Fall Conference
Watch this space for details about Fall Conference 2026!
The Fall Conference is NEIBA’s largest event, bringing our community of authors, publishers, and booksellers past and present together to celebrate independent bookselling in New England. Held annually, the conference attracts 600+ attendees from the six states of New England, as well as parts of New York, and 60+ exhibitors from coast to coast. Attendees travel from across the region to meet authors, collaborate with publishing partners, seek out new vendors, attend education sessions, and socialize with their peers.
NEIBA's 53rd Fall Conference will be held September 15-17, 2026 in Newton, Massachusetts.
Preliminary Event Schedule
Subject to change
Tuesday, September 15
7:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Registration Desk open
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Early-Bird Education
Ingram’s *covered: Everything You Need To Know
New-to-NEIBA Bootcamp
We’ve been delighted to welcome so many new members to NEIBA over the past couple of years. This session is designed for those who are attending the Fall Conference for the first time, or are new to bookselling in general. It will focus on navigating not only the Fall Conference, but the book industry as well. Join NEIBA staff and industry partners to talk about what NEIBA can do for you, the resources the ABA has on offer, and the publishing landscape in general. Come with questions!
10:30 - 11:00 AM
Coffee Break
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Opening Keynote
Jill Lepore, The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State (W.W. Norton)
12:15 PM – 2:45 PM
Rep Picks Lunch
Advance RSVP required
3:00 PM - 3:45 PM
Education Block #1
Bookstore Events as Customer Service
Are You Vinyl Curious?: How to Stock Records in Your Store for Fun and Profit
Returns 101
3:45 PM – 4:15 PM
Coffee Break
4:15 PM - 5:15 PM
Education Block #2
Finance Fundamentals: Reading and Understanding Your Balance Sheet
Style & Substance: Building a Store Brand
ABA Education
5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
Author Reception
Abrea Armstrong, Ferry Tales (Red Hen Press)
Aaron Becker, The Water Beast (Candlewick Press)
Gabriel Bump, Don't Stop Snowing (Algonquin Books)
Antonio Gonzalez Cerna, Vampire Girl Conquers the Night (Levine Querido)
Erica Ferencik, The Blooming (Scout Press)
Valorie Fisher, Look and Cook Fresh (Astra Books for Young Readers)
Susan Fox, Charlotte Cane (Harper Books)
Hannah Fries, A Forest Language (Storey Publishing)
E.B. Goodale, Robin and the Moon (Abrams Books for Young Readers)
Taylor Grothe, Lethal Kiss (Nightfire)
Tiffany Hammond, How Do You Spell Belong? (Bloomsbury Children's)
Patti Callahan Henry, Heart of the Wild (Atria Books)
Anna Hogeland, Wild Aster (Bloomsbury)
David Keohan, The Wind Beneath the Stone (Chelsea Green Publishing)
James (J.R.) Lowry & Daniela De Luca, Be the Boss You Wish You'd Had: A People-First Guide to Management (Page Two)
Maria "Mia" Millefoglie, Daughters of Stone and Tide: Loss and Resilience in a Fisherman’s Family (University of Massachusetts Press)
Sarah Maslin Nir, The Lost Unicorn (Erewhon)
Katie Norton, I Think I Made You Up (Charlesbridge Teen)
Ron Pedro, Throwbacks and Keepers (Islandport Press)
Kathleen Reidy, Engineering a Love Story: A Novel (Sibylline Press)
Justin A. Reynolds, Fan Favorite: The Mostly True Diary of a Kinda Cool Kid (Scholastic)
Elizabeth Wellington Rollins, The Three Graces of Pearl Street (Atria Books)
Margaret Eastman Smith, A Spectacular Inheritance (Sibylline Press)
Emily Snyder, We Were Supposed to Find This (Wednesday Books)
Susan Tan, Miri and the Squid (Norton Young Readers)
Ethan Tapper, The Forest Year: Finding Hope in a World Worth Saving (Timber Press)
…with more to come!
Wednesday, September 16
7:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Registration Desk open
8:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Adult Author Breakfast
Flynn Berry, A Good Man on a Dark Night (Viking)
Amy Cuddy, Bullied (Harper Wave)
Andre Dubus III, Our Possible Life: And Other Stories (W.W. Norton)
Malinda Lo, Something Inside Me Knows: A Memoir (Dutton Books for Young Readers)
8:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Children’s Author Breakfast
Jasmine Guillory, It's Only Dancing (Scholastic)
Cathy G. Johnson, Fox River Comics Camp (Abrams Fanfare)
Janae Marks, Starting Now (HarperCollins Children's Books)
…with more to come!
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Publisher Exhibits
12:00 PM - 1:15 PM
Adult Editor Buzz Panel Lunch
Advance RSVP required
Children’s Editor Buzz Panel Lunch
Advance RSVP required
4:00 PM – 5:15 PM
Education
Anatomy of a Book: Second Printing
6:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Awards Banquet Cocktail Hour
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
New England Book Awards Banquet
Advance ticket ($50 bookseller/$65 industry) required
Thursday, September 17
7:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Registration Desk open
8:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Adult Author Breakfast
Augusten Burroughs, The Debris Field (Dutton)
Nicole Dennis-Benn, Black Gold (Random House)
Caitlin Doughty, Dead in the Water: The Lost Passengers of the Titanic (W.W. Norton)
Dani Shapiro, Kaleidoscope (Hachette Book Group)
8:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Children’s Author Breakfast
Lucy Ruth Cummins, Love Bug (Balzer + Bray)
M.J. Hastings, Firstborn (Stonefruit Studio)
Kara LaReau, Licorice (Scholastic)
Kekla Magoon, Alfie Hazard and the Spy Cats: A Spy in the Embassy (Candlewick Press)
10:15 AM – 11:15 AM
Education Block #3
Stop Trying to Reinvent the Wheel: How to Systematize Recurring Projects, Events, or Seasons
Organizing Chaos: Organizing and Categorizing Complex Sections for Easy Browsing
NECBA Education
11:30 AM - 12:15 PM
NEIBA Annual Meeting
12:30 PM to 2:30 PM
Moveable Feast Author Luncheon
RSVP requested
Julie Abe, The Magic Library of Waterfall Way (Bloomsbury Children's)
Libba Bray, Radio Free Texas (Scholastic)
Ann Dávila Cardinal, Hear the Dead (Sourcebooks Landmark)
Charlotte Gordon, I Speak of Wrongs (Crown)
Lynda Mullaly Hunt, How to Build a Miracle (Penguin Young Readers)
Julia Pike, Don't You Miss It (Riverhead Books)
Alexis Schaitkin, Two Lives (Celadon Books)
Laura Shapiro, Big Appetites: Five Couples Who Dreamed Up a Revolution in Food (Viking)
Maggie Thrash, Red Cherry (Harper Perennial)
Trang Thanh Tran, The Summoning of Tess Pham (Bloomsbury Children's)