Heartland staff headed to St. Louis earlier this year to check out our digs for Heartland 2020. The hotel is a great fit for us and the city has so much to offer. We're going to have a fabulous time. Here's a few pictures from our trip. 

The Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch has in the heart of downtown with a commanding view of the Gateway Arch and the Mississippi River. 

The pièce de résistance is the indoor/outdoor Gateway Terrace, the site of our new Heartland Book Club! Check out our author placement grid and let us know what authors you have in mind for Heartland20!

An Incomplete and Highly Autobiographical List of Cleveland Recommendations
--Danny Caine
 
I was born and raised in Cleveland, living there until I moved to Lawrence, Kansas five years ago. Many of my best and silliest memories are in Cleveland and its surrounding environs, so I will try to distill that into about 500 words of what to do in your free time around Heartland Fall Forum. I’m not including bookstores because I already know all of you will find a way to visit the Forest City’s incredible practitioners of our trade. There are so many more things that I can’t include (the right kind of writer can talk about his hometown forever) so come find me at Heartland and I can give you a personalized prescription.
 
Hyatt Regency at the Arcade
I got married in this hotel, which is now the Heartland overflow hotel. If you’re not staying there it’s worth a walk down Euclid to see the majestic 100-foot glass ceilings of the world’s most glamorous shopping mall. It’s not super vibrant on the retail or food court front these days, but this is a spot for an absolutely ace Cleveland selfie.

The West Side Market
When I was a grad student and actually had free time during the week, I’d go to the West Side Market on Wednesday or Friday mornings and pig out. This huge brick temple to food (all of my favorite places in Cleveland have high and dramatic ceilings) is a pilgrimage for anyone who likes to eat. There are many culinary wonders in here, but I wouldn’t miss the Beef Jerky at JJ Meats, the Falafel at Maha, and the pierogies at the Pierogi Palace. Yes, Cleveland has a Pierogi Palace. Can’t you see why I love this town? As it turns out, we took a few engagement pictures at West Side Market, one of which features us blissfully looking at some fish.
 
Great Lakes Brewing Company
I miss this beer often. They don’t distribute to Kansas. The Christmas Ale at GLBC has a following that can only be called religious, and I make sure to pack a bunch in my suitcase every time I visit during its season. I don’t think it’s out yet, but that’s not to say the other offerings aren’t delicious. The food is good, too. This place has been around forever, and they know what they’re doing. I watched the US Women’s Soccer Team win a world cup in the basement here.

Cleveland Museum of Art
This is a bit of a hike from downtown but if you can swing it, it’s totally worth it. The collection is stellar and the building is gorgeous. Plus, it’s free. There’s a Monet water lilies painting here that’s part of a triptych alongside one at Kansas City’s art museum. The poet and narrative fan in me loved this resonance when I moved from Cleveland to Kansas. Also, yes, the main atrium has an absolutely bonkers ceiling.

Mabel’s BBQ
Michael Symon, Cleveland celebrity chef, opened a “Cleveland-style” BBQ restaurant on E 4th Street, a pedestrian mall with several bars and restaurants, many of which are good. One thing I learned after I moved to Kansas is how fun it is to argue about BBQ. So go to Mabel’s and have a spirited debate over whether “Cleveland-style” BBQ is even a thing.

Progressive Field
There’s a strong chance the Cleveland Indians will be playing the AL Wild Card game on October 2nd, the first night of Heartland. It very well may be at Progressive Field, an absolute gem of a ballpark a few blocks from the Renaissance. If they win this game they’ll play game 1 of the ALDS Friday October 4th, the last night of Heartland. This may also be in Cleveland. It could be an interesting time to be downtown if they win. If they lose, you’ll experience the very VERY Clevelandish feeling of being disappointed in our sports teams, which has happened to me at both of the Heartland Fall Forums I’ve attended so far. It’ll only be a bit more intense this year.

Booksellers - Do you need direct help with IndieCommerce™ or IndieLite™ -- or were you a B&T Books and More user and need a new e-commerce platform?

You can meet face-to-face with IndieCommerce and IndieLite staff at Heartland, and ​ABA is currently offering a special promotion for stores that participated in the B&T’s Books and More e-commerce platform.

Ryan Quinn will be available to talk to both users and non-users of IndieCommerce and IndieLite and you can reserve your spot for the meeting. Walk-ins are welcome too. Meetings will be occurring on the show floor on Thursday, 10/3 and Friday, 10/4.

Stores can make an appointment using this form:
https://www.bookweb.org/indiecommerce-one-one-appointments-heartland-2019-fall-forum

For those who aren't familiar...

• IndieCommerce is the American Booksellers Association’s e-commerce platform for independent bookstores to create unique, content-rich, and easy-to-operate, fully transactional, e-commerce enabled websites.
• IndieLite is specifically designed for booksellers who want to have a web presence with limited time and effort to maintain. 

​We understand the financial challenges of funding trade show travel, so we work with publishers of all sizes to create a scholarship fund for booksellers from GLIBA and MIBA. All current members are welcome to apply.

We are excited to announce we have raised the scholarship amount this year to $500!

We award roughly 25 scholarships each year; we award as many as we receive funding to support

• We accept two applications per store
• Priority is given to booksellers whose stores are furthest from the show
• Booksellers who haven't won before will be our first priority, but everyone should apply
• The deadline to apply is Monday, July 8th, 2019.
• Winners will be announced in July.

In honor of Bookstore Day, Oprah Magazine rounded up "a list of the most picture-perfect indie shops around the country for bibliophiles to enjoy." ​Loganberry Books made it to the list, and it's no wonder why. It's a gem of a bookstore that goes on and on, a true compendium of delights. Check it out at #11!

​Come see Loganberry as we kick off Heartland 2019 with an opening reception in the store!

Such fun! Your trusty Heartland staff made a trip to Cleveland in March to check out the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel and enjoy the local literary lights. We have great news to report. The venue is stunning, and the bookstores are exciting. Please join us October 2-4, won't you?