At the Winter Institute session “Beyond the Traditional Author Event,”panelists sweet pea Flaherty of King’s Books, Lacey Dunham of Politics and Prose, and Lauren Savage of The Reading Bug addressed the logistics of planning successful and creative events to increase traffic and drive sales.

A February 25 afternoon panel at Winter 8 explored how toy buying, pricing, merchandizing, and marketing differ from norms in the children’s book industry. Panelists also shared some of their favorite finds for 2013.

Four new promotions created just for independent bookstores will launch this spring under the banner “Celebrate (With) Indies.” Titles for the promotions celebrating debut authors, moms, dads, and grads were selected by booksellers, and many are Indie Next List Picks and Indie Bestsellers.

At the Wi8 breakout session “Nonfiction Buying With Core Curriculum in Mind,” panelists Becky Anderson of Anderson’s Bookshops, Kenny Brechner of Devaney Doak & Garrett Booksellers, and Richard Buthod of Turtleback Books explained how the new Common Core State Standards are impacting their schools, communities, and nonfiction sales.

DRM lawsuit conference set; Candlewick to launch Big Picture Press; Lambda Literary names schools program coordinator; World Book Night to host April 9 celebration in NYC

“Indie booksellers are innovative agents of change,” ABA CEO Oren Teicher told an audience at the O’Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing Conference on Thursday morning in New York City.

Through the Authors Guild’s Booktalk Nation, booksellers can invite customers to participate in live author discussions and to place an order for a signed edition from their own homes, or anywhere else they have access to a phone or the Internet.

Bookstores that wish to participate in the 2013 celebration of World Book Night in the U.S. must return a Host Store Marketing Agreement by Saturday, December 1.

In its third year, American Express’ Small Business Saturday has established itself as the preeminent national holiday promotion for Main Street businesses, and it is generating substantial national and local advertising that encourages consumers to support their locally owned businesses.

As the holiday season kicks off in full force, it is crucially important that all stores continue to report each week’s sales to the Indie Bestseller Lists. The aggregated reporting data provides ABA with hard evidence that demonstrates to publishers and other industry stakeholders the strength of local independent booksellers.