Sign-ups to participate close in five days on Tuesday, March 31 through your Member Dashboard.* 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]. 

Every year we hear from customers who excitedly visited their local independent bookstore to celebrate, only to be disappointed that the store didn’t celebrate Independent Bookstore Day. These are your most loyal indie customers — they love you and support you enough to show up on what they think of as your big day! Even if you want to keep it super simple this year, a few decorations, donuts, a sign, or a raffle for store swag can mean a lot. 

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

**Independent Bookstore Day is open to those who are members of ABA, as well as their regional booksellers association. If you have not renewed your membership for 2026, please do so now, or your store will not be included on the participating store map.

Check out the Independent Bookstore Day BookWeb page for additional details as well as the planning guide for an additional resource. 

April To-Dos:

• Order delivery will soon begin! Feel free to post unboxing videos and pictures of your displays using the hashtag #IndieBookstoreDay, so we can reshare on our social media platforms. However, exclusive items may not be ordered, pre-ordered, or added to a cart until April 25. 
• Join in on Spirit Week!
• Starting Monday, April 20, join fellow booksellers for Independent Bookstore Day Spirit Week! Feel free to share the digital assets, use the hashtag #BookstoreSpiritWeek, and take part in the daily themes leading up to Indie Bookstore Day on April 25. Here are the Spirit Week holidays:
• Monday, April 20: Silly Sock Day
• Tuesday, April 21: Plaid Tuesday
• Wednesday, April 22: On Wednesdays We Wear Bookstore Shirts 
• Thursday, April 23: Book Character Dress-Up Day + World Book Day!
• Friday, April 24: YOUR store’s Spirit Day
• Is your store being mentioned in local news outlets? Email the story to [email protected] to be added to the IndieBound Indie Bookstore Day Media Webpage. There’s still time to send an Indie Bookstore Day Press Release to your local media! Download the template, enter your specific bookstore’s information (we provided examples!), and you’re ready to send it off.
• Share promotions from our partners at Libro.fm and Bookshop.org. 
• Libro.fm 
• Share Libro.fm/ibd
• Print and digital materials 
• Bookstore Guide
• Bookshop.org 
• Promotion details to come!
• On April 27, Stores that ordered exclusives will receive a separate email with the subject line “Submit your Indie Bookstore Day Sell-Thru Data!” with instructions to submit their sell-thru data. This information will help us work with publishers as we determine next year’s exclusives.
• Keep an eye out for your Ingram Order on ipage.

Reminders:

Keep Submitting Your Plans
Store plans are still being added to the IndieBound blog and will be linked on the IndieBound Indie Bookstore Day map, including bookstore crawls and passport programs. These pages are the go-to links we share throughout April for customers to plan out where they’ll be celebrating Indie Bookstore Day!

If you’re looking for ideas, check out last year’s events from participating bookstores and the replay of February’s ShopTalk: Making the Most of Indie Bookstore Day.

Market Indie Bookstore Day.

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

Add exclusives to your IndieCommerce 1.0 or 2.0 sites.

• Join a member of the IndieCommerce team for a live, online instructional IndieCommerce 1.0 Webinar on March 31. 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 site, and other resources available.
• For IndieCommerce 2.0 stores, watch the replay of the IndieCommerce 2.0 Webinar from March 25.
• A Help Document will be made available for adding exclusives as well.

Key Dates to Know:

• Last Chance to Get On The Map! March 31, 2026: Indie Bookstore Day 2026 General Participation Form closes through your Member Dashboard. (Stores that didn’t order exclusive items can sign up to participate until this date.)
• March 31, 2:00 pm ET: IndieCommerce 1.0 Webinar
• April 3: Indie Bookstore Day Searchable Map goes live on IndieBound
• Mid-April: All exclusives ship to bookstores
• April 20–24: Indie Bookstore Day Spirit Week
• April 25, 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, Senior Marketing Manager at [email protected].