What are the Benefits of Attending a Booksellers Trade Show like the NCIBA?

Until a question arrived in an e-mail asking what the benefits were for attending a bookseller’s trade show (like the NCIBA in October 2010), it did not occur to me that was an important topic to cover.

The NCIBA trade show benefits booksellers, publishers and authors with a book/s in print.  

The American Booksellers Association (ABA – http://www.indiebound.org/indie-bestsellers) is divided into several regions. The NCIBA (Northern California Independent Booksellers Association) has the most members because there are more bookstores in and around San Francisco than any city in the United States. 

Attending the NCIBA trade show in October provides an opportunity for publishers and authors to rub shoulders and talk to booksellers.  If fortunate, that might lead to an author’s book being placed on shelves in bookstores. If the bookseller really likes the book, they will hand sell it to customers they know will enjoy reading it. Independent booksellers know their customers and they are in the business to sell books.

Any author with a book or books in print will have opportunities to talk to booksellers, hand them free review copies, or hand out flyers or postcards or bookmarks or business cards, etc. 

Until this opportunity surfaced, I was planning to hit the road and start visiting bookstores to talk to the owners and managers about my books. Attending this trade show achieves that purpose in a few days without  burning tons of gas and spending hundreds of hours driving hundreds of miles.

There is no guarantee that booksellers will love all of our books but if we don’t get out there, we will never know.

If you are a member of the CWC and you want to read more about these trade shows (or the NCIBA trade show in October), this link will take you to the password protected post on this Website. http://wp.me/pIExr-1b  The president of your branch has the password–sent in an e-mail on 3/22/10.