Trade Shows & Free Books

Every September the Midwest Booksellers Association (MBA) holds its annual convention in St. Paul. There are workshops and sessions for booksellers, meals with authors, and a Trade Show open all day Saturday.  I have attended the trade show once as an author when my first book, Remembering Mama, came out in 2002.  I sat at the Augsburg table and signed copies of my books to give away to booksellers.  It was fun, but a bit overwhelming.

This year I attended MBA as a bookseller.  It was an entirely different experience. The whole purpose of the trade show is to get booksellers interested in buying new titles from various publishers. Every big publisher is there and many, many small ones.  I had the opportunity to walk around the trade show with Tom (one of my bosses) who has been in the book business for over 30 years. Tom knew just about everyone and they knew him.  It was a huge learning experience for me.  I met the reps from many publishing houses.  They are the men and women who actually sell the books to the bookstores.  They travel all around meeting with book buyers at their stores.  Or they call and make phone appointments several times a year to sell books for the upcoming season.

Books are generally published in three seasons - Fall, Spring and Summer.  Fall runs September through December and is usually when the biggest books are released.  Holiday book buying should never be underestimated for a small, independent bookstore.  December book sales alone can equal sales in several other months combined.  The Spring season runs January through April.  And Summer covers May through August.  Right now, we are in the middle of the Fall season, but we are buying books for Spring.  You always have to work a season ahead.  All the new titles in the store this Fall were ordered last summer.

So, at the MBA trade show, the publishers were primarily highlighting their Spring books.  And they don't just talk about them; they give free copies away!  Tom, the seasoned book buyer, took just a couple books.  I, on the other hand, took so many free books that by noon I was dragging my bag on the floor because I could no longer carry it.  MBA made a rule a few years ago that no wheeled bags (aka luggage) were allowed on the trade show floor.  Neither were baby strollers, unless they contained actual babies.  People were going crazy grabbing free books.  Now, you can only take what you can carry (or drag).

Also a note on etiquette.  It amazes me how people can get when free things are being offered. Granted, I accepted a lot of free books.  But all of them were offered to me.  I never grabbed a book from a publisher's table.  Bad etiquette.  And, these books are meant for us to read and enjoy (and hopefully buy tons of copies).  Apparently some book sellers actually bring their free copies back to their shops and sell them.  Bad form people!  Accept your free books and be happy.

So, have I read all my free books yet?  No.  And, I have so many that I'll be giving many of them away to members of my book club and writer's group. I can only have so many stacks of books on my kitchen table.  We need to eat somewhere.

The MBA convention was a great way to kick off my book selling career.  I felt like a real professional!  And was treated like one, too.  But next year I've got to find a stroller (with a real baby in it) to hold all my books.  This year, my shoulder was just killing me.