What happens when hundreds of Golden State independent booksellers gather together at a Hilton in Pasadena? Alta Live will be on-site to find out! Join us as we take you inside the California Independent Booksellers Alliance’s annual statewide Fall Fest, where owners and representatives from your favorite local bookstores will attend author panels, networking events, and literary soirees. Mary Williams of Skylight Books and Melinda Powers of Bookshop Santa Cruz, both members of CALIBA’s board of directors, will sit down with Alta Live direct from Alta Journal’s table at the Fall Fest vendor showcase to share with us the particular challenges faced by West Coast indie bookstores, explain how booksellers benefit by attending this two-day event, and detail the thriving community of literature lovers that runs California’s best bookshops. Don’t miss this Alta Live—on the road.

About the guests:

Melinda Powers is the head book buyer at Bookshop Santa Cruz and the president of the California Independent Booksellers Alliance.

Mary Williams is the general manager of Skylight Books and a member of the board of the California Independent Booksellers Alliance. She previously worked as Skylight’s events manager and as a freelance copy editor.

Here are some notable quotes from today’s event:

  • On an alliance for bookstores: “What we try to do is provide opportunities for bookstores to network with each other and learn tips from each other, but then also to speak as one voice as California booksellers. If one of us goes to one publisher and says, ‘Hey, you know, we have an issue with shipping,’ that’s great, but if all of us come together as California bookstores and say something to all the publishers as CALIBA, that carries more weight.” —Powers
  • On CALIBA’s goals: “Supporting the giant breadth of bookselling in California [is the goal], because we have everything from very large stores in big cities to rural stores to micro-stores, very niche bookstores. Something that our new executive director is working on, and the board wholly supports, is making sure that all booksellers are getting something from the organization. There is a lot of new energy in the industry since the pandemic that I think we’re all really excited about.” —Williams
  • On what readers can do to help with author events: “I think community engagement is always important. And to be honest, the sales of a person’s book will help. Readers can help bring an author to our town, and the way we know if someone is a beloved author is with sales.” —Powers
  • On authors opening bookstores: “I think it’s great. We’re very lucky because these authors have opened really excellent bookstores. They’re definitely not tourists. They’re really learning business and filling in where there are gaps in the industry.” —Williams

Check out these links to some of the topics brought up this week.