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson (she lives in GA)

I’m headed to Greenville in the morning to look at the convention center and hotels.  Greenville has put together a great deal for SIBA etal and I will let you know how it goes when I return.  Godspeed!  From Greenville, we head to Asheville for WordFest! 

So many books, so little time.

Atria Books

Carlos Frias has Take Me with You coming in November - he lives in Pembroke Pines, FL
Ted Bell has Tsar coming in September - he lives in Palm Beach, FL
Mike Dooley has Even More Notes from the Universe - he lives in Orlando, FL
Shonda Cheekes has Decoys, Inc (A lighthearted story about a young woman who dedicates her sletuting skills to catch cheating husbands and free women from dishonest relationships) - she lives in Atlanta, GA

Simon Spotlight Entertainment

Crafternoon by Maura Madden looks like it would have a lot of authorless events appeal - This is a unique year-long guid that combines the old-school art of making things by hand with the always-popular trend of entertaining.  I would love to participate in something like this.

101 Places to Have Sex Before You Die and Assholes Finish First sound like winners to me!

Winter Holiday Alert:  The History of the Snowman

Howard Books

Tea Parties with a Purpose by Bobbie Wolgemuth lives in Orlando, FL

Simon & Schuster:

Richard Belzer’s new novel - I Am Not a Cop!  should appeal to all the Law & Order fans.

Winter Holiday Alert:  Jill Conner Browne brings us The Sweet Potato Queens’ Guide to Raising Children for Fun and Profit (paperback) and American Thighs:  The Sweet Potato Queens’ Guide to Preserving Your Assets (hardback) coming in December — funny stuff

Touchstone/Fireside

Hailing from GA and SC, Meesha Mink & De’nesha Diamond delive the paperback original - the Hood life  (Jan 6, 2009)

Free Press

Jim Loehr brings The Power of Story.  He lives in Orlando, FL
Harry S. Dent brings The Great Crash of 2010.  He lives in Miami Beach, FL
Emily Yellin brings Your Call Is (Not That) Important To Us.  She lives in Memphis, TN
Bluegrass:  A True Story of Murder and Family in Small-Town Kentucky by William Van Meter.

Scribner

Matt Bondurant delivers The Wettest County in the World.  He lives in Alexandria, VA.
Greg Isles brings us The Devil’s Punchbowl.  He lives in Natchez, MI.

Pocket Books

Rhonda Pollero writes Fat Chance.  She lives in S. Florida.
Jean Bernard Ruane writes Parish the Thought.  He lives in Roswell, GA.
Joan Medlicott writes Promises of Change.  She lives in Barnardsville, NC.

Simon & Schuster Children

Heather Henson resides in Kentucky and brings us That Book Woman (as a formed kid’s librarian, I’m quite excited about this book!)
Shelia P Moses has written Joseph.  She lives in Atlanta, GA.
This novel, The Mother-Daughter Book Club, from Heather Vogel Frederick might inspire such clubs instore.

Never have the bees been so close to the honey. I am working with the cities of Greenville, Charleston, and Myrtle Beach, all in SC, about bringing the trade show here in 2009. I have been wined and dined, lunched and brunched by all of the very nice people that make up the association trade in these three locations and they are all working hard to put together a great package to entice SIBA and her booksellers and exhibitors to their town in 09. So, I’ll keep you posted and you let me know where you’d like to go. Greenville has a great downtown, Myrtle Beach has the beach, and Charleston is a historical gem.

Speaking of Lions, check this out - Amazing Hug 

March has been incredibly busy for SIBA and it is all exciting. I want to figure out a way to share and thought this might be a way. Web Czar and Her Ladyship, Nicki Leone, came to Columbia for a few days and we worked over the entire year. We have a ton of new projects and opportunities coming up.

We have redesigned the SIBA Ink newsletter as a Tool Kit and it will feature actual materials that you can use in your store. We are working on the Book Award Tool Kit now and will have it out to you by the end of April. We will be providing the timely news and information that members need via email.

We are still working out the details but will be offering core members who take the Holiday Catalog an insertion incentive in exchange for catalog sales data. We are also going to take the SIBA Book Award to the consumer in a big way. Besides presenting the awards at the Decatur Book Festival, SIBA is also undertaking a media blitz of which the SIBA Book Awards are the cornerstone with all of the SIBA Book Award titles. And this brings us to the 100,001 Book Project. SIBA Bookstores will be challenged to sell a combined 100,001 books over the last half of 2008. SIBA will be offering content to booksellers about the SIBA Book Award Finalists and the Holiday Catalog Titles that they will be able to use both instore and online.

The Authors ‘Round The South site is experiencing a major overhaul. We will soon reveal the Southern Touring Authors Registry Service (STARS) This will be free to authors for the first year and will serve as a clearinghouse/speakers bureau where consumers, groups, libraries, schools, and service organizations will be encouraged to locate authors as speakers. It will show the consumer lots of information about the author except for contact info. SIBA bookstores will be the source for contact and will be seen as the place to go to find speakers. SIBA bookstores will also have this service to share with their local authors to assist them in finding the right match for their books. Once the upgrade is complete, we will be encouraging our core members to post events and share STARS with their local stars.

We will soon announce the SIBA Book Award Finalists. It is a great crop of books and we have lined up the bookseller judges and as soon as we have all of the books in the judges hands we will announce the finalists. We hope to send a press release on April 17. We will have our winners on Independence Day.

We spent last weekend in Atlanta at the Spring Book Show and saw many of you there. It was a great event. President Karin Wilson presented EESY CHIT: Easy, Effective, Strategies that You Can Happily Implement Today (That will Save you Crap-loads of Time & Money!). We will be emailing these strategies to you overtime so watch your emails for EESY CHIT.

Jeff Milchen can from AMIBA and shared with stores how to best begin a Local Business Alliance. The ABA held a Bookseller Forum and presented a session on Leveraging Localism that married with the AMIBA session beautifully. We had experts share on a variety of topics at the Resource Roundtables. This is an ever popular session among booksellers and one great idea that came from it is using a digital picture frame in the shop to promote events, books, and authors. Robert Gray from Fresh Eyes and Shelf Awareness joined booksellers to talk about what it is that Baby Boomers want to read. All of this and nearly 50,000 square feet of remainder vendors and bargain books at the Spring Book Show.

Much more on the horizon to come in a later post.  Peace Out.

Lost Souls by Lisa Jackson (Kensington Books) pubs on April 8 and your thrillseekers and paranormal romance folks will love it.  This is a chilling tale that takes place at All Saints College after Katrina has wreaked havoc on so many lives.  Missing girls, all English majors  – my only question — Why does Jay keep almost running into things in his truck? – And there is a great setup at the end for the next novel…I can’t wait!

I want to share two good books and invite you to click on the titles to read the excerpts.   

The first is Calling Home by Janna McMahan from Kensington Books.  The book opens with Virginia sneaking into a woman’s house to find evidence of her husband’s cheating ways.  Virginia is Shannon’s mother and Shannon is trying to grow up in a southern town where everybody knows your name and your business and her family is not making it any easier.  This story takes place in Falling Rock, Kentucky and will make a great book club book.  There is an interview with the author and discussion questions in the back of the book.  Janna McMahan lives in Columbia, SC and I’m delighted to note that she has a buy books link to The Happy Bookseller.

The Memory of Water by Karen White from NAL is another southern story, and takes place in the South Carolina low country town of McClellanville.  This is the story of two sisters and their secrets.  Karen White does a great job of revealing the revelations that bring these two sisters and their family to the brink.  So many subjects - mental illness, art, sailing, family - are dealt with in such a realistic and natural way.  There is a Conversation Guide in the back of this book.  Karen White lives in Atlanta, GA and I’m delighted to note the she has a buy books link to Wordsmiths Books.