thANK YOU FOR JOINING US FOR SPRINGCON 2023

Wednesday, April 5 - Friday, April 7, 2023

  • Wednesday

  • Thursday

  • Friday

Wednesday, April 5

1:00PM

Lobby

Registration Desk Open

Stop here first to pick up your name tag and welcome bag.

2:00PM-2:45PM

Minuet

New Member/First Timer Orientation

Are you a new bookstore member of MPIBA or a first time conference attendee? If so, meet the MPIBA board and Executive Director Heather Duncan for a Q&A session to get yourself oriented for the show!

3:30PM-4:45PM

Minuet

Author Speed Round

Bestselling Texas author James Wade will join us as a special guest emcee for our show kick-off author event! This fast-pased and fun event will feature fiction authors answering rapid-fire questions about themselves and their work.

James Wade

HOST

Jennifer Deibel

The Maid of Ballymacool

Revell

Brenna Raney

The Meister of Decimen City

CamCat Books

Jonny Garza Villa

Ander & Santi Were Here

Wednesday Books

Gabi Burton

Sing Me to Sleep

Bloomsbury YA

Erin A. Craig

House of Roots & Ruin

Delacorte Press

Z. W. Taylor

the Bite

W by Wattpad Books

Elizabeth Crook

The Madstone

Little, Brown & Co.

Sierra Simone

Salt Kiss

Bloom Books

Sara Herchenroether

The Night Flowers

Tin House Books

Johnny Compton

The Spite House

Tor Nightmare
4:45PM-6:30PM

Minuet

Show Opening Author Reception
Keep the conversation going! Join us for drinks and snacks while you mix and mingle with our guest authors and your bookselling and publisher colleagues.
Sponsored by Shelf Awareness

Thursday, April 6

8:00AM

Lobby

Registration Desk Open
9:00AM-10:30AM

Minuet

Children's Authors All Around Breakfast
An extraordinary selection of authors and illustrators will join us over breakfast to present their new and forthcoming titles for young readers.

Debra Raso O’Conner

Annabelle Bee & the Butterfly Tree

Brown Books Kids

Chris Barton

Glitter Everywhere

Charlesbridge

Jenn Bailey

Henry, Like Always

Chronicle Books

Jacquetta Namer Feldman

The Putterman’s Are in the House

HarperCollins

Lalena Fisher

Friends Beyond Measure

HarperCollins

Wendelin Van Drainen

Mr. Whiskers & the Shenanigan Sisters

Knopf Books for Young Readers

Betty C. Tang

Parachute Kids

Grafix

Apryl Stott

Find Your Brave

Paula Wiseman Books

R. L. Toalson

The First Magnificent Summer

Aladdin

Kari Lavelle

Butt or Face?

Sourcebooks Explore

Janet Sumner Johnson

The Recess Genius

Pixel+Ink

Dez Azaad

The Carpet

Abrams Books for Young Readers
11:00AM-12:00pM

Patio

Marketing Session: Up Your Email Marketing Game
This session by Shelf Awareness’ Kristianne Huntsberger will offer best practices for creating, maintaining, and making the most of a customer email list. Kristianne will also walk attendees through the FREE marketing programs provided by MPIBA via Shelf Awareness, as well as other opportunities to promote your store and great books.
11:00AM-12:00pM

Cavalier

Financial Literacy Session: Understanding your Profit & Loss Statement

Candice Huber, Owner, Tubby & Coo’s, New Orleans, LA, and Dean of the Professional Booksellers School Bookstore Finances Course will provide an entry level understanding of a store’s profit and loss statement, including a brief look at each individual line item.

Presented with the support of the Professional Booksellers School
12:00PM-2:00pM
Lunch on Your Own, Explore San Antonio

There are dozens of restaurants within an easy walk to the hotel. Strike out and enjoy the Riverwalk!

2:15PM-3:15pM

Patio

Marketing Session: Tell Your Story Through Design & Branding

What story is the look and branding of your store telling? In this session Misty Adair, Co-owner and Creative Director at Lark & Owl Booksellers, and Aedan Richter, bookseller and designer at Nowhere Bookshop, will discuss the importance of creative and consistent branding throughout your bookstore and will share inspiration for new ideas you can incorporate. Topics will include branded merchandise, print materials, window designs, social media, store signage and more! We will offer some practical resources you can use right away, as well as include everyone in a group brainstorming session for an imaginary new bookstore. Hopefully, you will leave with bright ideas to enhance your unique voice and store aesthetic.

2:15PM-3:15pM

Cavalier

Financial Literacy Session: Understanding Cost of Goods

Candice Huber will offer an entry level session covering what is included in the cost of goods line on your P&L and how small tweaks can effect your margins.

Presented with the support of the Professional Booksellers School
3:45PM-5:00PM

Minuet

Pick of the Lists: Books & Gifts
Regional reps from publishers and vendors big and small will have five minutes each to present the books and products they’re most excited about.
5:00PM-6:30PM

Patio

Meet our Reps: Happy Hour Reception

Join us for drinks and snacks while you mix and mingle with our guest reps and your bookselling and publisher colleagues.

Sponsored by HarperCollins
9:00PM

Patio

Literary Quiz Match
Grab a nightcap from the Menger Bar and join your colleagues for a literary trivia challenge! Random House rep and Quiz Master Liz Sullivan will host our first SpringCon Quiz Match.

Friday, April 7

8:00AM

Lobby

Registration Desk Open
9:00AM-10:30AM

Minuet

Keynote Author Breakfast: Community & Character as Essential to Storytelling
A perfect way to start your day! Enjoy a breakfast buffet and six featured authors in conversation with moderator Calvin Crosby, co-owner of The King’s English bookshop. These authors of extraordinary works of fiction and nonfiction will discuss their work and how their stories center place and people.

Cynthia Leitich Smith

Harvest House

Candlewick

Bryan Washington

Family Meal

Riverhead

LaToya Watkins

Holler, Child

Tiny Reparations Books

Ruchira Gupta

I Kick and I fly

Scholastic Press

Safiya Sinclair

How to Say Babylon

Simon & Schuster

Mona Gable

Searching for Savanna

Atria Books
11:00AM-12:00PM

Patio

Marketing Session: Building Community & Selling Books on Social Media

Join Reign Kingsberry (Bookseller and Social Media Coordinator at Twig Book Shop), Kayla Kleinman (Marketing Associate at Bookshop.org), and Sarah High (Senior Bookstore Partnerships Manager at Bookshop.org, and former bookseller and manager at Book Culture) for a lively discussion on using social media to foster community and sell more books online! They’ll share all the top tips for booksellers on where to start and where to go when you want to grow your online sales and presence.

11:00AM-12:00PM

Cavalier

Financial Literacy Session: Managing Your Cash Flow

Candice Huber will discuss how better management of money coming in, and going out (inventory, accounts payable and accounts receivable), can lead to a healthy cash flow for your business.

Presented with the support of the Professional Booksellers School
12:15PM-1:45PM

Minuet

Author Smörgåsbord Lunch

A wonderful variety of authors will join us for lunch and present their new and forthcoming books in brief 4-minute bites.

Sponsored by Libro.FM

Tosca Lee

The Long March Home

Revell

Steve Magness

Do Hard Things

HarperOne

Seraphina Nova Glass

The Vanishing hour

Graydon House

Khadijah VanBrakle

Fatima Tate Takes the Cake

Holiday House

Sim Kern

The Free People’s Village

Levine Querido

David Bowles & Guadalupe Garcia McCall

Secret of the Moon Conch

Bloomsbury YA

Jayme Lynn Blaschke

Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch

The History Press

Jennifer Troice

My Silver Lining

Brown Books

Lorena Hughes

The Queen of the Valley

Kensington

Claire Legrand

A Crown of Ivy and Glass

Sourcebooks Casablanca

Nicholas McIntire

A Wicked Wind

Black Dove Press

Brittany N. Williams

That Self-Same Metal

Amulet Books
2:00PM-3:00PM

Patio

Idea Sharing Wrap-up Session
Before heading back to your store, take a last moment with your bookselling friends, new and old, to process your SpringCon experience! Which authors, titles, and products are you most excited about? What did you learn that will make the most differnence to your business? How was the show?

Presented by

Thanks to our Sponsors

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