The side benefits for me are that I get in for free through SLG, which means I get to go around the exhibitor hall grabbing any free books I can for the school library. And when I went to ALA before, they gave out LOTS of free books. Which is great because we seldom have an actual book budget.
Having said that, we did just receive about $1600 total through two different sources, but that was unexpected and certainly not something we get on a regular basis. And anyone who buys for a library, public or school, knows that doesn't go as far as it sounds.
Now I get to check out the ALA website and find out if there are any exciting authors scheduled to be there, in case I want to be a fanboy and get signed books or something.
This will be the first time SLG has shown at ALA, so Dan asked me if I had "thoughts" about it. I responded immediately with a bossy list of suggestions. How to display, what to display, etc. I also suggested he come up with a flyer highlighting some key books, with all the order info. And I said I thought neon lights and small fireworks would be a nice way to draw attention to MY books. But I was just kidding. Maybe we could just put my books on some sort of platform that rotates slowly. Under a spotlight.