Independent Bookstore Day 2016 Publisher Information Packet

INTRODUCTION: We are happy to announce that after the huge success of California Bookstore Day 2014 and the nationwide Independent Bookstore Day 2015. IBD 2016 will take place on Saturday April 30, 2016.

The national celebration of indie bookstores, books, authors and the entire bookish community will once again be produced and coordinated by the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) and Program Director Samantha Schoech.

Call for Submissions Page 2 Important DEADLINES Page 4 Publisher FAQ Page 5

Contact: Samantha Schoech Program Director/Producer Independent Bookstore Day [email protected] 415-846-6131 Twitter: @bookstoreday Facebook: bookstoreday www.indiebookstoreday.com

1. CALL FOR PUBLISHER SUBMISSIONS Deadline: September 1, 2015

For the past two years we have worked very closely with publishers to create products for IBD and we’ve been truly impressed with the creativity, generosity and imagination we’ve seen. We have also learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t.

We are again looking for very limited edition, unique, word-based items and books that will help drive readers to brick and mortar bookstores on April 30. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill signed first editions—although anything signed and numbered is encouraged—they are literature-based art projects, original books, and collector’s items created for this event only. We want to make sure folks don’t get mired in a marketing mindset--booksellers have drawers full of promo t-shirts, baseball caps and trinkets. As always, we hope for items with literary and artistic value.

Last year’s print runs were between 700-2500. Although we anticipate more regions and individual stores will be participating in 2016--as many as 500 stores nationally—we expect prints runs to remain about the same. We are looking for a wide range of price points, from $10-$50.

A curating committee of booksellers will choose 5-10 items from publisher ideas. We need all submissions and ideas by September 1, 2015, but we are more than happy to get them earlier or discuss ideas at any time.

The types of things we are hoping for are much the same as in previous years (see the 2014 and 2015 catalogs), although we have learned a few things along the way.

1. Broadsides and prints only work well if they are signed and really special. Prints in general are a harder sell unless it is an original piece by a well-known artist. The Allie Brosh Hyperbole and a Half print ($15) was the 2015 bestseller.

2. Price-point and value are important but DESIGN is crucial. The look of each piece is a huge part of its draw.

3. Original work by a big name author with a great social media presence is ideal. Our bestseller to date was The Sleeper and the Spindle, a beautifully designed small book containing a single story by Neil Gaiman.

4. Our 4 top selling items from 2015 were the Allie Brosh print (Simon & Schuster), the SALTY and SWEET Literary Tea Towel sets (CBD Publishing), Funny Ha-Ha: Joke & Riddles by Our Best-Loved Illustrators (CBD Publishing), and Urgent Unheard Stories, a small book of original essays by Roxane Gay (HarperCollins).

2. 5. Books can be very short if they are well designed and original. When we say book, don’t fret about 200+ pages. Forty pages is absolutely workable.

A few ideas to get the creative juices flowing: Our guiding question is: Is it worth lining up for?

A reissue of a classic title in an amazing and collectible new package. This idea for Fahrenheit 451 is exactly the type of thing we know would sell like crazy.

A cool collection of themed cocktail or food recipe books/pamphlets by multiple or a single author—perhaps Gin, Bourbon, Tequila or Fancy, Weekday, Lazy (find the right format and these could be an ongoing IBD series).

A themed anthology of previously unpublished or uncollected stories or essays with a few crowd-drawing names. This would also give your authors without huge name recognition a chance to participate and promote forthcoming work. If they can be signed and/or numbered, all the better. See Days Like This from IBD 2015.

Surprising non-book items with essays, poems, or stories on them like this Dave Eggers shower curtain from The Thing Quarterly, or the Literary Tea Towels produced by CBD Publishing for 2015. A watch? A cocktail shaker?

An audio book package. Authors tell their favorite jokes. Authors read their most embarrassing pieces of writing. A themed collection: authors reading stories of love, death, regret, shame…?

For kids: We’ve learned a lot in this category, namely that adults are the buyers so books work better than anything gimmicky. How about: An original short story from a popular series or character, a collection of letters from authors or characters to their readers, an original comic book from a popular graphic novelist? How-to books from illustrators or authors would be perfect: How To Write Ghost Stories, for example, or How To Draw a Graphic Novel.

A few things that don’t work:

Box sets Prints or posters for children T-shirts, baseball caps, or tote bags Blank books/journals Stickers, bookmarks, trinkets

Thank you so much for your consideration, participation and continued support. I very much look forward to discussing ideas and possible projects at any time.

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BOOKSTORE DAY 2016 IMPORTANT DATES:

• June 1 - September 1: Publishers submit one or more ideas with as much detail as possible to Samantha Schoech at [email protected]

• September 1-25: Ongoing discussions between IBD and publishers to refine ideas and determine price, packaging ideas, etc.

• September 30: Our curating committee of booksellers decides on the 5-10 books and items that are going to sell the best and create the most buzz

• January 5 (or before): All final details (ISBN, trim size, price, etc.) and preliminary art is due from publishers

• January 15: The Bookstore Day catalog goes live at indiebookstoreday.com and bookstores begin ordering

• January 23-26: Winter Institute. A chance to present actual items to booksellers and get more orders

• February 1: Order deadline for participating bookstores

• February 15: IBD gives publishers final order numbers to help determine print runs.

• April 1: All books and items arrive at distributor

• April15: All books ship to bookstores

• April 30: Independent Bookstore Day

4. PUBLISHER FAQS:

Q: Do publishers donate these items to IBD? A: In most cases, no. Publishers set the retail prices as usual (after initial discussion with IBD) and distribute them via a national distributor at their usual discounts. All items are non-returnable.

Q: Can a publisher donate the items? A: By all means! We can use the donation to support IBD or extend it to the bookstores, or arrange some combination of the two.

Q: What kind of prices are we looking at? A: Items between $8-$50 work, depending on what it is. We have found that $12-$22 seems to be the sweet spot.

Q: How are print runs set? A: In most cases, publishers print according to bookstore orders. But publishers can also set limited print runs beforehand. There are no reprints or overruns.

Q: How are the items distributed? A: Distribution and invoicing happens through a national wholesaler. Each participating publisher will need to provide standard bibliographic information for each title.

Q: Can we reissue something we’ve already produced? A: The agreement between the publisher and IBD is that each item is for IBD only, doesn’t already exist, and will not be produced in the future. However, we do understand that recipes, excerpts and illustrations may appear in different formats in other publications. We also know that if something proves to be a huge hit on IBD a publisher might want to continue to publish it. We ask for at least a 6-month head start in this case.

Q: Can we use IBD to promote an upcoming title? A: Yes, but the item created for IBD still needs to be unique and special and not feel like a promotional giveaway.

Q: What about giveaways? A: We love giveaway items for IBD, but they should be pretty cool. Finished books are great. A beautiful broadside could be wonderful. We can distribute items for giveaways via our distributor or a publisher can distribute them directly

Q: What are the other publisher commitments? A: Just to meet the deadlines. But we always appreciate help with promoting the day and we’re very open to discussing partnerships and other creative promotions.

5. Q: Are there other ways we can help? Please consider making your authors available for appearances on April 30 (they don’t have to be IBD authors). In urban areas an author can make appearances at 2-4 different bookstores on Bookstore Day. Social media promotions have been very helpful for us (#bookstoreday trended on Twitter after we hosted a Twitter party in April, 2015) and we always appreciate help with that.

Q: What about sponsorship opportunities? A: Yes, indeed. We are a non-profit and any amount helps us produce and promote IBD. Penguin-Random House because our first publisher sponsor in 2015 with a gift of $15,000. We also have sponsorship opportunities for our nationally distributed IBD bookmark starting at $5,000. Let’s talk.

Any other questions? Please contact Samantha Schoech at [email protected] or 415-846-6131

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