Alta Journal is always focused on California and the West, but this week, I joined editors Blaise Zerega and Jessica Blough in (decidedly midwestern) Cincinnati for the American Booksellers Association’s Winter Institute. Here, we connected with independent bookstore owners, book buyers, and literary enthusiasts from all over the United States in an effort to expand Alta’s reach beyond the many bookshops that already carry our magazine and to deepen our collaboration with this important community.
In its 19th year, this four-day conference was packed with over 900 independent booksellers from around the world. According to ABA’s CEO, Allison Hill, tickets for this year’s Winter Institute sold out in less than an hour. In addition to an exhibitors’ hall, where our Alta team set up shop, the show featured a series of presentations and panels, including author talks; publisher speed dating, with a focus on upcoming titles; and more than a few cocktail hours.
Zerega and I met with Courtney Wallace, ABA’s program director for Indie Bookstore Day, to learn more about how we might use our platform to get our readers in the doors of their favorite bookstores on April 27. We met with booksellers from across the West who were not only stocking Alta but also selling out of our Best Bookstores guide. And this year, we connected the magazine to booksellers beyond the West, working to serve our growing readership in places like Texas, the Midwest, and New York.
Throughout the week, we ran into several of Alta’s bookseller friends—such as Jennifer Caspar and Colin Hinckley from Village Well Books & Coffee in Los Angeles, Kar Johnson from Green Apple Books in San Francisco, Malik Muhammad from Malik Books in Los Angeles, and the entire marketing team from Books Inc. in the Bay Area. We also enjoyed in-person reunions with former California Book Club author Rachel Kushner, CBC selection panelists Paul Yamazaki and Danzy Senna, and Alta contributor Jonathan Lethem—all of whom were at Winter Institute to celebrate the upcoming releases of their books with independent booksellers.
Warmed by connections new and old—and a hearty serving of Cincinnati’s famous chili—Alta’s road team is headed back to the Golden State to finish the magazine’s upcoming Issue 27.
Don’t miss Alta’s next winter event, a wine tasting and reading for Issue 26 at Santa Ana’s Alta Baja Market.•
