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NEWS & NOTES

A Newsletter to Keep EBMA Members Informed

Letter from the President

Dear EBMA Members,

Greetings from Nashville, TN! I hope you’re all enjoying summer in whatever way suits you – fun in the sun, or a good book in the air conditioning!

With pleasure, I am announcing that the votes have been tallied and Nancy Stetzinger has been elected as our new EBMA President! It will be bittersweet to hand over the reins at the end of our January 2020 meeting. I’ve enjoyed serving the organization and helping to shape the future of EBMA, and I also look forward to taking a backseat to provide support in a similar, yet different way.

It seems not too long ago that we were together in Austin, so it’s hard to believe it but our 2020 meeting registration opens August 1st. The deadline to register is October 31st, and after that, the rates increase. Speaking of deadlines, member dues invoices went out in mid-June and were due July 15th. I hope you all got yours buttoned up so we can see you in Puerto Rico! 

Our 2020 Meeting Co-Chairs, Nancy Stetzinger, Jim Marshall and Margaret Coffee, have been hard at work creating a program as juicy as a summer peach! The title of our January 2020 meeting is Separating Fact from Fiction. We listened to the feedback you generously provided, and the Co-Chairs are using your input to shape the events that they’re planning. Many thanks to Nancy, Jim and Margaret – I can’t wait for all the details to come! Similarly, my thanks go to all the board members who serve on committees (which = EVERY board member) that are the foundation of all that EBMA does. I’m continually impressed and humbled by the level of effort, creativity and enthusiasm of this volunteer crew! For those of you not on the board, there are always opportunities to join committees and participate – if you’re interested, please reach out to me or any of our board members. 

I heard from a few of you directly, and anecdotally from others, that there was significant surprise that I broke from tradition and didn’t announce the 2020 location at the end of our 2019 meeting, so I thought that warranted a little explanation. Our meetings require a significant amount of meeting/dining space and many hotels lack sufficient capacity. We’ve historically tried to go somewhere that is warm in the winter (and as in previous years, that was overwhelmingly important to members, based on the survey) but not prohibitively expensive. That’s a huge ask as January/February are high-season for warm weather locales. We have relatively little flexibility in our dates, as we have to work around the New Year holiday and various industry shows and events. With these three factors, the list of viable hotels shrinks dramatically. We normally end up being a big fish in a little pond, metaphorically speaking – meaning we are a very big deal for the hotels we stay at, in terms of size of our event and room block. We tried a different tactic and negotiated a deal with a hotel where we’d have been a small fish in a large pond – we’d have been one of many organizations holding an event there. At the last minute the deal fell through and we had to move on to Plan B. The timing was such that I couldn’t make an announcement at our meeting. I’m sharing this to give you all a peek behind the curtain and to foster awareness of how important it is to me that we find ways to meet the criteria of sufficient space, a nice resort, a warm locale, affordable prices for meeting expenses, and affordable room rates for attendees. Keeping costs down for event expenses helps us manage membership dues and meeting registration fees, and keeping room rates down helps ensure that most of our members can afford to attend this meeting that is so valuable in maintaining and developing our respective businesses.

We approved a new member at our spring board meeting, and we gladly welcome Westminster John Knox/Flyaway Books! We look forward to meeting Michael Spradlin and his team this January! 

I hope to see all of you in January at the gorgeous Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Golf & Beach Resort. This location has it all – the hotel was exhaustively renovated recently and features beautiful meeting space, several pools, a gorgeous beach, lovely guest rooms, and staff very eager to help make our event a success! While touring the property, it was a toss-up about which rooms have the most beautiful view – those overlooking the ocean or the rainforest. Fun fact: the El Yunque National Forest is the only tropical rainforest in the U.S. National Forest System, and while a few things such as tarantulas, scorpions and centipedes can have a venomous bite similar to a bee-sting (dangerous only to those who are allergic), NONE of the animals large or small (including insects) in this forest are poisonous. On the other hand, we won’t talk about the things that live in the ocean! 

Wishing you and your loved ones a safe and happy summer/fall!  
Joyce Skokut
President, EBMA
Director, Sales, Ingram Library Services, LLC
jskokut@ingramcontent.com 

Hot Off the Press

 

Check out recent press releases and articles from member companies with notable news. If you have a press release or article you wish to share with EBMA for publication in our next newsletter, please email info@edupaperback.org. 

July 18, 2019 - Conn Education Acquires Novel Units 

July 11, 2019 - HarperCollins to Launch HarperAlley, New Graphic Novel Imprint

May 2, 2019 - Highlights for Children and Kane Press Press announce sale of Boyds Mill Press to Kane Press 


Member Renewals


Your company's EBMA administrator received the 2019-20 member renewals towards the end of June. Please email info@edupaperback.org or call 540-318-7770 for updates about your company or for questions regarding your membership renewal. As a reminder, membership is required for attending the 2020 Annual Meeting. 
 

Now Accepting Member Applications 


Member applications are being considered for the 2019-2020 membership year. If you have a wholesaler or publisher contact that you would like us to reach out to regarding membership in EBMA, please forward their information to Maureen Gelwicks at info@edupaperback.org. You may also refer them to the member applications found on the EBMA website. Please note that the last day to apply for membership in 2019 to be guaranteed a spot at our 2020 Annual Meeting in Puerto Rico is October 29, 2019.


Connect with Members


EBMA is always looking for ways to keep our community informed about the professional activities and personal events of its members. Please email info@edupaperback.org if there have been changes within your company, such as new employees, or if you have press releases that you would like to
share with the EBMA membership. EBMA wants to connect at the personal level too, so if you have any notable anniversaries, birth or marriage announcements, or other fun events, please let us know those too!

Stay connected to your EBMA connections throughout the  year. Join the EBMA LinkedIn group where you can share news, keep yourself informed, and keep in touch. Whether you want to share information with the group or just monitor posts, you're invited to join today.
The 2020 Annual Meeting Program Committee, Nancy Stetzinger of Follett School Solutions, Jim Marshall of Rosen Publishing and Margaret Coffee of Sourcebooks, are pleased to announce the meeting theme: Separating Fact from Fiction. The program is centered around the importance of non-fiction books in schools and libraries. It will answer questions such as how to reintroduce non-fiction in libraries, the benefits of non-fiction, how to position non-fiction for sale, and how to use non-fiction in the classroom at the Middle School and High School levels.  

The meeting will be held Tuesday-Friday, January 7-10, 2020 at the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Puerto Rico Golf & Beach Resort. Registration will open the first week of August and will close October 31st. Hotel rooms will cost $199 per night (plus taxes & fees). Rooms rates are available January 1-15, 2020, so makes plans to come early or stay late for fun in the sun (rates subject to availability). 

If you have questions regarding the meeting, please contact Maureen Gelwicks at info@edupaperback.org
     

ABOUT THE EDUCATIONAL BOOK & MEDIA ASSOCIATION

The mission of the Educational Book and Media Association is to foster a unique community that brings together a wide range of wholesalers and publishers in order to address the ever changing book & media buying needs of the educational marketplace.

     

UPCOMING EVENTS

Annual Meeting
Jan 7-10, 2019

Copyright © 2019 Educational Book & Media Association, All rights reserved.


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