Marketing

The atmosphere at Mitzi’s Books in Rapid City, South Dakota, gives off a hearty “Shop Local” vibe, due in part to its use of resources from ABA’s IndieBound marketing program. 

Kobo explains the benefits to booksellers, publishers, and authors of the Kobo eRead Local incentive program, which will run from August 22 through November 29.

Binc blog to cover qualifying events for bookseller assistance; NAIBA announces 2015 award winners; Alice Award shortlist revealed; HarperCollins, Ediouro Group establish HarperCollins Brasil

Find Waldo Local’s fourth year wrapped up last week after a month-long celebration of the shop local movement in downtown business districts across the country.

Booksellers planning celebrations for Banned Books Week, which takes place this year from September 27 to October 3, can enhance their displays with a variety of all-new, downloadable Banned Books Week-themed designs for use on posters, bookmarks, T-shirts, and more. 

This August, TJ Rayhill, a 19-year-old college student, will open Dog-Eared Books in Campbellsville, Kentucky. The used bookstore also sells new books online and offers an online college textbook rental service.

 A crowd of thousands is expected at the first annual Mississippi Book Festival, which is scheduled for August 22 at the State Capitol in Jackson. Indie booksellers are looking forward to promoting new and established authors, as well as the state’s great literary tradition.

ABA Development Officer Mark Nichols, Membership Program Manager Pete Reynolds, and Design and Production Manager Linda Ford discuss their work with the association’s Publisher Partners, on the Indie Bestseller and Indie Next lists, and more. 

Find Waldo Local 2015 begins on Wednesday, July 1, at indie bookstores and other locally owned businesses across the country. The event, sponsored by Candlewick Press and ABA, has become a summer tradition.

In the first installment of a series on ABA’s staff and their roles in supporting indie booksellers, the Membership and Marketing team talks about its work in providing information and resources to members, developing indie-focused marketing campaigns, and meeting booksellers at ABA events.

Sales were strong at three New Orleans indies that banded together to celebrate Independent Bookstore Day a week later than the rest of the country, due to a conflict with Jazz Fest.

Flowh, a platform designed to turn an online events calendar into a marketing tool, is offering a free year of its premium service exclusively to ABA member stores.

Here is an array of great ideas for promoting bookstores as hubs of creativity, community, and activity, all gleaned from the bookseller discussion groups following Steven Johnson’s plenary talk, “How We Got to Now,” at Winter Institute 10.

Recent research has found that people born between 1982 and 2004 — the generation known as Millennials — are more interested in print rather than digital reading. 

Flowh is a more social version of the traditional event calendar. The online platform can turn an independent bookstore’s calendar into a marketing tool that connects with customers in new ways.