Education Resources

 

Keeping a bookstore running can feel like having too many tabs open in your brain at once. Luckily, there are project management tools and strategies that can help with that. In this presentation, booksellers who have cracked the code on project management will share the tools and strategies that have helped them set goals and timelines and stay organized with their short- and long-term projects. You’ll leave this session with a better understanding of effective project management, which tool or approach is right for you, and what your next steps are for getting started!

 

Speakers

Kirsten Hess, The End & Let's Play Books Bookstore(s) - Emmaus, PA

Angela Schwesnedl, Moon Palace Books - Minneapolis, MN

Rachel Watkins, Avid Bookshop - Athens, GA

Cori Theroux, The Green Dragon Bookstore - Fort Dodge, IA

 

Files & Links

Slide Deck

Project Management Reading List

 

Every bookseller in the UK uses Batch to simplify their Accounts Payable and publisher invoice management and over 300 US booksellers (and growing!) are now using it. Come learn more about this free platform to:

The more booksellers that sign up for Batch, the more publishers that will sign up! Saving everyone time and money.

 

Speakers

Kathy Burnette, Brain Lair Books - South Bend, IN

Kate Layte, Papercuts Bookshop - Boston, MA

Zachary Matelski, McLean and Eakin Booksellers - Petoskey, MI

Nathan Halter, Batch for Books - Hartford, CT

 

Files & Links

Slide Deck

 

This session presents practical ways to prepare to fight book bans before they come to your area. Staff from the American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE), ABA’s free expression initiative, will advise attendees on what they can do locally: how to engage with their community and local government, and what actions to take if attempted book bans do arrive. Presented by the ABA Children’s Group.

 

Speakers

Cathy Berner, Blue Willow Bookshop - Houston, TX

Leah Johnson, Loudmouth Books - Indianapolis, IN

Philomena Polefrone, American Booksellers Association - White Plains, NY

Angela Cooper, ACLU of Kentucky - Louisville, KY

 

Files & Links

Slide Deck

ABA's Right to Read Toolkit

KYGA Book Bans Digital Toolkit

Description

You’ve meticulously curated your inventory, designed the perfect displays, and developed an events program for your community — but how will you know if what you’re doing is working? Tracking Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will give you the answer. KPIs are specific outcome-based targets that support your strategic plan and can be measured quantitatively, such as inventory turnover ratios, sales per square foot, and average transaction value. By the time you leave this session, you will: (1) understand the meaning and value of critical retail KPIs and how to track them, (2) understand how to compare your store’s KPIs against financial metrics found in the ABACUS report, and (3) be able to apply this data to create an improvement plan for at least one area of your store’s performance.

 

Speakers

Cynthia Compton, MacArthur Books - Carmel, IN

Melissa DeMotte, The Well Read Moose - Coeur d'Alene, ID

Candice Anderson, Tombolo Books - St. Petersburg, FL

 

Files & Links

Slide Deck

Description

Investing in the leadership skills of your staff has both short-term and long-term benefits, from building a better culture for your team to identifying potential successors when you retire. In this session, Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor and the forthcoming Radical Respect, will teach you how to nurture staff into leadership roles, and evaluate the process for success!

 

Speakers

Kim Scott, author of Radical Respect : How to Work Together Better (On sale May 7, 2024 from St. Martin's Griffin)

 

Files & Links

Slide Deck

 

Description

Contemporary fiction increasingly invites the reader to see race, gender, and sexuality not as binary identities, but as a vibrant spectrum of diversity. This year's new fiction is opening up space for new ideas about how we might expand our understanding of identity and what myriad of relational dynamics are possible beyond the normative concepts of race, gender, and sexuality. In this keynote panel, four authors share their thoughts and experiences writing for a world that has moved beyond the traditional binary definitions of identity and belonging.

 

Speakers

Miranda July, author of All Fours (On sale May 14, 2024 from Riverhead Books/Penguin Random House)

Danzy Senna, author of Colored Television (On sale September 3, 2024 from Riverhead Books/Penguin Random House)

LaDarrion Williams, author of Blood at the Root (On sale May 7, 2024 from Labyrinth Road/Penguin Random House)

Maysoon Zayid, author of Shiny Misfits: A Graphic Novel (On sale April 16, 2024 from Graphix/Scholastic)

Anton Bogomazov, Politics and Prose Bookstore - Washington, DC

 

Files & Links

Live Captioning

Description

The Indies Introduce program is about what independent booksellers do best: discovering exciting debut authors and sharing the best with readers across the country. Enjoy lunch while learning about the title selection process from the bookseller panelists who curated the Winter/Spring 2024 Indies Introduce list. Many of the Winter/Spring 2024 Indies Introduce debut authors will be present to read a short passage and answer a question posed by one of the bookseller panelists. Authors will be available to sign copies of their debut books following the presentation.

 

Files & Links

Live Captioning

Winter/Spring 2024 Indies Introduce Flier (PDF)

Description

Developed for author guests in the early stages of their writing careers, this panel features booksellers who have formulated best practices for creating events that benefit both stores and authors. This session will cover a number of issues, from author publicity to dealing with pre-event nerves.

 

Speakers

Paul Hanson, Village Books - Bellingham, WA

Linda Kass, Gramercy Books - Bexley, OH

Errol Anderson, Charis Books and More - Decatur, GA

Bunnie Hilliard, Brave + Kind Bookshop - Decatur, GA

Javier Ramirez, Exile in Bookville - Chicago, IL

 

Files & Links

Slide Deck

Education for Authors

 

 

This panel session, led by Andy Hunter of Bookshop.org, will feature a panel of booksellers discussing how they use digital platforms to sell books, build an online audience, and drive in-person and online sales. The panel will discuss selling with e-commerce, highlighting events and community through social media, reviewing and acting on website traffic to increase the visibility of your store with search engine optimization (SEO), and engaging customers through Edelweiss to create email marketing.

 

Speakers

Veronica Liu, Word Up Community Bookshop/Librería Comunitaria - New York, NY

Amanda Lepper, Dog-Eared Books - Ames, IA

Evisa Gallman, Uncle Bobbie's Coffee and Books - Philadelphia, PA

Andy Hunter, Bookshop.org - Brooklyn, NY

 

Files & Links

Slide Deck

 

Join this bookseller-led panel for a discussion on supporting trans and nonbinary staff and colleagues. With LGBTQIA2S+ (particularly trans) rights under constant siege, it is more important than ever to have procedures in place that protect our staff and colleagues. Panelists will discuss what active allyship means for all employees, and will review best practices for responding to anti-trans legislation and community hate.

 

 

Speakers

Gretchen Treu, A Room of One's Own Bookstore - Madison, WI

Kai Burner, Bookworm of Edwards - Edwards, CO

Linda Sherman-Nurick, Cellar Door Bookstore - Riverside, CA

Brein Lopez, Children's Book World - Los Angeles, CA

 

Files & Links

Slide Deck

Active Allyship Checklist