Save the date: This year’s Annual Meeting and Town Hall will occur on Thursday, May 27, starting at 2:00 p.m. ET. (The Annual Meeting starts at 2:00 p.m. ET, followed immediately by the Town Hall.) Booksellers can submit questions or comments ahead of time at townhall@bookweb.org, or they are invited to speak during the meeting. This is an opportunity for members to be in conversation with the ABA Board. Register here.

Join six breakout authors and their editors at the Book Buzz Editors Panel on Wednesday, May 19, at 7:00 p.m. ET for a discussion of their upcoming titles. The event will be moderated by Donya Craddock of The Dock Bookshop. Find more information about the event and register here.

The deadline for submitting to ABACUS is Monday, May 31. Booksellers have told us that completing the survey has gotten easier over the years, and that this year’s survey might be the easiest one yet. The ABACUS financial survey is a free report filled with detailed information highlighting where your store falls across a range of areas, including profitability, productivity, and financial management. Using the ABACUS report is like adding a financial officer to your staff. To get this great tool look for an email your store received from Michael Becher of Industry Insights, with the subject line “ABACUS Benchmarking Survey,” which has all the necessary information. And here's more information on ABACUS.

**NEW DAY & TIME**  IndieLite stores: Sign up for the second in a two-part session on switching credit card processors, which will now take place on Wednesday, June 2, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. ET. (The date has been moved from May 19.) This session will focus on new tools and features available to stores after they switch to their own credit card processor. Register here. Stores that have already switched to their own credit card system and have questions can reach out to staff@bookweb.org to schedule a one-on-one training.

Booksellers, continue nominating children's book titles for the annual ABC Best Books for Young Readers consumer catalog through Edelweiss or by using the form on Bookweb.org.

Bookstores that plan to celebrate Banned Books Week 2021 are encouraged to sign up to receive a Banned Books Week kit. The deadline to sign up is June 11. Important: All bookstores (including stores that already signed up in the past) MUST sign up to receive a kit this year.

Sign up to take advantage of special publisher promotions for the Summer/Fall 2021 Indies Introduce program. Sign ups close June 15. 

The Summer/Fall 2021 titles will be presented at Edelweiss Bookfest. Take a look at all the titles that will be presented here. 

Booksellers, submit your application now for a scholarship to ABA’s 17th annual Winter Institute (Wi17). Wi17 will take place February 13-16 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Recognizing the high value that stores place on the event, ABA wants to make Winter Institute available to as many stores as possible and help facilitate a more diverse attendee base, while also offering educational and networking opportunities to booksellers who hope to make a career in the industry. The scholarships are open to regular ABA member bookstores in good standing. Booksellers can apply via the Wi17 scholarship form on BookWeb.org. Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, June 25. Scholarship winners will be contacted directly if they have been selected, and the winning names will be announced in July 2021.

ABA is currently looking to hire an Executive Assistant & Project Administrator. This position will report to ABA's CEO and COO, and will be located in White Plains, New York. Find more information about responsibilities, compensation, and how to apply here.

On June 8 and 9, attend Edelweiss Bookfest, a virtual celebration of all things books. Keynote speakers will include bestselling authors Tayari Jones, Anthony Doerr, and TJ Klune. Attendees will have their pick of over 65 sessions, including Indies Introduce, author panels and genre-focused sessions, Edelweiss training, meetups, and more. Stores can also opt-in to receive direct attendee e-commerce book sales. 

Last week, ABA held an education session on starting or transitioning to a new co-op bookstore. A recording of the session can be found on the Education Resources page on BookWeb.org, and a recap can be found here.

Take a look at a recap of last week’s Technology Meetup, which focused on email list management.

With new COVID-19 guidelines being issued by the CDC, booksellers might want to return to the CAE’s session on de-escalation. The recording will be available until June 15

The dips and rises in traffic and sales you may be seeing in your Google Analytics report may reflect normal seasonal and weekly fluctuations in online traffic and sales. Read more in this week's E-commerce Update.

One Monday, the ABC Group rolled out the ABC Group Discord server, a replacement for ABC’s Yahoo Listserv, which retired in December 2020, when Yahoo eliminated its groups feature. The ABC Group server is by invitation. If you did not receive the email containing the unique invitation link, current ABC members should email ABC Group Manager Gen de Botton.

The Sisters in Crime We Love Bookstores Program will be offering six grants of $500 each to booksellers this year. To apply, booksellers must take a photo with three books by Sisters in Crime authors and fill out an online form. Find more information and apply here.