"My goal for attending NVNR? As a new bookstore owner, to learn best practices from experienced booksellers and store owners. And to network with publishers and gain insight into lists, with a focus on my niche interest store." –NVNR 2024 Attendee
One of the most important resources any small business has for facing an uncertain economy is the relationships it has built, both with its customers and its suppliers. Those relationships can help a bookstore weather a cash flow crisis, discover a title or author perfect for their market, or find an advocate to help expand an events program.
Coming in June, booksellers will hear about how to make connections at NVNR and set up on-site appointments with exhibitors. The list of authors and presenters will be announced, and the list of exhibiting companies and sales reps will be available to registered attendees.
The opportunity to meet face to face with sales reps and authors is one of the most important benefits of attending New Voices New Rooms. The extra author events and book sales a bookstore adds thanks to a few well-placed conversations with the right people in the right place can offset the costs of coming to NVNR.
The NVNR team knows the costs of attending a conference are a significant line item in a bookstore’s budget. NVNR does everything it can to keep costs as low as possible, so also coming in June, booksellers who applied for one of the available scholarships or travel grants will be notified if they are a recipient.
At one of the NVNR bookstore owners’ meetings last year, booksellers also shared some of their strategies for raising money and earmarking funds for conference travel expenses:
- Host a sale. A regular sale can provide a needed bump in sales to fund an expected expense like travel costs. When Lost City Books started closing for a week every summer for staff development, they also created a “pre-closing” sale, which became an annual event that their customers looked forward to.
- Join Bookshop.org. The regular payouts can be earmarked for special things like bookseller development or conferences.
- Devote profits from a section, like your “staff picks,” to pay for staff to attend NVNR. Your staff will be even more motivated to hand-sell those books, and over the course of three or four months, the sales will add up.
- “Round up” sales at the register in support of bookseller development. Ask your customers if they would like to round up their purchase to the next dollar amount and earmark the extra money for staff development or education. Customers want to support not just their local bookstore but the people who work there.
Register for NVNR 2025 | Conference Information | Follow us! NVNR@IG
Hotel: Atlanta Marriott Marquis | Reservations
(Conference Rate $180/night)
New Voices New Rooms is created and hosted jointly by the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) and the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA).