MidAtlantic Book Publishers Association

Hello, MBPA members:

I've received several news items from various organizations that I wanted to pass along to you:

New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Author Database

NAIBA is reinventing the online author database. The new format will include regional authors interested in store visits, but will expand to include any authors interested in call-in events with bookstore reading groups.

I received the following notice from the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association, and I thought it would be of interest to some of you. This is an opportunity to let booksellers know about promotional materials that you have available for them to use in selling your books.

The 2007 New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) show was held On October 14th and 15th at the Sheraton City Center in Baltimore, Maryland. The MidAtlantic Book Publishers Association exhibited at the NAIBA show in conjunction with PMA.

The exhibits were set up in a ballroom on the main level of the hotel, an open space that made walking the floor easy, and was more pleasant than last year’s basement location. There were approximately 295 booksellers in attendance, representing around 100 stores in the MidAtlantic area.

The New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) Trade Show will take place October 14th and 15th, at the Sheraton City Center in Baltimore, MD. This is a conference for booksellers in the MidAtlantic region, and is a great opportunity to expose your books to booksellers in the area.

The MidAtlantic Book Publishers Association will have a table to exhibit members books at the trade show. If you aren't a member of MBPA yet, this is a great opportunity to join: if you join between now and September 14, you can exhibit one book at the NAIBA show for free. (New members only; MidAtlantic area publishers only).

The Baltimore Book Festival will be held this year from September 28-30. The MBPA has reserved a booth where we can provide information about the association and promote members' books. Books will be displayed face-out at our booth. In addition, anyone signing up to display books is also eligible to reserve time for an author autographing session, during which you can sell your books.

To register your titles, please fill out the form attached to this message, and return it, along with for payment, by September 1, to the address on the form.

Hey, fellow MBPA-ers! I'm making a limited-time offer to you, my publishing colleagues, of some files I've created to help authors become better marketing partners with their publishers. I recently gave two separate presentations on these topics at the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group's annual conference, The Write Stuff. I gave these files to all attendees, and they were VERY well received, to say the least.

Hi everyone,

I'd like to find out if there is interest in exhibiting at the Maryland Library Association conference, which will be held May 2-4 next year in Ocean City. If there is enough interest, MBPA will look into having a booth at the conference to exhibit members books. If you are interested in exhibiting your books at the conference, please email me at sruth@imaginatorpress.com or post a comment on this forum message. Thanks!

When I arrived at the Valley Forge convention center, I was a little nervous when I noticed the number of people entering the building carrying firearms. I soon discovered that, in addition to the NAIBA show, the convention center was also hosting a gun show. Walking past the gun-toting attendees to get to the NAIBA show was a little disconcerting, but after a while I got used to it, although I was tempted to carry a sign reading, “Buy books, not guns.”