The California Independent Booksellers Alliance met last week at the South San Francisco Convention Center, drawing a crowd of more than 200 owners, managers, and booksellers, plus more than 50 exhibitors and dozens of authors.

Panels on horror and thrillers; genre fiction; YA and middle grade “mysteries beyond the grave”; and “monster hunting” signaled the continuing interest in jump scares, fantasy, and romance. At a panel moderated by Luisa Smith of Book Passage in Corte Madera, Knopf editor John Freeman sang the praises of Golden State authors in his essay collection California Rewritten (Heyday, Oct.), while TikTok literacy champion Oliver James introduced his memoir, Unread (Union Square, Feb. 2026), and Isabel Campoy—via video call—discussed diverse representation and her picture book Books on Bikes (Clarion Books), cowritten with Theresa Howell and illustrated by Brizida Macro.

Fan favorites and anniversary editions are having a moment too. A 25th anniversary limited edition hardcover of Kate DiCamillo’s Because of Winn-Dixie (Candlewick, Sept.), and a paper-over-board 40th anniversary edition of Jeanette Winterson’s queer classic Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (Grove Press, out now), both feature sprayed edges and reasonable price points.

Bookstores have ordered up on an indie exclusive edition of Philip Pullman’s The Rose Field (Knopf, Oct.), the conclusion to the Book of Dust series, said Random House district sales rep Dandy Conway. HarperCollins, too, is releasing an indie exclusive edition of Catherine Newman’s Wreck (Harper, Oct.), among other big fiction releases. The editions with bonus material and design details that cater to fans signal that publishers hear indies’ call for collectibles. Big-box stores won’t be the only places to find exclusive content in the year ahead.

Publishers Group West and Two Rivers rep Ty Wilson, PW’s 2025 rep of the year, said he’s noticed a hunger for “transportive fiction,” holding up David Greig’s debut novel The Book of I (Europa Editions), set on a Scottish isle in 825 C.E. Patricia Nelson, TriLiteral sales representative and 2024 PW rep of the year, sees promise in evergreen backlist books about sense of place in travel destinations. Nelson also touts Virginia Woolf’s The Life of Violet: Three Early Stories (Princeton, Oct.), edited by Urmila Seshagiri; Woolf wrote the 1907 stories when she was 25, years before she published her debut novel, The Voyage Out (1915).

For young readers, CALIBA’s rep pick sessions and panels highlighted funny picture books and titles to handsell in the months ahead, including Shannon Hale and illustrator LeUyen Pham’s holiday title Holly Jolly Kitty Corn (Abrams, Sept.)—the latest in the Itty Bitty Kitty Corn series—and New Yorker cartoonist Matthew Diffee’s Zip Zap Wickety Wack (Neal Porter Books, Sept.), in which farm animals disagree about barnyard sounds.

Julie Carlson, children’s bookseller and teacher liaison at Vroman’s in Pasadena, said she’s looking forward to Scott Rothman and Linzie Hunter’s Judgy Bunny and the Terrible Beach (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, Mar. 2026), the first in a projected series about a hard-to-please rabbit. Coauthors Annabeth Bondor-Stone and Connor White breezed into Fall Fest to introduce Kitty Caterpillar (Balzer + Bray, Feb. 2026), illustrated by Bridgette Barrager. White wielded a spectacular feather-boa-like puppet depicting the title character.

Dogs had their day in the exhibit hall as well, with service dogs and puppies from the Canine Companions network helping to promote Andy: A Dog’s Tale, by John Kelly and Ignite Animation Studios (Collective Book Studio, Oct.). Canine Companions provides service dogs free of charge to people in need, explained Colleen Shannon, a wheelchair user who was paired with a black Labrador retriever named Amador. The picture book is adapted from a short animated film, and Scholastic will publish a book fair edition.

Uneasy times

Although booksellers and reps feel that customers are leaning toward escapism, political partisanship and threats against the right to read were much on the minds of CALIBA attendees. Along with fall frontlist titles such as Jill Lepore’s We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution (W.W. Norton, out now), exhibitors recommended bite-size books that could be impulse buys at the register or companion pieces to nonfiction backlist such as Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny.

London publisher Eris, distributed by Columbia University Press, publishes slim $8 pamphlets, including Contempt Is a Dangerous Way to Lead a Country, the sermon on mercy delivered in January by Washington National Cathedral’s Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde. A 20th anniversary hardcover of Harry G. Frankfurt’s 2005 On Bullshit (Princeton UP, out now) has arrived at a time when truth and justice are at stake. And publishers are banking on small paperback first editions including Randall Balmer’s America’s Best Idea: The Separation of Church and State (Steerforth Press), Michael Fischer’s How Books Can Save Democracy (Trinity University Press), and Rebecca Solnit’s No Straight Road Takes You There (Haymarket Books).

The American Booksellers Association was also on hand to address the harassment and intimidation increasingly faced by frontline workers, managers, and owners. In a presentation about “Navigating Attacks on Your Store,” ABA CEO Allison Hill spoke with attendees about de-escalating aggression in a climate of unrest. As a case study, Hill shared a “composite of events from actual stores” in which online and in-person vitriol disrupted a bookstore’s daily business.

Depending on the situation, Hill recommended contacting the ABA’s American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE), Drag Story Hour, the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc), or the Democracy Security Project, which will be presenting at Winter Institute 2026. Tools such as DeleteMe, which is offered at a discount for ABA members, can scrub personal information from the internet.

"The work you’re doing in your communities is so important, and that’s why you’re experiencing harassment,” Hill told attendees. “You’re championing diverse voices, and promoting the empathy and critical thinking that we need in this democracy right now.” She urged everyone to remain calm and to keep in touch. "You don't have to feel as isolated if you reach out," she said.

Lest anyone think that California is a dependably liberal, Democratic state, booksellers pointed out recent conflicts around gender identity, reading, and inclusion, including in San Mateo Union High School District. Those at Hill’s presentation gave examples of hateful notes, graffiti, and painted rocks stoking fear at their stores; concerns that Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE will harass employees or clientele; and negative interactions that have left them mistrustful of law enforcement. One store held a "paint back" event, painting "rocks of resistance" with positive slogans and turning anonymous unkindness into a teachable moment for families in their area.

Erin Rivera, owner of the Frugal Frigate in Redlands, said she's tracking book bans and school board disputes in the Temecula, Chino, and her own Redlands school districts. Rivera works with local mutual aid groups to support inclusion and the right to read, and she’s started a banned book club—“the best-attended book club we’ve ever had”—to acquaint her community with frequently challenged titles including The Hate U Give, Gender Queer, Maus, and The Bluest Eye.

Brad Jones, who owns BookSmart in Morgan Hill, southeast of San Jose, said that the national crisis around intellectual freedom is sounding an alarm for bookstores. “We could very well end up being the last bastion for free expression,” Jones said. “It’s important we stay strong together.”

CALIBA’s Fall Fest 2026 will be held next September in Mission Valley, San Diego.