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Best Practices
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Common Core = Increased Business
At a session at BEA 2013, The Booksource’s Cheryl Dickemper expressed a desire to “embrace” the Common Core, saying “Common Core demands trade books and we’ve seen an increase in business.” more...
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Professional Bookselling
In order to succeed in a challenging and changing retail environment, professional booksellers need not only book knowledge and passion, but also business skills and training. Professional bookselling results from bookseller-specific resources: tailored educational sessions and events; financial benchmarks and tools; and wide-ranging and unique marketing materials and messages. Perhaps most importantly, professional bookselling results from the shared knowledge of the bookselling community and the generosity of our colleagues.
ABA Education
ABA Education is created specifically for the retail professional. Education sessions are presented at ABA’s premier event, the Winter Institute, as well as at BookExpo America, topic-specific mini-institutes (e.g. the IndieCommerce Institute and the ABC Children’s Institute), and Regional Association fall trade shows and Spring Forums.
From bookselling basics to digital issues, ABA Education—and its resulting knowledge base—helps bookstores to achieve profitability, to differentiate themselves from their competition, and to remain relevant. The ABA Education Curriculum page lists current and previous sessions, and links to accompanying downloadable handout materials in various formats.
From the ABA Education Archive
At the American Booksellers Association’s education session “How to Plan for a Second Location” at BookExpo America 2013, a panel of experienced booksellers shared their experiences of starting a new venture, including determining when to expand, arranging startup capital, finding a location, coordinating staff, managing inventory, and handling POS and store logistics.
Four panelists joined moderator Dan Cullen, ABA’s content officer, to discuss key variables and challenges in opening an additional location. Discussing their insights and experiences were Michael Tucker of Books Inc., San Francisco, California; Terry Gilman of Mysterious Galaxy, San Diego, California; Christine Onorati of WORD, Brooklyn, New York; and Alzada Knickerbocker of Avid Reader, Davis, California.
When Tucker became co-owner of Books Inc. in 1996, the business was in bad financial shape and faced fierce competition from chain stores. At the session, he related how the company had no choice but to file for Chapter 11 and close 10 of its then 12 store locations. “The chains flattened all of our large locations,” many of which were in malls and shopping centers, Tucker said. Starting from close to scratch, Books Inc. developed a model of 3,600- to 4,000-square-foot stores with fixtures that could be easily moved to accommodate aggressive events programs. Each subsequent store — there are currently nine Books Inc. locations, as well as two Compass Books and a bzinc at San Francisco International Airport — has adopted its own personality and goals based on more...
Telling Your Story
Being an ABA member is like having a marketing team on retainer. Customizable indie-themed designs for both store and web, the Indie Next List pamphlets, and the Indie Bestseller Lists help you to promote your favorite books, your uniqueness, and your localism. Monthly Red and White Boxes, monthly Advance Access emails, Mary Engelbreit gift certificates, and yearly Indies Choice and E.B. White Book Awards help to spread the word about books and bookstores. Begin with ABA marketing programs and resources, and customize them to tell your own story.
The Faces of Bookselling
Every bird has a story. This one is no exception. Ten years ago, Melanie Green (owner, Bluebird Bookstore, Hutchinson, KS) decided to stay home with her three kids. Her husband—both a champion planner and a dreamer— bought her a book called “The Dream Manager.” As she thought about how to capture her dreams, like a bird out of the clear blue sky, it came to her —It’s a bookstore! A dream that would inspire the people who meant the most: her friends, her family, her community Of course—a bookstore!