Tales of my Literary Life: Midwest Booksellers Association Trade Show

It's taken me years of traveling around and working with many different people to realize that the Twin Cities and the Midwest are really wonderful places to be if you are of the literary kind. Not only does it have many small independent bookstores, it also has many award winning local publishers. I had the pleasure and honor to work at the largest book trade show in the Midwest just this past week. It is its own mini BEA, I thought.

Here is a description from its website:

The 2011 Midwest Booksellers Association trade show is a conference that gathers booksellers, publishers, distributors, reps, vendors, authors, librarians, teachers, and other book business colleagues in the heart of the literary Midwest.

Last year’s trade show show was a big success. Over 700 people attended, including 300 booksellers representing close to 90 bookstores and 230 publishing personnel representing nearly 500 publishers, distributors, and sales groups. Author participation was high, as well. Publishers sponsored 153 authors, who are always one of the highlights of our show.

Following is an abbreviated list of the highlights of the schedule.

Wednesday, September 21: Pre-show Event

Killer cocktails, Sponsored by Sisters in Crime and the Twin Cities Crime Writers Co-op, held at Open Book.

Thursday, September 22:
Education Day/Exhibit Set-Up

• 7:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Registration desk open.
• Noon to 5:00 p.m. Exhibitor set-up.
• Educational sessions and Rep Pick of the Lists run throughout the day.
• Adult Author Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. to 8:55 a.m. Approximately 150 attendees.
  Features Naomi Benaron, Running the Rift (Algonquin Books), Christopher Moore, Sacre Bleu (HarperCollins), Theresa Weir, The Orchard (Hachette), and Jeffrey Zaslow, The Magic Room (Gotham Books/Penguin).
• Moveable Feast Authors Lunch: 12:00 p.m. to 1:50 p.m. Features two keynote authors plus up to 38 additional authors, both adult and children’s. Approximately 100-125 attendees. Features Cheryl Strayed,Wild (Random House) and Larry Watson, American Boy (Milkweed Editions).
• Midwest Booksellers Choice Awards Reception: 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Showcases our five award-winning authors. Free event open to all trade show attendees.

Friday, September 23: Exhibit Day.
Show floor open between 9:15 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

• 6:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Registration desk open.
• 7:30 a.m.-9:00 a.m. Final exhibitor set-up.
• Childrens Author Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Four keynote authors speak for 12 minutes each. Approximately 250 attendees. Features Bonny Becker, The Sniffles for Bear (Candlewick), Heather Brewer, The Slayer Chronicles: First Kill (Dial/Penguin), Gordon Korman, Show Off and The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers; Book One (final title TBD) (Scholastic), and Scott Westerfeld, Goliath (Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster).
  Bonny Becker, The Sniffles for Bear, Candlewick
  Heather Brewer, The Slayer Chronicles: First Kill, Dial/Penguin
  Gordon Korman, Show Off and The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers; Book One (final title TBD)
  Scott Westerfeld, Goliath, Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
• Formal Book Signing/Wine and Cheese Reception: 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Three 30-minute rounds of signing sessions.
• In-Booth Book Signings during Exhibit Hours: 9:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Host author signings at your booth at your discretion during exhibit hours. Be sure to give us a schedule of these signings for distribution at the show

I had so much fun, though I am sore from the two twelve hour days. I was able to meet a lot of wonderful authors while flapping their books and prepping them for their signings! I also got a chance to mingle with many publishing and literary folk that I have seen on and off through the years. Overall, it was an amazing time to be with so many like minded individuals. I had a chance to work with my good friend Dawn, a literary agent and build some connections that hopefully will bring me back next year.

Check out the website, Even if you are not from the Midwest, it is full of wonderful information about independent bookstores, authors and literary websites.

Midwest Booksellers

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child