“We love MIDWEST CONNECTIONS!  Not only do we discover many new books that we might not have known about, but it is yet another tool that we can use to make our bookstore unique and “keep it local.”  We have a MIDWEST CONNECTIONS area in the store and include the featured titles in our monthly newsletter.  The information provided by MBA on their website gives us a lot to talk about and makes hand-selling easy and fun.  We do weekly book reviews for our local alternative newspaper and we are in the process of instituting a store policy that future reviews will be either MIDWEST CONNECTIONS or Indie Next titles.”                                                
– Alice Meyer, Beaverdale Books, Des Moines, IA 

“The MIDWEST CONNECTIONS program is a win-win-win love triangle!  It’s an absolute boon for independent booksellers in our region. Bookstores, authors, and publishers all gain increased exposure and sales from MBA publicity tools and author events. Those events translate into great sales numbers. Most of our top bestsellers are MIDWEST CONNECTIONS books. This would never have happened without this excellent program. I thank everyone who has a part in it!”                      
– Nancy Simpson, The Book Vault, Oskaloosa, IA

 Midwest Booksellers Association supports our member bookstores and publishers with our MIDWEST CONNECTIONS regional marketing program.

MIDWEST CONNECTIONS is a turn-key program that is both comprehensive AND customized for each book and author. MBA works closely with the publisher and our member bookstores to develop and execute the program for a specific title. 

Please see our NEW 2010 MIDWEST CONNECTIONS program brochure for participation details for both booksellers and publishers.

An illustrated overview of our successful MIDWEST CONNECTIONS program is included in our 
NEW 2010 full color brochure. (PDF – 3+ MB) 

2010 Midwest Connections Picks titles – confirmed as of 4/26/10

A complete list of our Midwest Connections titles from 2006 through 2009 year to date is available on the Midwest Connections Picks Title Lists & Spreadsheets page. You also will find an Excel spreadsheet file of our 2010 Midwest Connections Picks confirmed to date.

If you have questions or would like to discuss the program in more specific detail, please contact MBA Executive Director Susan Walker at susan@midwestbooksellers.org  or 612-926–5868.

As of January 2009, there is a modest $250 participation fee for a publisher to promote a book with MBA in our MIDWEST CONNECTIONS program. This program can enhance the promotion and sales of a book in the MBA region, while costing the publisher very little more money than it would typically plan to spend on that book.  MBA also can commit well in advance to making a strong Midwest regional interest title a MIDWEST CONNECTIONS PICK, so that a publisher can build MIDWEST CONNECTIONS into the marketing and publicity budget for the book.

The types of books featured in the MIDWEST CONNECTIONS program are adult fiction and non-fiction (particularly memoirs, history, or current affairs); cookbooks; and children’s books. Other subjects may be considered, too.

MIDWEST CONNECTIONS is not limited to titles of Midwest regional interest or authors who live in our region. However, it is particularly well suited to promoting books with ties to our region. 

“The MIDWEST CONNECTIONS program helps me to highlight books about the area that don’t receive the recognition of bestsellers or big name authors.  LITTLE HEATHENS and TRUCK are the best examples. Small books with strong sales.  Programs like this help me stand out from the crowded world of bookselling.  When you can put a lesser known book into the hands of customers, and they like it and would not have heard of it otherwise, they appreciate your expertise.”
– Jerry Bilek, Monkey See Monkey Read, Northfield, MN

MIDWEST CONNECTIONS is the impetus behind innovative and successful bookstore and reading group events with authors.

“Our Midwest Connections Skype event with Maggie Stiefvater, SHIVER, was GREAT!!  The kids LOVED Maggie – they thought she was so funny and engaging. They were THRILLED she had sent personalized book plates. The local newspaper came to cover the event, too. I would definitely do a Skype event again.  This is a really great thing for my community because we’re 200 miles from a major metro area, and this is a way to have authors visit the store.  THANK YOU for all your help!! MBA, Scholastic, and Midwest Connections made this possible!”   
– Jennifer Wills Geraedts, Beagle Books, Park Rapids, MN

MIDWEST CONNECTIONS gives featured titles high visibility, and it sells books. 

“34 copies sold of THE LATEHOMECOMER; 46 copies of THE REST OF HER LIFE; 27 copies of SHELTER HALF… You can certainly tell which MIDWEST CONNECTIONS books our book group picked!  Paperbacks of the previous year’s MIDWEST CONNECTIONS PICKS also sold well.” 
– Sally Wizik Wills, Sister Wolf Books, Dorset, MN

  Here are some more outstanding examples of MIDWEST CONNECTIONS success:

• 14 MIDWEST CONNECTIONS PICKS for 2009 were Heartland Indie Bestsellers, and some continue to be bestsellers into 2010.  5 of our PICKS were also national Indie Bestsellers in 2009.  MIDWEST CONNECTIONS and booksellers in our Midwest region frequently help drive books onto the national list.
• Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter (Grand Central/Hachette) became both a MIDWEST CONNECTIONS PICK and a Heartland Indie Bestseller in fall 2008, and it continued on the bestseller list for 25 weeks in 2009.  It also was featured on the front cover of the 2008 MBA Catalog. Dewey was the 2009 Midwest Booksellers’ Choice Award Honor Book for nonfiction, too.
• Michael Perry’s new book Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting (HarperCollins), a MIDWEST CONNECTIONS PICK for May 2009, was an immediate Heartland Indie Bestseller and stayed on the list for 15 weeks. (Coop also helped push the backlist titles Truck and Population 485 back onto the Bestseller List.) It won the 2009 Midwest Booksellers’ Choice Award for nonfiction. Perry’s Truck: A Love Story (HarperCollins), one of our two MIDWEST CONNECTIONS Picks for fall 2006/winter 2007, was on our Heartland Independent Bestseller List for 11 weeks. It won the 2007 Midwest Booksellers’ Choice Award for Nonfiction, and ran for many weeks on the bestseller list in its paperback edition. 
• A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (Algonquin) was on the Heartland Indie Bestseller list for 16 weeks in 2009, and it was our 2009 Midwest Booksellers Choice Award Honor Book for fiction. The paperback edition jumped onto the bestseller immediately in January 2010.
  Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish (Bantam/Random House), one of our May 2007 MIDWEST CONNECTIONS PICKS, became a Book Sense Notable Book two months later, hit the Heartland Independent Bestseller List, and went on to be named one of the Ten Best Books of 2007 by the New York Times.  It continued on the bestseller list into 2008, and when the trade paperback was published, that edition immediately became a besteller and remained on the list all year.  The book was still on the Heartland Indie Bestseller List in early 2009.  In addition, Little Heathens was chosen by MBA booksellers as the 2008 Midwest Booksellers’ Choice Award Winner for nonfiction.
• Whistling in the Dark by Lesley Kagen (NAL/Penguin), one of our Spring 2007 MIDWEST CONNECTIONS Picks, was published on May 1, and it appeared on the Heartland (Midwest regional) Independent Bestseller List for the week of May 13, where it remained almost until the end of 2007.  It reappeard on the Heartland Indie Bestseller List in 2008, and it was chosen by MBA booksellers as one of our 2008 Midwest Booksellers’ Choice Award Honor Books for fiction.

MBA actively cross-promotes our MIDWEST CONNECTIONS program with our other regional programs, events, and initiatives, too:

• 14 MIDWEST CONNECTIONS PICKS for 2009 were Heartland Bestsellers, and 5 of these were national bestsellers, too. Several continue to be in 2010, too.
•   5 MIDWEST CONNECTIONS PICKS were 2009 Midwest Booksellers’ Choice Award Winners or Honor Book recipients out of a total of 10 winning books.
• 19 MIDWEST CONNECTIONS PICKS were advertised in the 2009 MBA Catalog.
• 15 MIDWEST CONNECTIONS authors appeared at the 2009 MBA Trade Show.
• 11 MIDWEST CONNECTIONS authors participated in the 2009 MBA Spring Meeting, and we will have 12+ participating authors at our 2010 Spring Meetings.
• 63+ MIDWEST CONNECTIONS PICKS also are or have been Indie Next or Book Sense Picks, Notable Books or recommended titles; a number of these began with our program and were added later by Indie Next or Book Sense.

The Midwest Booksellers Association itself helps to pay for MIDWEST CONNECTIONS. For each MIDWEST CONNECTIONS PICK, we provide up to $100 per store in rebates that stores can earn by running ads for that book, featuring it on their websites and in their newsletters, and displaying it and sending in photos to document their displays. We produce ad formats and shelf-talkers for our stores to use. We also can provide additional money that we decide is needed to support author events, other special events, promotional materials, etc.