Winter Institute attendees: Please know that general refunds for the event fee will only be offered until November 15. After November 15, refunds will only be offered under the following circumstances:

• If the participant is experiencing illness or is quarantined due to COVID exposure
• If travel has been restricted by local or federal mandate 
• If ABA must cancel the event

To cancel, email [email protected].

James Patterson has generously revived his Holiday Bookstore Bonus Program and there’s still time to nominate! 

Nominate yourself or another bookseller. Ask your customers to nominate a bookseller.

The deadline to submit is Monday, November 15.

Don’t delay — and booksellers who are thinking of nominating themselves, don’t self-reject! (And be assured that the nominators aren’t made public.)

The December Indie Next List preview is now live! Top pick? Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These (Grove Press).

Spread the word about Indies First on November 27 with new downloadable posters for display. Looking for more ways to prepare for Indies First and the national event with Roxane Gay on November 18? Check out these marketing and promotion tips for both in-store and online messaging. 

Check out the updated ABFE (American Booksellers for Free Expression) section on BookWeb. (Scroll down and click “Read More” under the Free Expression icon.)

ABFE's current mission, informed by ABA's updated Ends Policies, is to ensure that core member bookstores have the resources they need in support of their right to freedom of expression and that the interests of independent bookstores are supported and protected. To help bookstores whose free expression concerns are outside of ABFE’s focus, ABFE connects bookstores with coalition partners that are best suited to address their specific needs. On the updated page, booksellers can find sample freedom of expression and privacy statements for stores, tips on preparing for controversial author events, information on the ABFE hotline for booksellers, and a list of ABFE’s work in 2021. 

National Native American Heritage Month — also commonly referred to as American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month — honors the contributions, achievements, sacrifices, and cultural legacy of Indigenous communities during the month of November. 

NativeAmericanHeritageMonth.gov 
features a wide variety of resources for learning more about the history of Indigenous peoples as well as a roster of virtual events exploring poetry, art, and film. And PBS has dozens of documentaries available for free.

To mark the start of a new month, marketing assets for the November Indie Next List top pick and the November/December Kids’ Indies Next List top pick are live on BookWeb.org. 

Who will take home this year’s National Book Awards? Use this fun ballot to make your predictions and RSVP to watch the 72nd National Book Awards Ceremony virtually. The winners will be announced live on November 17.