Virtual Spring Forum Event Schedule

We have expanded our Virtual Spring Forum to last all spring! Each Wednesday join us for bookseller chats followed by author presentations.

We will rotate the time of day to accommodate different schedules every Wednesday. This week’s conversation will be held Wednesday, April 22nd at 9:00AM - 10:00AM CDT.

These conversations are meant to keep us united- sharing best practices for dealing with COVID-19, voice concerns, and help plan for the future. They also serve to provide much needed face to face time with fellow booksellers and sales reps. Please register here and share any questions or best practices you would like to discuss during the call. The call will be held via Zoom.

At the end of our chat enjoy a presentation from a much-anticipated spring / summer published author. Authors will present their latest title as well as how they are currently dealing with shelter-in-place orders and the ways they are supporting independent bookstores.

VIRTUAL SPRING FORUM SCHEDULE
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Wednesday, April 22nd, 2020 | 9:00AM - 10:00AM CDT

​BOOKSELLER CHAT
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/6775096962

For our chat this week we have invited representatives from small to midsize presses to be on the call to answer bookseller questions and address plans for the future. Thank you to representatives from Abraham Associates, Candlewick, Chronicle Books, Consortium and Haymarket Books for joining us this week.

​​Join us each Wednesday for a themed conversation and general chat. Register for chat here.

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AUTHOR PRESENTATION
Our call will also include a very special presentation from the author of Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk (St. Martin's Press), Kathleen Rooney. Kathleen will discuss her newest title, Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey (Penguin), how she is coping with shelter-in-place and how she is supporting independent bookstores during this unprecedented time.

Kathleen Rooney is the author of the novel Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk and the co-editor of René Magritte: Selected Writings (University of Minnesota Press). She is a founding editor of Rose Metal Press and a founding member of Poems While You Wait. Her previous work includes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction and has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Allure, Salon, The Chicago Tribune, The Nation and elsewhere. She teaches English and creative writing at DePaul University and lives in Chicago with her spouse, the writer Martin Seay.​

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Wednesday, April 29th, 2020 | 1:00PM - 2:00PM CDT

​BOOKSELLER CHAT
We have invited a representative from the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (BINC) to join our chat. BINC has been vital to booksellers and bookstores during the pandemic. They will be on the call to answer questions and discuss their future plans.

Join us each Wednesday for a themed conversation and general chat.

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AUTHOR PRESENTATION
​Our call will also include a very special presentation from author Connie Schultz. Pulitzer Prize-Winning journalist Connie Schultz (and wife to beloved Ohio senior senator Sherrod Brown) will release her powerful debut novel The Daughters for Erietown with Random House on June 9, 2020.

Set in a small fictional town in Northern Ohio, The Daughters for Erietown centers around the McGintys, a working-class family struggling with long-held secrets and fighting to pursue their dreams. Early reception of the novel has been phenomenal, including fantastic praise from bestselling authors J. Courtney Sullivan, Mary Beth Keane and Amy Bloom.

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UPCOMING SPRING FORUM SCHEDULE
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Wednesday, May 6th, 2020 | 4:00PM - 5:00PM CDT
Bookseller Chat & Author Presentation from Sonali Dev, Recipe for Persuasion (HarperCollins)

Wednesday, May 13th, 2020 | 9:00AM - 5:00PM CDT
Bookseller Chat & Author Presentation from Mikkael Sekeres, When Blood Breaks Down (MIT Press)

Wednesday, May 20th, 2020 | 1:00PM - 2:00PM CDT
Bookseller Chat & Author Presentation from Candy J. Cooper, Poisoned Water (Macmillan)

Wednesday, May 27th, 2020 | 4:00PM - 5:00PM CDT
Bookseller Chat & Author Presentation from Natalie Bakopoulos, Scorpion House (Tin House Books)