NELA 2006

See photos from the event.

Steve Carlson: Everybody should know that the NELA show was a big success. Mary Ellen, Tordis, and Pam did a superb job. I dropped by occasionally, only because it was nearby, but there wasn't much for me to do. Compared to most conventions, this one had a surprising amount of traffic to the vendor booths--maybe partly because the weather was horrible so nobody wanted to see the sights of beautiful Burlington, but also because the displays were generally very good. IPNE's, of course, was among the best, and among the most-visited. (A superb location helped in that regard, but that would not have amounted to anything without the great books and great hosts.)

Although the only book I had on display was a galley for a March title--overnighted by the printer to get it to this show--I can testify that joining this was the best $30 I've every spent on promotion.

Pam Fenner: In light of Steve's comments, I think everyone should know that Tordis and Mary Ellen were there all the time. I left the hotel to visit the local Waldorf school as well as meet with the artist whose games I have on my website. Bravo indeed. And I can attest to how well they promoted others' titles. Tordis made sure that Mary Ellen told us about the books she'd brought from authors near Cape Ann. Tordis informed us about others' titles.

RE: the number of titles: I think we had about the maximum number of books for our 8 foot table. It had a balanced look with some books on the rack and some not. I don't think a table with all racks would be as attractive. We also had to make sure that the books on the racks could be seen - each trade show will be different with our juggling and positioning.

I've been reviewing the list of vendors and there was a good mix of services, furniture, computer, storage and technical services along with publishers. In fact, my rough tally is that there were 97 vendors of which 18 I would list as book publishers. It felt so different to be one of the 20% publishers rather than at NEIBA where the numbers are much higher and everyone is in competition for attendee' attention.

Librarians seem to be more interested in small presses than the bookstore buyers. They're warm, supportive, interested in whatever niches we represent and many were pleased when some of us mentioned our library discounts and that they could order direct.

Mary Ellen: Thanks to Pam, Steve, and Tordis for their help, and also new member Jack Crowl. I was much cheered by librarians' interest in IPNE members' books. We distributed over a hundred show catalogs and in many cases librarians circled the titles they intended to order or recommend to their acquisitions librarians. Many librarians lingered at our table to talk about the books, the contributions of independent publishers, and the desires of their patrons. What a great group! Books with local, regional, historical, or practical interest seemed to get the most attention, along with children's books and inspirational self-help books. The librarians told us they appreciate having more choice than the big distributors provide and have no problem with ordering direct from small publishers to find the titles they think will interest their patrons. We have lots of ideas for next year's show, which will be in Sturbridge, and we have already signed up for IPNE's exhibit space there! I hope everyone will participate.