Speakers announced for ABA, LEB conferences

24 February 2016 Books+Publishing

The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) and Leading Edge Books (LEB) have announced the keynote speakers for their 2016 conferences, which will be held in Canberra in May.

US bookseller and long-time American Booksellers Association staffer Len Vlahos will be the keynote speaker at the ABA Conference. Vlahos is the owner of indie bookstore chain Tattered Cover, former executive director of the US Book Industry Study Group, former COO of the American Booksellers Association and author of the YA novel The Scar Boys.

‘Len’s keynote will stimulate, educate and inspire,’ said the ABA in a statement. ‘He and his wife Kristen Gilligan recently committed to buying Tattered Cover, one of America’s most iconic indie bookstores, with four Denver locations and three airport shops … To have made the decision to commit to an enterprise of this size at this time in the industry is a really positive indicator of where Len sees bookselling heading.’

Other sessions at the ABA conference include a panel on booksellers’ expansion strategies; a forum with booksellers and publishers on parallel importation restrictions; an ‘in conversation’ with Nielsen BookScan’s Shaun Symonds on converting Nielsen reports into ‘usable information’; and social media advice from Yvonne Adele.

LEB’s keynote address will be delivered by Martin Lindstrom, author of Small Data: The Tiny Clues That Uncover the Huge Trends (Hachette). Other authors appearing at the LEB Conference include Herman Koch (speaking, appropriately, at the awards dinner), Liane Moriarty, Richard Fidler, David Hunt, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Rajith Savanadasa, Steven Amsterdam and Inga Simpson.

As previously reported by Books+Publishing, the LEB conference will run from 27-28 May and the ABA Conference will run from 29-30 May. A joint trade exhibition will be held on 29 May.

Registrations are now open for both the LEB and ABA conferences. For more information about the LEB conference, click here, and for the ABA conference, click here.

Category: Conferences Local news