Kudos to the American Booksellers Association for putting on another exceptional Winter Institute, its fourth annual such event. The several days of panels and events that focused on booksellers and issues of concern to them again made for amazing exchanges of ideas between participants. Publishers and wholesalers added to the ambience and introduced booksellers personally and otherwise to many authors and upcoming titles. Moreover, during difficult economic times, the Winter Institute reminded attendees that there are many opportunities and much to celebrate and look forward to in the business. Many hundreds of booksellers and their fans went home energized and full of ideas to put into effect.

This year, because of a flu outbreak that likely originated with a very young, future ABAer, some of the association staff was unable to travel to Salt Lake City and others were sick during parts of the event. Short-handed, the ABA rose to the occasion. Congratulations to the ABA and all the Winter Institute's sponsors!

Next year's Winter Institute will be held in San Jose, Calif.

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At the keynote breakfast on Friday, the inimitable Roxanne Coady, owner of R.J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Conn., moderated a panel of publishers, "each of whom has been extremely innovative and reactive to the market over the years," as she put it. Under her steady guidance, they addressed some of the main issues of the day--the economy's effect on the book business, the sense of unease at many publishers, the role of booksellers in an increasingly digital world and opportunities that exist for publishers and booksellers.

In her introduction, Coady emphasized that independent booksellers are "influencers in our markets" and should be highly valued by publishers. "I am a businessperson who's a bookseller," she said. "I care about writing and books."

Internet Interest

Bob Miller, head of HarperStudio, said that booksellers have a huge opportunity online, particularly in marketing. He offered the example of Gary Vaynerchuk, who owns a wine store in New Jersey that until recently had sales of $5 million a year. The wine merchant began doing a blog on which he commented about wine--and commented on others' websites. Eventually he started doing vblogs, too. "In 12 months, he became an online star," Miller said. "He became a go-to guy for wine advice." As a result, his business has skyrocketed, most of it from around the world. The online presence that created all this "cost him almost nothing," Miller added.

"Shout out about what you think is of value," Miller advised booksellers. "You are the influencers." An online presence can level the playing field, he continued. "If Amazon doesn't have a great spokesperson but you do, people will go to you." And booksellers should make sure staff members with special knowledge blog. "If you have someone who's an expert in military history, that person can become a go-to person."

Morgan Entrekin, head of Grove/Atlantic, said that booksellers' greatest opportunity lies in the fact that with "so much noise in the marketplace, people are asking for direction in finding stuff that's worthwhile." Seconding Miller, he urged "every bookseller" to keep a blog. As newspaper review space contracts, online postings will help make the consumer "aware of our books." Booksellers, he continued, can "establish yourselves a tastemakers in your community."

Coady noted that all booksellers are "working very hard" and when they think about blogging, "they may want to put their heads in their laps and think there's no way to do this." But Nan Graham, editor-in-chief of Scribner, pointed out that booksellers "have always blogged" via staff picks and newsletters. "You've already done the work. Put it online. It costs nothing."

Publisher perspectives

Noting that his company is independent and midsize and "competes against people with 100 times the resources I have," Morgan Entrekin said he believes that his biggest challenge is "to continue to find books that contribute to the conversation." In contrast to some of the big houses, Grove/Atlantic is "in a better position" and can operate profitably because he is not offering "gigantic advances," does not have "huge overhead" and isn't making big bets.

Bob Miller said that while blockbuster books will continue to be "an enormous part of the business for the biggest publishers" and smaller, long tail titles will have their niche, books with printings of between 25,000 and 250,000 copies--"where most of us play"--are riskier than ever. "I call it the death of the middle," he said. Publishers thrive when books in this range take off, but publishers will be unlikely to be able to keep on paying million-dollar advances for these kinds of titles while expecting only one in 20 of them to succeed--and pay for the other 19 that don't.

Nan Graham said that "tough times give us the opportunity to experiment more than before with formats." Her company's "Brokeback Mountain mini book, which retailed for $10, was a great example."

Although the music industry has suffered greatly from online music borrowing and sales and newspapers and magazines are "under stress," the book business is stable by comparison, Entrekin said. Online "the longer the form, the more protected you are," he said.

E-books

Entrekin acknowledged that "change is happening," but unlike others on the panel, he said he believes e-books will not "tip as quickly as some believe," predicting that e-books will account for 3%-10% of the market in five years.

Graham said that a major challenge for publishers is to figure out "how we and the author and booksellers participate in the profits" of e-books.

Providing an example of a program that may help booksellers and publishers stay in the e-loop, Miller praised Symtio, a HarperCollins "sibling," which is testing cards that are like iTune gift cards in some 300 CBA stores. A book cover is on one side and a code is on the other. The customer who buys the card has it activated at the register and can either download an audio or e-book version of the book via the store's wi-fi or at home.

Miller emphasized the speed at which change in e-book formats is happening. For example, Adobe has just come out with another e-book format that allows for two-minute videos on it.

He also promoted the idea that he has for HarperStudio, in which those who buy a traditional copy of a book can for a few extra dollars purchase e-book and audio versions of the book. Those bundles would include "codes on the books," which would allow booksellers to "capture that sale in your store."

E-book prices--often comparable with hardcover prices--will continue to go down, Miller predicted, and Graham noted that some Amazon e-book titles are starting to climb from the $9.99 level to levels that, as Miller said, "won't put us out of business."

Channels

Entrekin noted that Amazon is Grove/Atlantic's "most efficient" customer because it buys nonreturnable, but that independent booksellers are "my favorite because we're in conversation and you make books." He offered the example of Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier. After buying the title, Entrekin wrote nearly 80 individual notes to booksellers in the U.S., and "you made that book," he said. Night Train to Lisbon sold 125,000 copies in English.

Coady noted that indies' return rate is between 10%-14%, much less than big box stores. As Entrekin commented: "Publishers ship to big boxes in big quantities, and they return in big quantities."

Bob Miller put in a plug for buying nonreturnable, which HarperStudio is promoting, saying, "I don't understand why booksellers who are efficient don't demand to buy nonreturnable from publishers."

Noting that buying nonreturnable is "part of what contributes to Amazon's profitability," Coady said that for indies, choosing to buy nonreturnable should be "just a math thing."

Trends

Graham said that for many consumers, the bookstore is a kind of "entertainment experience like a movie theater or coffee house, and consumers are essentially on an honor system to buy the book in the place where they had the entertainment." She, like some of the panelists, wondered offhand if booksellers should charge admission.

Coady agreed with Graham's premise, saying that "everything we booksellers do that is valued by the consumer is free," including staff suggestions, most events, conversations with booksellers and simply "spending time and soaking in the atmosphere." The book itself is a commodity. Sadly a title "doesn't come in an R.J. Julia flavor," she said.

As for the widely promoted concept that people are reading less, several panelists noted that people are reading more online, and Entrekin said that "all over the planet, people are getting more literate every day, and they are going to come to the book."--John Mutter

[Shelf Awareness will continue coverage of events at the Winter Institute tomorrow.]