Anna Weir is a publicist at UNP by day and a stitcher of amusing cross-stitch samplers by night. Follow her on Twitter for #Heartland17 updates. 

I’m thrilled to be attending the Midwestern Bookseller Association’s Heartland Fall Forum again this year. If you’re a bookseller looking to network with authors and publishers, wondering how to make the most out of your social media accounts, or just needing to talk with other booksellers about the trials and travails of bookselling, then Lombard, Illinois, is the place to be this week.

I’ll be joined by Rosemary Sekora, who will be championing UNP’s forthcoming titles during Thursday’s Rep Picks Session. A few other scheduled events I’m looking forward to:

• Plenary Session: Ideas that Work—I attended this Q&A-formatted session last year and found it so enlightening. Knowing a bookseller’s concerns and limitations helps me set up better communication between a bookseller and an author for readings and signings.
• Helping Books Sell Themselves: Display Skills for Every Bookseller—As a marketer, I am all about books that sell themselves.
• Round Table Discussions—Wondering whether you can improve your margins with used books? Want to expand your audio book selection? Something else? Come, chat. I’m told there will be cookies.
• The Moveable Feast—Speed dating for authors and booksellers! I am neither so I won’t be able to go, but UNP author Melissa Fraterrigo will be there chatting up her book Glory Days and I’m so glad this haunting, powerful story is going home with so many booksellers.

A full schedule of events can be found here.

If you can’t make it to the Movable Feast, never fear—Melissa will also be at booth 406 for a signing from 1:00-2:00 p.m. on Friday, October 13. I will also be at that booth, with books and cheeriness and free t-shirts.