On Thursday, May 27, join this year’s virtual Annual Meeting and Town Hall starting at 2:00 p.m. ET. (The Annual Meeting starts at 2:00, followed immediately by the Town Hall.)

Booksellers can submit questions or comments ahead of time at [email protected], 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.

The Consolidated Financial Statements (including independent auditors’ report) and ABA’s tax form 990 are available now on BookWeb.org’s About ABA page.

Save the date for an Evening ShopTalk, which will be held on Thursday, May 27 at 8:00 p.m. ET. ABA will send the meeting link to the entire membership a few hours before each event. If booksellers do not receive the email invitation (and cannot find it in their spam folder), they should reach out to [email protected].

**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. 

Submit to ABACUS by Monday, May 31. The free ABACUS financial survey highlights where your store falls across a range of areas, including profitability, productivity, and financial management — it’s like adding a financial officer to your staff.

In the words of one bookseller, “The time invested in filling out the ABACUS survey is worth every second -- and it's really not that hard!” 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.

Booksellers, submit your application now for a scholarship to ABA’s Winter Institute (now abbreviated as Wi2022). Wi2022 will take place February 13-16, 2022, in Cincinnati, Ohio.

ABA wants to make Winter Institute available to as many stores as possible, help facilitate a more diverse attendee base, and offer educational and networking opportunities to booksellers and bookstore owners who hope to make, or have, a career in the industry.

The scholarships are open to ABA member bookstores. Booksellers can apply via the Wi2022 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.

To maximize the education at Children’s Institute, the ABC Group is asking booksellers to complete a brief survey on what they would like to see discussed during specific roundtable discussions. Please submit your answers by Friday, June 18. The responses to the survey will inform the agenda created for each roundtable.

Current ABC Children’s group subscribers interested in joining the ABC Group Discord should email ABC Manager Gen de Botton for a unique invitation link to the server. The ABC Group server on Discord is a replacement for the Group’s Yahoo listserv, which Yahoo eliminated in December 2020.

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.

On June 8 and 9, attend Edelweiss Bookfest, a virtual celebration of all things books. Booksellers can opt-in to receive direct attendee e-commerce book sales.

ABA’s Summer/Fall 2021 Indies Introduce titles will also be presented at Bookfest. Take a look at all the titles that will be presented here and sign up to take advantage of special publisher promotions.

Save the date! The American Booksellers Association and Small Business Rising are hosting a virtual antitrust event with Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) on Tuesday, June 8, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET. Senator Klobuchar is the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights. Watch BTW for information on how to register.

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.

ICYMI: Watch a recording of the Buzz Books Editors Panel here. (Password: XWm93@K!)

The Indie Mystery &/Thriller Bestseller List, based on sales at independent bookstores nationwide for the eight-week period ending May 16, 2021, can be found here.

Indies Introduce Panelist Chris Lee of Boswell Book Company discussed Catch the Rabbit with author Lana Bastašic. Lee said of the novel, “It’s a story of how a person can misunderstand her friend and herself and then be completely wrecked and rebuilt as she grows to a new understanding of her world. Prepare to be split in two.”

“Isaac Fitzsimons has scored a goal for Trans Boy Joy,” said Brein Lopez of Children’s Book World. Lopez discussed balancing struggle and joy in The Passing Playbook with Indies Introduce author Isaac Fitzsimons.