Making Connections at NVNR 2026
"My goal for attending NVNR? Expanding my knowledge of how to efficiently manage and run a bookstore. Meet lots of awesome people. Join group discussions. Be inspired by new ideas!" –NVNR 2025 Attendee
When early bird registration closed at the end of the night on May 1st, 193 booksellers from 123 bookstores had signed up to attend NVNR 2026 in Baltimore, a 6% increase over the same period in 2025. It is a sign of just how important the conference is to booksellers, especially in a volatile economy and with the rising costs of travel. (Note: There are still scholarship opportunities available!)
One of the most important resources for any small business is the relationships it has built, both with its customers and its suppliers. Those relationships can help a bookstore weather a cash-flow crisis, discover a title or author perfect for its market, or find an advocate to help expand its events program. This is why NVNR works to facilitate connections between booksellers and exhibitors, and why, for example, exhibitors are required to include appointment-scheduling links and sales rep contact information in their directory listings.
The opportunity to meet face-to-face with sales reps and authors is one of the most important benefits of attending New Voices New Rooms. The discounts received and author event connections made by booksellers, thanks to a few well-placed conversations with the right people in the right place, can offset the costs of coming to NVNR.
The NVNR team knows that, especially this year, the costs of attending a conference are a significant line item in a bookstore’s budget. NVNR does everything it can to keep costs as low as possible, and has created spaces for booksellers to meet to arrange ride and room shares with their colleagues.
Booksellers have shared some of their strategies for raising money and earmarking funds for conference travel expenses:
- Host a sale. A regular sale can provide a needed sales bump to fund an expected expense, such as travel costs. When Lost City Books began closing for a week every summer for staff development, they also introduced a “pre-closing” sale that became an annual event customers looked forward to.
- Join Bookshop.org. The regular payouts can be earmarked for special things like bookseller development or conferences.
- Devote profits from a section, such as your “staff picks,” to pay for staff to attend NVNR. Your staff will be even more motivated to handsell those books, and over the course of three or four months, the sales will add up.
- “Round up” sales at the register in support of bookseller development. Ask your customers if they would like to round up their purchase to the next dollar amount and earmark the extra money for staff development and education. Customers want to support not just their local bookstore but also the people who work there.
Conference Information & Schedule
Follow us! NVNR@IG
Hotel: Baltimore Marriott Waterfront
(Conference Rate $185/night through July 10, 2026)
Reservations
New Voices New Rooms is created and hosted jointly by the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) and the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA).