Author Sherman Alexie has launched Indies First, a grassroots movement that calls on authors to show their support for independent booksellers by signing up to work at their favorite indie bookstore on Small Business Saturday, celebrated this year on November 30, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

A new film, created for the Lewisburg Literary Festival and now available on Vimeo, features booksellers from across the country discussing books, bookselling, and how bookstores contribute to the health of communities nationwide. Several well-known authors also make an appearance.

SIBA trade show attendees are invited to join ABA staff for a special education session on the Affordable Care Act and what it means for bookstore owners and their employees. At the ABA booth, booksellers will have the opportunity to discuss their concerns with staff and to learn about member services, new initiatives, upcoming educational events, and more.

All ABA bookstore members in good standing are entitled to four free two-week Classified Ad insertions in Bookselling This Week each year.

Bowker releases statistics on consumer book buying; SIBA offering scholarship to fall trade show; Miami Book Fair celebrates 30^th anniversary; Ingram adds new clients; Jeff Bezos to purchase the Washington Post

NCIBA Executive Director Hut Landon invites booksellers and their customers to subscribe to “Hut’s Place: Weekly Words About Books,” a free e-mail column that highlights newly released titles available in independent bookstores nationwide.

Want to put the call out to other booksellers for suggestions on how best to promote eBooks and eReaders? Looking to share best practices for handling personnel matters? BookWeb’s online discussion forums are a great place to bring these and other issues to the attention of other booksellers or ABA and IndieCommerce staff members.

Looking to increase revenue and bring in new customers on top of their regular, in-store business, a number of indie booksellers are turning toward business-to-business sales — large-quantity book sales to companies and organizations.

ABA bookstore members are eligible to receive a discount on standard and custom orders from ChicoBag, the manufacturer of reusable, stylish, and eco-friendly bags that come in a variety of shapes, sizes, fabrics, and colors. 

As part of last week’s Independent Booksellers Week celebrations in the United Kingdom, bookseller Nic Bottomley, co-owner of Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights in Bath, offered “a personal, undoubtedly incomplete manifesto for 21st century independent bookselling.”