The Spring Forum 2026

NEIBA's Spring Forum is a two day event full of author presentations, education, and community building. This year, the Spring Forum will be held April 15-16, 2026 in Danvers, MA, and will include a Sideline Exhibit Show Floor. Registration for Spring Forum is now closed. 

Event Schedule

Wednesday, April 15

7:30 AM

Registration opens

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

All About the Books 

Omer Aziz, author of Shadows of the Republic: The Rebirth of Fascism in America and How to Defeat It for Good (Broadleaf Books, an imprint of Augsburg Fortress Publishers)

Brooke Barbier, author of Cocked and Boozy: An Intoxicating History of the American Revolution (Chicago Review Press)

Christina Diaz Gonzalez, author of Offside (Scholastic Inc./ Graphix)

Eric Jay Dolin, author of The Wreck of the Mentor (W.W.Norton/Liveright)

Jenny Jackson, author of The Shampoo Effect (Penguin Random House/ Pamela Dorman Books

Isabel Kim, author of Sublimation (Tor Books, an imprint of Tor Publishing Group)

Jarrett Lerner, author of Lake of Slime (Simon & Schuster/Simon Spotlight)

Sara Levine, author of A Visit with the Birds (Sourcebooks Explore)

J.A. Morgenstein, author of The League of Dangerous Young Ladies (Stonefruit Studio)

Ruth Ozeki, author of The Typing Lady (Penguin Random House/ Viking)

View the AATB Edelweiss collection

12:00 pm - 5:30 PM

Galley Room open

12:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Author Keynote Luncheon 

Isaac Fitzgerald, in support of American Rambler (Knopf, May 12) in conversation with Namwali Serpell, author of On Morrison (Hogarth)

2:00 PM - 4:15 PM

Rep Picks

Alyssa Hassan, Beacon Press

Keith Arsenault, Chesapeake & Hudson

Emily Cervone, Chronicle Books

Maureen Karb, Como Sales

Katrina Kruse, Hachette Book Group

Katie McGarry, HarperCollins Publishers

Mike Katz, Ingram Publisher Services

Lisa Dugan, Macmillan Publishers

Chris Kerr, Parson Weems Publisher Services

Rachel Cass, Penguin Random House

Kate Sullivan, Penguin Random House Children's Books

Karen Corvello, Princeton University Press

Nikki Mutch, Scholastic

Clarissa Hadge, Simon & Schuster

Kimi Loughlin, Sourcebooks

David Goldberg, Steerforth / Pushkin Press

Ashanti White-Wallace, W.W. Norton

3 PM–4:30 PM

Coffee Break sponsored by Left Field Publishing—The Living Room

4:30 PM - 5:30 PM

Education: More Than Books: Make Your Sidelines Work Harder

Real strategies to drive margin, traffic, and discovery in your store

Join Trudi Bartow, Sales Director of The Unemployed Philosophers Guild, alongside a New England-based gift sales rep, for a practical, fast-paced session on how to make sidelines a meaningful driver of your business.

Gift items and non-book merchandise—your sidelines—aren’t just add-ons. Done well, they increase margins, spark impulse purchases, and give customers more reasons to return.

In this session, we’ll break down how to approach sidelines with intention and confidence:

• Where to source effectively (Faire, rep groups, trade shows—and how to evaluate what’s actually worth your time)
• How to think about margins, turns, and inventory without overbuying
• What smart vendor communication really looks like (and how it impacts your bottom line)
• Practical merchandising strategies that help sidelines feel integrated, not cluttered

We’ll also share real-world insights from the gift side of the industry—what vendors wish booksellers knew, and where we see stores succeeding (and struggling).

Attendees will leave with a take-home resource packet and clear, actionable ideas they can implement immediately.

If you’re looking to make your sidelines more strategic, more profitable, and more aligned with your store’s identity, this session is for you.

5:30 PM - 7:00 PM

Author Reception

Featuring Heather Abel, Lauren Acampora, Melissa Albert, Victoria Aveyard, Michael Buckley, Christy Cashman, Meg Elison, Joy Michael Ellison, Jessica Everett, Ami Fields-Meyer, Maddie Frost, Lorna Gibson, Christina Baker Kline, Fonda Lee, Joseph Moldover, Meg Richardson, Hannah Selinger, & Virginia Shaffer

Thursday, April 16

8:30 AM - 10 AM

Author Keynote Breakfast

R.F. Kuang, in support of Taipei Story (William Morrow, September 22)

10 AM–4 PM

Galley Room open

11:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Sidelines Exhibit

Featuring 2021 Co, Altaché Designs, Ampersand M Studio, Better Than The Gift, Big Wheel Press, Chesapeake & Hudson, Clear Solutions, Como Sales, Crafty Queer Studio, Dog Star Creations, Elsabelle Paper Co., Fine Moments, Fly Paper Products, GodineLetterpress, Grey Street Paper, Happy Camper LLC, Hope and Words, Indie Beacon Book Light, Kwohtations, Main Street Reps, NANU Studio LLC, Phillips Chocolates, Rust Belt Love Paperie, Saturn Press, Scholastic, Smudge Ink, Storymatic Studios, Unemployed Philosophers Guild, RBG Sales, Waverley West.

Consultation Stations

Batch for Books, Bookazine, Edelweiss, Ingram, and Libro.fm

Roundtable Discussions by bookselling cohort—Gloucester Room

11 AM—Frontline Booksellers

12 PM—Managers (working lunch)

1 PM—Buyers

2 PM—Owners

3 PM—NECBA

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Grab-n-go boxed lunches for all

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Bookseller Olympics & Happy Hour(s)