ICRS - 2012

Some of you know I recently  skipped off to Florida for a little over a week, and now I'm telling you why.

Every year since 2004 ( maybe missing one year) we have attended the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS.) It used to be called Christian Booksellers Association (CBA) but a lot more than books is brought to the convention - music, gifts, etc, so the powers in charge decided to the name to better reflect the convention's purpose.

 Publishers put together this show every year by putting up booths to show off their wares, and book store owners from around the world come and talk to the publishing house reps and network with each other and purchase some of their stock for their book store for the year.

It used to be a giant convention, one could walk for 2 hours and not see the whole floor, but with more people purchasing on the web along with other factors, it is much smaller. Still, one can easily walk 2 miles in a day wandering around the floor.

Publishers bring authors in to do book signings and give away books because that attrachs book buyers to the booths and lets them know the authors, which incentives the buyers to put those books in their stores. Make sense?

 And that is why my dad and I go to this show every year.

And my sisters come, as well, but mostly for the candy that the publishers have in their booths.

I like the candy, too. :)

 This year my dad signed copies of Liberator (with his publisher Zondervan) and From the Mouth of Elijah (with his publisher AMG), and I signed copies of Noble Imposter (with AMG). He had 4 separate book signings. I had one. :) Less work for me. ;)


My sister and cousin were excited to get to meet Steve Green and get an autographed CD.

My nephews thought it was cool to see grandpa signing his books. :)

Signing Noble Imposter.

I think the pictures turned out okay this year, but I like last year's pictures better.

I signed copies of Precisely Terminated last year.  They were pre publication copies, though, and didn't have their final cover yet.

And I got to meet Roma Downey (sp?)   the lady who plays Monica in Touched by an Angel. 

And no. Monica in the Cantral Chronicles was not named after Monica in Touched by an Angel. I didn't even think about them both being named that until I met Roma!

She was very nice, btw. :)


Also, ICRS moves almost every year. It rotates between being at the convention center in Denver, CO, to St Louis, MO, to Atlanta, GA, to Orlando, FL.  This year it was in Florida, last year it was in Missouri, and next year it's in Missouri again. I'm not sure what makes them decide which state to use, but that's the way it is. Two years it was in Denver twice in a row. No telling what makes them do what they do. :)