Tuesday, the second day of the ninth annual Children's Institute, began with a welcome from Allison Hill, CEO of the ABA, and an opening keynote from authors Nicola and David Yoon and editor Bria Ragin. The three discussed the inspiration behind the Yoons' new imprint with Random House Children's Books, Joy Revolution, described by the Ci9 website as "a celebration of love stories written by people of color about people of color."
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| David and Nicola Yoon | |
Ragin, a Delacorte and Joy Revolution editor, asked the romantic and business partners about their inspiration for creating the imprint. David Yoon said it dates back to when the two met at Emerson College in Boston, Mass., and discovered their mutual love of romcoms. "Fast forward 20 years," Nicola said, and they wanted to make the stories they love so much "and see people who look like us in them." David followed up with, "It's a really simple concept: romance with people of color.... It's humanizing people of color and showing them as regular people just like everybody else. It seems like a humble mission but it's crucial, too." Ragin, who has been working with the Yoons in preparation for their debut list, agreed, saying, "We need to show the breadth of our humanity."
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| Bria Ragin | |
Ragin pointed out that "the books we're going to publish in Joy Revolution are... not always about 'the struggle.' " Nicola expanded on this, noting that "stories that deal with pain and 'the struggle' are important.... [those books] can save a life.... But I do think there's another kind of life to be saved--that is the metaphysical life." Ragin asked, "Why do you think people don't see the value in romance?" Romance, Nicola said, "is sort of denigrated.... I think it's ridiculous because love is a thing everyone wants. Period. You can't argue about that. It's not just romantic love. It's love of your family, love of your work--" and, David finished her sentence, "Love of yourself."
The afternoon featured four roundtable sessions, including "Taking Off with TikTok," a helpful primer on the use of the popular platform, led by Kassie King from The Novel Neighbor (TikTok) in Webster Groves, Minn., and Ryan Clark of Gibson's Bookstore (TikTok) in Concord, N.H.
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| Ryan Clark | |
To begin making videos, King suggested, use trending sounds, get comfortable on camera and teach staff and coworkers how to use the phone for recording themselves and others. Clark suggested the next step is to simply "keep scrolling... keep watching.... Be an active user on the app." Then, King said, play around: stitch videos, interact with other bookstores, interact with book-talkers, track hashtags. And, Clark said, start curating your feed: "If there is a video that is applicable to what you want to see on your feed, linger... interact with the video."
Kathy Ellen Davis (96,400 followers) of Bards Alley in Vienna, Va., offered tips on hashtagging: "You can see how many views a hashtag has.... I try to vary popular and non-popular ones." (Suggestions included #booksellersoftiktok and #bookstoretok, as well as local tags.) Ask all staff members to share the links and, Clark suggested, make sure to create a shoppable list on the website of every book featured on TikTok.
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| Kassie King | |
King, whose The Novel Neighbor TikTok has 44,300 followers, noted that the store saw a return on its time investment a few months after they started. But Clark warned it doesn't necessarily translate into sales: "It depends. It can. But I wouldn't go into it expecting it." King suggested that if shoppers have seen booksellers on TikTok, it "encourages them to buy more because they already trust you"--"Your advantage as an independent bookstore as opposed to Amazon," she said, "is that you are individuals. You can sell the books you love because you love them." But she warned that "time in does not necessarily equal output" and that bookstores want to consider TikTok primarily as a way to connect with people in their community.
Mariana Calderon of Savoy Bookshop & Cafe in Westerly, R.I., suggested that "Tiktok is also a good place to give younger or newer booksellers agency--give them the app, a login and let them focus on content creation over events or selling for a while and see what magic they create. It emphasizes creativity and impulsivity... so it's a good place to let them play!" Davis suggested in the chat that bookstores follow TikTok Tips and Trends (@wavewyld) to keep up to date and noted that she has created an account specifically for "bookstore social media ideas" (@smforbookstores). If all this still seems like a lot, booksellers can check out Clark's TikTok tutorial on YouTube.
The evening closed with six "Authors on Parade" sessions. Each room heard from all of the 30 authors in attendance--including Yuyi Morales (Bright Star, Neal Porter Books), Jacqueline Alcántara (Climb On!, NorthSouth Books), Samira Ahmed (Amira & Hamza, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), Tricia Elam Walker (Dream Street, Anne Schwartz Books) and Rosena Fung (Living with Viola, Annick Press)--as they spoke about their upcoming and recently published books. --Siân Gaetano, children's and YA editor, Shelf Awareness