🎈March To-Do’s: Sharing and Marketing Your Store Plans!

Sign-ups to participate close March 31, 2024*. You must be a logged-in ABA member** to access the form. If you do not know your login credentials please email us at [email protected].

*If you have already ordered exclusives, you do not need to complete this form.

**Independent Bookstore Day is open to those who are members of ABA, as well as their regional booksellers association.

What's New:

March To-Do’s

We recommend checking out the Planning Guide regularly for upcoming to-do’s! Now is a good time to:

Start marketing Indie Bookstore Day.

If you ordered the free Indie Bookstore Day bookmarks, they will arrive in your March Box Mailing.
Mention the day and any details in your newsletter and on social media. Make your announcement and share teasers using these digital assets and exclusive item images on BookWeb.org.
List special events in your events calendar.

Submit your plans to ABA (including crawls and passport programs).

We will compile a list of plans for a BookWeb article and link it on the IndieBound Indie Bookstore Day map, including bookstore crawls and passport programs.
If looking for ideas, check out February’s Lightning Talk:
- Bookstore BINGO and #BookHaul Photo Booths: Ryan Clark of Gibson’s Bookstore (Concord, NH)
  - Bingo and Photo Booth Slide Deck
- Bookstore Crawls: Erin Ball of Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park, WA)
- Partnering with Community Organizations: Eileen McCormick of Green Apple Books (San Francisco, CA)
  - Community Partnerships Handout

Add Exclusives to your IndieCommerce or IndieLite sites.

Join a member of the IndieCommerce team for a live, online, instructional webinar on Wednesday, March 13. They will cover how to manage the exclusive product listings and other content for the event, displaying on-hand quantities, adjusting the on-sale date and time for products, managing orders through your IC/IL site, and other resources available.
A Help Document will be made available for adding Exclusives as well.

Send a Press Release to your local media.

Download the template, enter your specific bookstore information (we provided examples!), and you’re ready to send it off.
Arrange for media sponsorship — radio, newspapers, websites — in your area if possible.

Keep an eye out for your Ingram Order on ipage.
Exclusives will start shipping in early April. When you receive your order, the label and invoice will have a PO Number with your Ingram Account (ie. Ingram Acct#_IBD2024). You can track your order by locating the “Find My Order” button at the top of ipage in your Ingram account and enter your Purchase Order Number or EAN/Product Code. For step-by-step instructions on tracking your order, locate “Ingram’s ipage Enhancements” feature in the Bulletin Board on your account dashboard. Stores whose accounts are not in good standing with Ingram will not have their order completed or shipped.

Key Dates to Know:

New! March 13, 2024: Webinar: Independent Bookstore Day Exclusives on IC 1.0 and IndieLite
March 31, 2024: General Participation Form closes
- If your store is in multiple locations, you must fill out a form for each store location or RDC.
April 5, 2024: Indie Bookstore Day Searchable Map goes live on IndieBound
Early- to mid-April: All exclusives ship to bookstores
April 22–26, 2024: Indie Bookstore Day Spirit Week
April 27, 2024, the last Saturday in April: Independent Bookstore Day

Stay tuned for future updates via our newsletters. Missed an issue of the Indie Bookstore Day Newsletter? Catch up on them all on BookWeb.

Questions? Contact Courtney Wallace, Independent Bookstore Day Program Director at [email protected].