Spring Road Trip 2024

Hello industry partners!
Scroll this page for our full list of Spring Road Trip opportunities

If you have questions, email our director or schedule a 30-minute virtual meeting

MIBA Spring Road Trip April 17-18
A gathering of indie booksellers, industry partners, and authors

Our Spring Road Trip is a partnership with 
Unbound Book Festival (see details below)

Read the main event page

Dates
  • MIBA Spring Road Trip: April 17-18 
  • Unbound Book Festival: April 18-21
Estimated attendance
  • Our expected Spring Road Trip attendance is 80 booksellers plus industry partners
Deadline
  • Author pitch deadline: March 1 (although soonest is always best!)

Drive times
  • St. Louis: 2 hours
  • Kansas City: 2 hours
  • Chicago: 6 hours
  • Des Moines: 4 hours
  • Milwaukee: 7 hours
  • Iowa City: 4 hrs 35 min
  • Omaha: 4.5 hours
  • Minneapolis/St Paul: 7.5 hours

Airports

  • Primary option: Columbia regional airport
  • Secondary options: St Louis (with moexpress shuttle option: 10 shuttles to and from each day OR rental cars available) or Kansas City (with rental cars available)
Meeting location
  • We're meeting at Tiger Hotel, our indie bookstores, and various locations in the community, all within walking distance of each other
Lodging
  • Primary venue: The Tiger Hotel offers a variety of rooms ranging from $156-$244 USD per night. The hotel is a 1 minute walk from Skylark Bookshop and Yellow Dog Bookshop
  • Room block dates are April 16 through April 19
  • Last day to book: Friday, March 29
  • Overflow hotel: The Broadway Columbia, a DoubleTree by Hilton by clicking here (This booking link is for April 17 to April 19, 2024. The hotel is completely sold out for April 19 and April 20, 2024. In the event anyone wanted to stay over for the weekend, they would need to move hotels.)

Industry partners: Your participation is truly what makes this event possible. Our spring event is not an income-generating program. We cover the venue, food, and beverage expenses while industry participation ensures we're able to host this unique opportunity and keep it accessible for all of our booksellers. Please help us make it possible!

Sales reps and industry partner attendees

Lunch on Day 2 will be designed to showcase our industry partners in a Rep Picks style event. A limited number of participating industry reps will get a set time allotment to address all attendees. 

  • Reps will be placed on a first-come, first-served basis
  • The cost for this is $150
  • Check the lunch participation request within registration to express your interest in participating in this event

All sponsors receive the following

  • Recognition on our website: Your banner ad is featured on the event's main page and the registration page (this perk can be applied to a complimentary future e-blast if preferred)
  • Recognition in our communications: Recognition in all digital marketing and the program/schedule
  • On-site activation: 1) Recognition on meeting tables and 2) your featured item of choice at the registration desk (galley, swag, brochure, etc) 

Add a sponsorship to your cart


Additional perks . . .

Overall Spring Road Trip Sponsor / $2,000

Add to cart

All the perks above plus 5 minutes to address all attendees at the top of the event  

Book Signing Celebration Sponsor / $1,200

Add to cart

All the perks above plus one complimentary author placed at this event

Opening Night Party Sponsor / $1,000

Add to cart

All the perks above plus work with MIBA staff and board to create a custom on-site sponsorship experience

Registration Sponsor / $1,000

Add to cart

All the perks above plus your custom logo or messaging on our badges

Thought Leader Sponsor / $1,000

Add to cart

All the perks above plus your indie-facing staff member gets to participate in the panel and help us shape the session

Bookseller Travel Sponsor / $400

Add to cart

All the perks above plus a free e-blast


Multi-Channel Ad / $500 per ad

Add to cart

Select this unique ad option to get two tiers of exposure for your product or service. Email assets to Carrie Obry by February 29 for maximum impact

  • Print: Our one-sheet print schedule features 9 ads on the reverse side. Specs: 2.5" W X 3" H; 300 dpi
  • Digital: Ads will be circulated in a special e-blast to all booksellers (not just event attendees) multiple times in the month of March 2024
Welcome Table Item / $300 per piece

Add to cart

A welcome table will be hosted at the registration desk where your galley/swag/brochure will be hosted for the duration of the event.


PItch an author here

Author pitch deadline

March 31 (sooner is always better!)

What you get

Each confirmed author placement receives the following exposure across all 270 of our member bookstores, not just event attendees. The following benefits are activated from the time of confirmation until the event. 

  1. Custom graphic with your author/title hosted on our website 
  2. Banner ads that feature all authors featured our weekly newsletters 
  3. All titles are included in Edelweiss collection circulated to all MIBA booksellers
  4. Special author features will be sent to booksellers routinely. We're happy to include blurbs, trailers, links to assets, etc.
  5. Access to our bookstore member list 
Unbound Book Festival opportunities

To learn about author opportunities at Unbound Book Festival, e-mail Alex George at mail@unboundbookfestival.com.

Tips
  • Target your pitches. Our space is limited, so we suggest pitching no more than three authors
  • Availability. Please confirm your authors are able to attend before you pitch them
  • Representation matters. Pitch a diverse cast of authors to increase your chances at multiple placements
Details
  • Estimated attendance: 100 booksellers plus industry staff
  • Galleys: If you are able to supply 80 galleys for all attendees, we encourage it. We request a minimum of 50 galleys. In addition, please supply a galley request form for booksellers who can't attend to request a galley, whether it's paper or electronic. A shipping address will be provided upon confirmation. 
  • Additional opportunities: All authors are invited to join us at all the social opportunities (plus publishers can host bookseller/author dinners as they prefer)
We offer two author placement opportunities
Plenary keynote / $1,300

An event dedicated to multiple marquee authors is a headline moment of the entire experience, moderated by a charismatic author or book industry personality

Signing Table / $600

Your author is hosted at a signing table at our opening reception kick-off celebration plus they receive a time allotment to pitch their book to all attendees

PItch an author here

The following information is provided to help create a great experience for all of our confirmed author participants. Please contact Carrie Obry if you have questions.

Author event information

Overview
  • All author events happen on Day 1, April 17. Review the MAIN EVENT PAGE for full event info and scheduling.
  • All of the author events happen in the ballroom at The Tiger Hotel.
  • We are hosting two categories of authors: 1) Three to four keynote authors 2) Eight to ten reception authors. Please read the info below accordingly for your specific author placement and coach your author accordingly. 
  • See all confirmed authors here
  • Day-of contact: Carrie Obry, 612-208-6279 (please text before calling)
Author itinerary
  • OPTIONAL 11:45 am - 12:30 pm: Author-only lunch. We like to give our participating authors an opportunity to spend time with each other. If they are available at this time, please report to Glenn's Cafe at The Tiger Hotel for a friendly lunch with fellow authors. 
  • 12:30-1:00 pm: Registration: Pick up your badge on the second floor of The Tiger Hotel at the registration desk adjacent to the ballroom.
  • 1:00-2:15 pm: Event kick-off and keynote author showcase. Starting at 1 pm, MIBA staff and board will kick off the event then the keynote authors will be showcased. Reception authors are encouraged to join us to enjoy the presentation; event staff will let them know where to sit
    Event style: 
    Keynote authors will sit together panel-style at the front of the room. For their keynote, they will go to the podium. Our event host will individually introduce all of the authors and make the event flow. We encourage all keynote authors to get familiar with all of the keynote authors so they can contribute to the conversational flow of the event. 
    Order:
    1. Claire Lombardo - Ask Leif Enger an icebreaker question (present keynote last)
    2. Leif Enger - Max 10 minute keynote, ask Rainbow Rowell an icebreaker question 
    3. Rainbow Rowell - Answer question, max 10 minute keynote, ask Santiago Jose Sanchez an icebreaker question 
    4. Santiago Jose Sanchez - Answer question, max 10 minute keynote, ask Claire Lombardo an icebreaker question 
    5. Claire Lombardo - Answer question, max 10 minute keynote
    6. Possible follow-up questions among authors and from event host
  • 2:15-3:00 pm: Rapid round of introductions from reception authors. After the keynote interview is done, our event host will facilitate a "rapid round" of introductions from each of the reception authors; each reception author gets 3 minutes to stand and introduce themselves and their book to the all attendees at once. These intros are designed to fuel interest and connections at the signing reception. Authors should plan their remarks as interesting cocktail party conversation about them as an author and their book. It's always great to compare your book to another well known book so booksellers can quickly understand what's similar, where it is shelved, how to handsell it, etc. 
  • 3:00-4:15 pm: Book signing celebration - All attending authors now head to a dedicated pre-set signing table to sign copies of the galleys/books for attendees. All authors are welcome to be creative at their signing table with business cards, swag, or goodies to help facilitate connections.
  • OPTIONAL 4:30-5:30 pm: Bookstores visits. Authors are welcome to join us at Skylark Bookshop, Yellow Dog Bookshop, and Black Tea Bookshop. Authors, please be mindful that the tours are designed for booksellers and prioritize room for them if space is tight.
  • OPTIONAL 8:00-10:00 pm: Opening night party at the Columbia Art League. Join us for a casual party on opening night. 
Publicist task list

Do these to things before April 10, please

  1. RSVP for your author for the optional author-only lunch, whether the answer is yes or no
  2. Ship galleys/books per the instructions below 

Galleys

Send a minimum of 65 galleys as follows:

Skylark Bookshop

MIBA Spring Road Trip / AUTHORS NAME

22 S 9th St

Columbia, MO 65201