The Australian Booksellers Association's 97th annual conference "was an outstanding success and whilst we weren't able to get together in person, we were able to bring a lot of content to a lot of booksellers," ABA CEO Robbie Egan noted in the organization's newsletter, adding: "We've had a lot of very positive feedback from booksellers and publishers and I want to thank you all for being so generous in understanding any technical difficulties we encountered....
"I won’t summarize all the content here, but simply thank everyone who sat on a panel in Melbourne or elsewhere. We heard from New York, London and Auckland when my colleagues from the ABA (U.S.), the BA, and Booksellers NZ joined us, and of course we reached out across our great flat land.... For the ABA team, it feels like we have been away for nine months, such was the intensity of the experience. There is of course no rest for the wicked, and on we must go."
Check out ABA's annual award winners here, including Michael Earp of the Little Bookroom, Melbourne, who was named ABA Text Bookseller of the Year; and ABA PRH Young Bookseller of the Year Genevieve Kruyssen of Where the Wild Things Are, Brisbane.
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The European & International Booksellers Federation hosted a digital panel during this year's online London Book Fair to discuss how the U.K.'s exit from the European Union has impacted the bookselling industry. The event brought together booksellers and wholesalers, including Jan Smedh, owner of the English Bookshop in Uppsala, Sweden; Tomás Kenny, general manager at Kennys Bookshop in Galway, Ireland; and Elda Lamberti, international sales manager at Gardners. They explored Brexit's impact on booksellers since since January and highlighted ways to mitigate the challenges.
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Eyeing a return to relatively normal times, Canadian bookseller the Paper Hound bookshop, Vancouver, B.C., posted on Facebook: "The burnished proof that historically we have had customers (lately, we occasionally need the reminder). This door has been opened at least a few times daily since June 21, 2013, which is barely anything to brag about, and yet... here we are. And here we shall remain!" --Robert Gray