BEA Bookseller-Oriented Education Includes Sessions on Graphic Novels and Social Media

BookExpo America is presenting a wide array of educational programming and special events at next week’s industry-wide convention, including several sessions specifically developed with indie booksellers in mind.

On Thursday, May 28, BEA will present the education session “Taking the Conversation Online: How Blogging & Social Media Build Community (and Sell Books).” The session will be held in Room 1E09 from 2:00 p.m. to 2:50 p.m.

Moderated by Mary Laura Philpott, the social media director at Parnassus Books and the editor/producer of the online literary magazine Musing, this session will feature a bookseller panel discussion on how online platforms can enhance the in-store experience and create stronger customer communities. Attendees will hear from Julie Wernersbach of BookPeople in Austin, Texas; Mike Gustafson of Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Heather Duncan of Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver, Colorado. Topics will include the value of social media and blogging, the pros and cons of a variety of social media platforms, and the influence of social media and blogging on book sales.

On Friday, May 29, booksellers can learn about the growing graphic novel market at the session “The Modern Bookstore’s Graphic Novel Section,” featuring Mark Siegel, the editorial director for graphic novel publisher First Second Books, and Michael Link, publisher relations and events manager for Joseph-Beth Booksellers, which has locations in Ohio and Kentucky.

The session, to be held from 10:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. in Room 1E08, will look at the changes in the past decade in terms of stocking and selling graphic novels and how booksellers can take advantage of this growing genre in the future.

BookExpo America is also once again hosting a series of Editors’ Buzz Forums to highlight select adult, young adult, and middle grade titles. Each panel will be supplemented by an Author Stage session with authors of the featured titles.

The BEA Adult Books Editors’ Buzz Panel, moderated by Sarah Bagby of Watermark Books & Café in Wichita, Kansas, will be held on Wednesday, May 27, from 4:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Room 1E12/13/14. The BEA Editors’ Buzz Adult Books — Authors Stage will be held on Thursday, May 28, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. on the trade show floor‘s Downtown Stage.

The BEA YA Editors’ Buzz Panel will be presented on Thursday, May 28, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. in Room 1E12/13 and will be moderated by Tegan Tigani of Queen Anne Book Company in Seattle, Washington. The BEA Young Adult Editors’ Buzz — Authors Stage will be held on the BEA Uptown Stage on Friday, May 29, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Sarah Hines of Eight Cousins in Falmouth, Massachusetts, will moderate the BEA Middle Grade Editors’ Buzz Panel, to be held from 11:00 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. on Friday, May 29, in Room 1E12/13. The authors of the titles featured will be on the Uptown Stage on Friday from 1:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

See the full schedule of ABA events and select BEA programming for BookExpo America 2015 here.

For free admission to the trade show and conference sessions, register as an “ABA Member” via BookExpoAmerica.com.