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Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Partner Discounts for ABA Members
Indies First: Check Out the Special Publisher Offers
2026 RISE Bookselling Conference in Verona, Italy.
TLDR: This Week's Action Items:
 
 
ABACUS Workshop: Learn How to Read Your ABACUS Report
ABACUS Workshop: Learn How to Read Your ABACUS Report
 

Stores who completed this year’s ABACUS survey have received their individualized reports! But what should you do with all this new information?

Join us for an ABACUS Workshop on Thursday, October 30, to review the key takeaways from the ABACUS report, identify opportunities for improving your store's profitability, and learn how you can use ABACUS in your advocacy efforts.
 
Register Now
 
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Winter/Spring 2026 Indies Introduce Publisher Specials
Take Advantage of the Indies Introduce Publisher Specials

There’s still time to sign up to take advantage of publishers’ Winter/Spring 2026 offers!

Fill out the Indies Introduce sign-up form by October 20 to participate in this program.

Stores that have taken part in past Indies Introduce promotions do not need to sign up again.
Learn More
James Patterson Bookstore Bonus
Nominate a Bookseller for the James Patterson Bookstore Bonus

It’s time again to submit your nominations for the James Patterson Holiday Bookstore Bonus!

Patterson has pledged a personal contribution of $300,000, to be distributed in amounts of $500, to 600 booksellers from ABA member bookstores.

Booksellers and bookstore owners can self-nominate to be considered for a bonus, or they can be nominated by bookstore customers, owners, employees, managers, fellow booksellers, publishing professionals, or authors. 

The deadline to submit nominations is Friday, October 31.
Nominate a Bookseller
The Snail on the Wall
The Snail on the Wall: Huntsville's Community Bookstore Celebrates Eight Years!

Last month, The Snail on the Wall in Huntsville, AL, celebrated its eighth birthday and its first anniversary as a brick and mortar.

Founder and co-owner Lady Smith sat down with Bookselling This Week to describe the shop’s journey from a “bookstore without a store” to a popular community destination with a cozy but lively vibe. 
Read Interview
ABA's health coverage partner, Gallagher
Open Enrollment Reminders for Booksellers

Open Enrollment is almost here!

ABA's health coverage partner, Gallagher (formerly LIG), has compiled these reminders and key dates to help you prepare for this Open Enrollment season. 
Learn More
Indies Introduce author Laura Venita Green
Indies Introduce Q&A with Laura Venita Green

Laura Venita Green is the author of Sister Creatures, a Summer/Fall 2025 Indies Introduce selection. Here, Green and Laurie Gillman of East City Books in Washington, DC, discuss Sister Creatures.

You can also visit the ABA podcast, BookED, to listen to this interview.
Read Interview
Indies Introduce author Julian Brave NoiseCat
Indies Introduce Q&A with Julian Brave NoiseCat

Julian Brave NoiseCat is the author of We Survived the Night, a Summer/Fall 2025 Indies Introduce selection. Here, NoiseCat and Marisa Spence of Ballast Book Co. in Bremerton, WA, discuss We Survived the Night.

You can also visit the ABA podcast, BookED, to listen to this interview.
Read Interview
Happy Diwali

This year Diwali, the Festival of Lights, falls on Monday, October 20.

Diwali is a celebration of the triumph of good over evil, and is typically celebrated with family, friends, food, and gifts. Depending on your community, you may have customers looking for children’s books, gift books, sweets, or other sidelines they can gift to their friends and family. 

And to our members who celebrate Diwali: Happy Diwali from the ABA team!
Advocacy Updates
Advocacy Updates
 

Book Bans and the Art of Protecting Authors

On Tuesday, October 28, at 4:00 pm ET, Publishing Professionals Against Book Bans will hold a virtual town hall, “Book Bans and the Art of Protecting Authors.”

The event will feature author Angie Thomas, literary agent Jas Perry, and ABA’s Associate Director of American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) Philomena Polefrone.

Please register in advance.

Thank you Heartland! 

This week, the ABA team is at Heartland Fall Forum. Today, Polefrone presented her education session, “Navigating Attacks on Your Store.” She also joined Danny Caine (Institute for Local Self-Reliance), Nicole Lintemuth (Bettie's Pages), and Harriett R. Logan (Loganberry Books) for the panel “Banned Together: Responding to Book Bans,” to share stories about censorship and advocacy in the Midwest.

You can still stop by the ABA exhibit table tomorrow, October 16, to say hi to the team and ask questions.

Thank you to Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association and Midwest Independent Booksellers Association for the great time in Indianapolis! 
 
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