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NCIBA 2006
“Something here is
dying”—Duke Hill, Hill/Martin Associates
Duke Hill has been around in the book business
so long, no one can recall a time when he wasn’t part of the scene. At
NCIBA (Northern California
Independent Booksellers Association) in Oakland, he regaled me
about their first trade show (then called NCBA) held in the San Rafael
Convention Center, where reps drove in, set up tables at the backs of
their cars, could have lawn chairs and TVs and beer and... you know...
all the good things in life, like SALES. (Oh, and he met his wife
Carolyn Martin, there, too.)
This was certainly not the case at this year’s NCIBA. The size of the
show has shrunk 1/3 since we started attending in 2001. In five years,
it’s been a very uneven selling experience, with some terrible days (Our
first time there, that Sunday, the U.S. bombed Afghanistan. Everyone
went running home, sure retaliatory strikes would be made on Bay area
bridges) and some terrific days—like last year, Sunday. This year was
just all around, unremittingly bad. We weren’t the only ones skunked.
Very few buying booksellers showed up. The freebie freaks weren’t even
taking all the galleys, ARCs and finished books. There were rarely any
lines at the autograph booth—but then, with all the big name authors
releasing books this year, none of them showed up, so there was no draw.
I heard tales of woe from every publisher and rep. The only folks
writing orders had made deals with booksellers to meet them at the show
to finish the purchase. Just ugly.
 So this left a lot of time to walk the floor and ponder with others what
the hell is going on with the trade. Bob Jones, who used to rep
Langenshied (Berlitz, Rand McNally maps, etc), has been a good friend
and councillor to us for many years, and now does part-time repping of
the
StreetWise maps, is glad he is mostly retired. “The business is
totally changed now,” he said. “I don’t know where it goes from here.”
 Duke Hill said at one point, as he rolled another cigarette: “The
problem with bookselling today is that change in booksellers and their
business is measured in decades in an era where change in the business
environment is measured in weeks.” We met Duke at our first trade show
in Denver (The MPBA,
which used to have 2 halls for their show. They were down to one this
year), and he’s been helpful to our understanding of the trade. All he
could do was help us determine that there’s not much point in attending
any further trade shows this time 'round.
The point, of course, is to find new avenues to sell into. Thomas
Faherty of Faherty and
Associates (a big West Coast rep firm (more on him in a minute))
said he felt that the big growth area is in sidelines and gifts. “They
take a straight 50% discount and never return a thing. It’s solid
money.” I’m listening.
 Publishing Diva Cynthia Frank of
Cypress
House Press is always expanding her base. She and Margaret
Speaker Yuan of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators
gave an orientation presentation to new publishers who were attending
the NCIBA. And Cindy spent the next two days trotting author/publishers
around the show making introductions and giving them the lay of the
land. (She brought folks by our booth twice, pointing out that our
display was very well put together and what terrific folks we are.
Thanks, Cindy!) She never sits still and is always making deals and
arrangements beyond just publishing. She is one of my role models.
 Peter Goodman sold his company last year, but was kept on by the new
folks. He is always on the look-out for what works and what
Stone Bridge Press can
use. Also, he looks really fetching in cat’s ears! (Sorry about the
picture. You'll have to take my word for it.)
So most of what was interesting was of the non-selling variety.
Friday night we went out to my favorite Chinese restaurant on the West
Coast, Jade Villa. Accompanying us were Cindy Frank, her sales manager
Joel (Sorry, I forgot his last name), and her son, Anthony. Also along
for the feast were Bob Jones and Margaret Speaker Yuan. A fabulous meal,
as always, in which not a whole lot of bookspeak was spoke.
On Saturday, in our “island” (booths are arranged in groups of 4 to 8,
in a square) was a bookstore that has set itself up as a POD publisher.
They were one of two at the show—giving rise to the thought: “What, you
weren’t losing enough money?” A totally strange group: we arrived to
find that they had taken all the chairs, had laid down a carpet inside
the booth and there were about 10 of them running about with logo-d
t-shirts. They were shocked—just shocked!—to discover that any interest
was about taking free books. They had a big book signing (poetry)
planned for 2:30 and were all abuzz about it. When the time arrived and
the announcement was made, they shut up for the first time that day and
waited for “the crowd.” Which never came. At 2:45 they packed up all
their stuff and departed (but not before making all of us get off their
rug so they could take it home). Not a particularly wise investment of
nearly $400 for the booth. Another island mate took over the book for
book signings.
 Met Rayhal from
Brilliance Audio Books and was fascinated to hear about their
model. They do audio books—but they do them in an MP3 format, which they
burn onto a cd (thus, one supposes, lowering the chance of getting
ripped off). Theirs is a booming business, she tells me, and she even
wrote orders, it’s such a new product. But she also had a lot of time to
run up to the bar and see her Tigers embarrass the Yankees.
 Went to my sister-in-law’s for some serious niece cuddling and great
chicken dinner. As you can see, the girls are already in training to
shop at big (or small) box stores!
Sunday was no different. Wait, yes it was. It was even worse. There were
fewer booksellers and a lot of discussion about Duke’s idea to bring in
big screen TVs, beer, wine or whatever and have a party. Joyce, the
Goddess of NCIBA, told me that she had signed up the exact same number
of booksellers as last year. They just didn't come.
 <-- Me, at our
Beagle Bay Books booth, being
bored.
On one end of the hall, someone decided to have a drum competition,
right behind the Penguin booth. After about 10 minutes, all the
salespeople had abandoned the booth until the commotion stopped (which
it did after about ½ an hour)
The first time I attended NCIBA, I was impressed with the number of
women wearing odd clothes, tattoos and wild hair color. While there were
some interesting costumes (one gal wandering about was wearing knee-hi
argyle socks on her arms) and the occasional “tat,” there were no heads
sporting colors not normally found in nature. In point of fact, everyone
was rather gray. It made me wonder if mine is the last generation to
want to be a bookseller. Ew. That’s a creepy thought.
 One of the few characters who showed up, with her Red-Vine-eating,
scruffy little dog. -->
On Sunday, after the recipe book feast (they have one every year, food
made from the recipes in the hot-selling cook book titles), almost
everyone started packing up. There just wasn’t any business. It was a
race to see who could get out of the building fastest. Heck, that night,
we couldn’t find anyone to have dinner with. We ended up eating at the
Pacific Coast Brewing Company. Good beer; skip the food. I had their
Pale Whale Ale, which was great—I was feeling too timid for their
Arrogant Bastard Beer. We packed up and headed over the Sierras to Reno
the next day.
However, on Wednesday, I had an early morning call from Thomas Faherty.
We had talked about the possibility of his company repping our books. He
wanted to tell me he couldn’t. OK, business is business. I asked him to
tell me under what conditions he might consider our titles in the
future. He said he had three conditions: BBB didn’t have a big enough
discount (we can be flexible); high freight charges (we do free freight.
He hadn’t seen that part on our catalog); and booksellers’ unwillingness
to open new accounts for lots of small presses. Well, that I can’t over
come. What small press hasn’t heard that tune before? So we talked about
work arounds and such (none that really work for us). Then we talked
about our travel books, which do so well, and he decided not to close
the door completely, could I send samples. We’ll see. Meanwhile, we
talked about the trade and where we think it’s going. He told me to call
or e-mail him if I have questions I thought he could help with in the
future—and then made sure I knew he meant that. It wasn’t just a “Let’s
do lunch” comment. I appreciate his willingness to work with us. It
means a lot to have folks who will help you in this very tough business.
So that was pretty much it for NCIBA 2006... not a total loss. But it may be
the last for the Beagles. I won’t say never (as the gods hate that
word), but “unlikely.”
Stay tuned for the next installments in November, as we attend the local
retail show with the Soroptimists and the California Library
Association.
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