The Wednesday Breakfast featuring publisher rep picks is followed by panels such as succession planning for bookstore owners, the importance of being involved in state legislation, crafting events, how to establish a nonprofit, and understanding publishers' economics.
From 12:30-2 p.m., the Lunch Author Reception features a range of authors and illustrators who will talk with booksellers and sign copies of their forthcoming titles. Attendees will also receive free Shelf Awareness tote bags (see illustration), which celebrate our own 20th anniversary!
The Community Forum, to be held Wednesday from 11 a.m.-noon, will have a new structure this year. For about 30 minutes attendees will "gather at round tables for open conversation about the business of bookselling, their stores, and the industry." Open-ended questions will be provided as conversation starters, and writing pads and a QR code will be available at each table for attendees to share thoughts with the ABA board. Then for the next 20 minutes, with microphones attendees can speak to the gathering and the board, with a limit of two speakers for any topic "to ensure that as many topics as possible can be heard."
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| Brian Selznick | |
The Closing Keynote from 4:15-5 p.m. on Wednesday features Brian Selznick who will talk about how working at an independent children's bookstore in the early 1990s--the former Eeyore's Bookstore in New York City--taught him about stories, community, love, and survival. Selznick is best known for his genre-breaking thematic trilogy beginning with the Caldecott Medal-winning The Invention of Hugo Cabret. He followed that with Wonderstruck and The Marvels. Selznick's most recent novels, Big Tree (inspired by an idea from Steven Spielberg) and Kaleidoscope, were both national bestsellers. His next book, Run Away with Me, will be published by Scholastic in April.