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Wednesday, January 5, 2022  
 

A Note from ABA

Our thoughts are with those affected by the wildfire in Colorado. If you’re in need, the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc) is available for emergency financial assistance or for those who wish to donate to help.
 
Independent Bookstore Day will be held Saturday, April 30! Join the celebration!
Get ready! It’s almost time to order Independent Bookstore Day exclusives.
 

On January 14, the Independent Bookstore Day Exclusives Order and Participation Form will open! On January 10, you'll find the digital catalog on https://www.bookweb.org/independent-bookstore-day, which includes the complete list of paid and free exclusives. 

This year, there are two ways for bookstores to participate in Independent Bookstore Day:  

  1. Purchase exclusives! Place an order between January 14 and February 4. Only orders of 15 or more individually- or bulk-packaged items will receive freebies (like bookmarks, zines, and stickers). An Ingram Account number is required to order exclusives. Setup an account at Ingram Onboarding. 
  2. Snag your spot on the searchable Independent Bookstore Day Map and get marketing materials! Sign-ups begin on February 5 and end on February 28.

Questions? Contact ABA’s Marketing Manager Courtney Wallace at [email protected].
Winter Institute Cancellation Update

As many of you already know, we’ve sadly had to cancel the 2022 Winter Institute in Cincinnati due to ongoing COVID concerns. Here are some key pieces of information:

  • Refunds will be forthcoming in January.
  • ABA will take care of canceling all hotel reservations at ABA hotels (Hyatt Regency Cincinnati, Hilton, and Westin). 
  • Scholarships will be rolled over to the 2023 Winter Institute. 
  • Our new plan is almost finalized. We hope you’ll keep your calendar flexible for February 14–17 and for newly extended Snow Days March 8–10! Watch this space for more information to come!
ABA Board of Directors

We’d like to welcome Michael Herrmann of Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, New Hampshire, to the ABA Board! 

Herrmann has been appointed to fill an open spot on the board following Kenny Brechner’s resignation in November of last year. Herrmann will serve on the board until the next election in April, at which time he will be eligible for a three-year term. 

Congratulations, Michael!
Action Items

Join six breakout authors and their editors for the virtual Buzz Books Editors Panel, sponsored by Publishers Lunch and the American Booksellers Association, on Wednesday, January 26, at 7:00 PM ET. The event will be hosted by Emma Straub of Books Are Magic. Pre-register on Eventbrite.

Keep an eye out for the Find Waldo Local 2022 registration link. Registration opens on January 24! Watch BTW for details.

Holiday Sales

Were your holiday sales up this holiday season?

• Yes
• No
Save the Date

Here are the events on tap this January:
What to Know

In this guest post for BTW, Sarah Hollenbeck of Women & Children First in Chicago, Illinois, and Annie Carl of The Neverending Bookshop in Edmonds, Washington, share information about ABA's Disability Meetup, which is a space for those who identify as disabled to gather and discuss the bookselling industry.

It’s January, which means ABA is launching a new edition of Advance Access called Underrepresented Voices. Delivered on the third Monday of each month, the Advance Access Underrepresented Voices e-newsletter will feature titles and authors historically underrepresented: BIPOC, LGBTQIA2S+, people/authors with disabilities, among others.


Changes to ABA’s Advance Access program were announced in December. Take a look at the December 15 issue of BTW for more information.

Based on 2021 sales data from 570 IndieCommerce and IndieLite websites, these independent bookstores averaged a 387% increase in their online sales revenue when compared to pre-COVID sales in 2019.

ABA submitted a comment to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) calling for the FTC to investigate and break up Amazon. In the video comment, submitted for the FTC's December meeting, ABA's Director of Advocacy & Public Policy David Grogan stressed that Amazon has “leveraged its substantial market power against competitors illegally” and that “gauging consumer welfare just on price minimizes the damages Amazon has on communities.” Watch ABA's video comment here.

ABFE's “School and Library Book Challenges” resources now include the NCAC's #BooksNotBans shelf talkers and social media assets. The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) created the resources so stores can continue to oppose political attacks on books in schools and libraries.

FedEx and UPS raise their rates every year, but there are a few things that make 2022 unique. Demand for parcel services is at an all-time high due to the pandemic and all of its ripple effects. As a result, the announced average rate increase of 5.9% is notably higher than what we’ve seen in the past several years. To help ABA members prepare and budget for the year ahead, our benefit provider PartnerShip has analyzed the new rates. Download the full guide to get a simplified explanation of the complicated changes. Then, be sure to enroll in the ABA Shipping Program to offset the rising costs with FedEx discounts of up to 50%.  

Here is a preview of the top 25 titles on the February 2022 Indie Next List. Top pick? Love & Saffron: A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love by Kim Fay. And, here are social media assets for the January 2022 top pick (To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara) and the January/February 2022 Kids’ Indie Next List top pick (Ain’t Burned All The Bright by Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin).

Michelle Malonzo of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, interviewed Edgar Gomez, author of High-Risk Homosexual, a Winter/Spring 2022 Indies Introduce adult selection and January 2022 Indie Next List pick.

Rebecca Speas of One More Page Books in Arlington, Virginia, interviewed Xochitl Gonzalez is the author of Olga Dies Dreaming, a Winter/Spring 2022 Indies Introduce adult selection and January 2022 Indie Next List pick.

Good Morning America featured MahoganyBooks in a new segment showcasing book recommendations from indie bookstores around the country!
 

Here is the Indie Poetry Bestseller List, based on sales at independent bookstores nationwide for the eight-week period ending January 2, 2022.
 
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