On Demand Education Sessions

• Slide Deck
• Guide to Workers' Comp Insurance
• Series Handouts
• Part 1 - Safeguarding Your Shelves: Business Insurance Basics for Book Retailers
• Part 2 - (Web)Pages of Protection: Cybersecurity and Cyber Insurance For Bookstores
• Register for Part 4 - Book Bans & Store Liability: Leverage Insurance to Safeguard Your Business

• Slide Deck

• Mikey LaFave, Avid Bookshop - Athens, GA
• Hannah Oliver Depp, Loyalty Bookstores - Washington, DC
• Kelly Justice, Fountain Booktore - Richmond, VA
• Danielle King, Left Bank Books - St. Louis, MO

ABA's Lightning Talk series features booksellers presenting 5-10 minute talks on tech tools, organizational strategies, communication methods, or innovations they’ve made in their stores. On January 11, 2024, Emma Kaas (Norwich Bookstore) discussed Taking Annual Inventory.

ABA's Lightning Talk series features booksellers presenting 5-10 minute talks on tech tools, organizational strategies, communication methods, or innovations they’ve made in their stores. On June 15, 2023, Isis Asare of Sistah SciFi (Oakland, CA) discussed Book Vending Machines.

A good hiring process will help you attract and retain high-quality booksellers who are passionate about your mission. Onboarding new employees, while time consuming, can make or break that employee’s successful transition from a new employee to an involved and productive employee. If it’s been a while since you took some time to think about hiring and onboarding in a strategic way, then this session is for you! Booksellers who have developed processes around these critical bookstore procedures will share hiring and onboarding strategies for bookstores of all sizes. (Managers)

Edelweiss provides a lot of tools for book industry professionals, but its core purpose is to be a convenient place for booksellers to order frontlist titles from their sales reps. Join Deidre Dumpson, Retail Success Manager for Edelweiss, in a webinar to learn how the ordering process works.

Cosed captioning is available for this session. Please note that it is machine-generated and is not reviewed for accuracy.

Marketing strategy refers to a business’ overall plan for reaching prospective consumers and turning them into customers of your products or services. We will help you learn how to identify your ideal target market and the appropriate marketing mix to drive growth. It will be most productive if you come to the session with the attached documents filled out. However, it is not a requirement.

While 2020 and 2021 were arguably the toughest years in recent memory for stores, 2022 continues to bring challenges. Upheavals in society produced a number of short-term temporary changes for businesses, as well as some lasting ones. What short-term changes have become permanent fixtures in your approach to your business and to bookselling? Come to this roundtable to share your experiences and hear from your colleagues.

This roundtable is your opportunity to socialize, network, and learn from booksellers who run mobile and pop-up operations. Whether you represent a mobile or pop-up store or are new to this model, this conversation will provide you with valuable insights and new connections.

This roundtable is your opportunity to socialize, network, and learn from booksellers who run microstore operations. Whether you represent a microstore or are new to this model, this conversation will provide you with valuable insights and new connections.

This roundtable is your opportunity to socialize, network, and learn from booksellers who run nonprofits and employee owned co-ops. Whether you currently represent a nonprofit and employee owned co-op or are new to this model, this conversation will provide you with valuable insights and new connections.

Led by author and expert Jason Thompson, this session will help stores be effective in their commitment to representation, equity, and access. A DEI audit checklist will help stores look at every aspect of their business — from hiring and training to signage, social media, and inventory — through a DEI lens, and a discussion of goals and metrics will help ensure measurable success. Jason Thompson is a successful and experienced diversity officer that has developed and led diversity programs in higher education, sports, healthcare, and tech. He has been quoted by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian, USA Today, and CNN. His education session for the ABA Board was extremely well received with some directors calling it the best session on this topic they’ve participated in.

Download the handouts for the session here.

NPD BookScan™ reporting retailers receive complimentary access to our Title & Bestseller service. Learn all about NPD BookScan and our flexible, intuitive web-based dashboard by attending the February 10th ABA Technology Meetup. In this one-hour session, you get an introduction to our tools, such as Basic Search, Bestsellers, Collections, and Graphing, to help you measure, predict, and improve performance.

Session Follow-up:

During this session, a question about how to report your online sales, specifically if you're using the IndieCommerce service came up.  The answer is yes, you should be reporting your online sales, from IC or any other ecommerce system.The IndieCommerce team has created a facility for exporting online sales data for IndieCommerce and IndieLite stores. Booksellers can find instructions for combining online and in-store sales here. IndieCommerce and IndieLite members will find the new option in the Admin menu under Store > Reports > New York Times Bestseller Report (this works for both BookWeb and New York Times). Detailed instructions for reporting all sales can be found here. 

Cosed captioning is available for this session. Please note that it is machine-generated and is not reviewed for accuracy.

This Technology Meetup will not have any specific guest speakers. Instead, booksellers are invited to partake in an open conversation about the results of the feedback survey, the technologies that improve their business operations on a daily basis, and what they might look into during 2022.

A full transcription and closed captioning are available for this session. Please note that both are machine-generated and are not reviewed for accuracy.

During this session, ABA IndieCommerce Director Phil Davies and Marketing Manager Courtney Wallace will share tips, tricks, and best practices for creating better product photography.

A full transcription is available for this session. Please note that it is machine-generated and not reviewed for accuracy.

This session features booksellers discussing what staff scheduling platforms they are using, what their process is, and useful tips.

Guest speakers are:

• Jessica Peterson White, Content Bookstore, speaking on Deputy
• Julia Davis, The Book Worm Bookstore, speaking on When I Work
• Tom Batterson, New Story Community Books, speaking on Homebase

A full transcription and closed captioning are available for this session. Please note that both are machine-generated and are not reviewed for accuracy.

Batch for Books is a web-based platform that bookstores can use to manage invoices across multiple publishers and streamline the payment management process. In this session, longtime veteran of the indie bookstore community and current Program Manager for Batch for Books U.S. Nathan Halter will present what Batch for Books is, how it works, and why it is a valuable tool, and he will provide a demonstration.

A full transcription and closed captioning are available for this session. Please note that both are machine-generated and are not reviewed for accuracy.

Non-traditional bookstore models push against boundaries and challenge the industry’s perception of what a bookstore is. During this session, pop-ups, mobile bookstores, and other non-traditional models can share the inspiration for their format and how they utilize the assets bred from their innovation to leverage the market and influence their communities.

Is your store composed of a staff of three people or fewer or a footprint of 1,000 square feet or under? This discussion just might be for you. An example of how small/micro store bookstore employees can utilize this roundtable discussion is to share how they make in-store operations work and seek advice on how to work smarter, not harder, with limited employees and time constraints.

It is no secret that 2021 holiday seasons will look different than they did in 2019 and 2020. During this discussion, booksellers can begin laying the groundwork for the in-store operations of their 2021 holiday seasons, which can include back to school, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the 2021/2022 winter shopping season. Examples of ideas that may be discussed are shipping, staffing, in-store shopping, personal shopping, and appointment scheduling.

As the COVID-19 virus continues to adapt and mutate, and as federal, state, and local guidelines continue to offer new ways of staying safe, booksellers are left to wrestle with how, when, where, and even if they should schedule in-person events. ABA’s In-Person Events Packet offers suggested steps for navigating the planning process for indoor, outdoor, and hybrid events.

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In-person Event Packet (PDF)	875.12 KB

Join Pinnacle Human Resources President Rose Miller and Senior HR Consultant John Kelly as they highlight best practices for managing staff in the age of COVID. Miller and Kelly will offer a practical approach and best practices for administering federal and state leave-of-absence laws (with or without the presence of COVID); insight around vaccine hesitancy and availability; and an overview of the importance of updating your policies and procedures.
Panelists: Rose Miller, President of Pinnacle Human Resources; John Kelly, Senior HR Consultant, Pinnacle Human Resources

Neurodiversity is a broad concept and one that covers a multitude of neurological variations. This conversation with neurodiverse individuals and advocates will provide context for Wi16 attendees who are not aware of neurodiversity and the challenges and concerns neurodiverse employees experience in the workplace and customers experience in the store. If you identify as neurodiverse, need direction around communicating with neurodiverse staff or customers, or are simply interested in learning more about neurodiversity, this session is for you.
Panelists: Emily Autenrieth, A Seat at The Table Books (Elk Grove, CA); Ed Thompson, CEO, Uptimize; Katy Alexander, Global Director of Marketing & Communications, Digital Science; Jory Fleming, author of How to Be Human: An Autistic Man's Guide to Life (Simon & Schuster)

Join bestselling author, podcaster, and research professor Dr. Brené Brown for a conversation with one of our own — Janet Geddis, owner of Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia — as they discuss what’s next for booksellers. While 2020 is behind us, we’re burnt out, vulnerable, and we have (in Dr. Brown’s words) maxed out our surge capacity. How do we move forward from a place of vulnerability, resilience, and courage? Along the way, how do we stay true to our heart songs, the things that we value and that drive us — our communities, our colleagues, antiracism, social responsibility, and, always, our love for books? This conversation will include a Q&A. Dr. Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston and visiting professor at The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business, has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy. She is the author of five #1 New York Times bestsellers, most recently Dare to Lead, and the host of the Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead podcasts. Janet Geddis is a business owner at Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia, as well as a patient advocate/content creator under the moniker “The Migraine Girl.” Janet is a public speaker, writer, and frequent podcast/radio show contributor for numerous outlets, including iHeartMedia & NPR.

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“What Now!?” With Brené Brown Chat Takeaways	139.71 KB

Independent bookstores have seen massive online sales growth since March 2020. How are stores managing order fulfillment, customer support, shipping, returns, and all the other complexities of running a busy ecommerce website — while running a bookstore?

This session will explore how bookstores are successfully fulfilling their online sales. The panel will consist of booksellers from small and large stores who are managing high-volume online sales on a variety of ecommerce-enabled platforms. Topics will include what they learned over the past year as well as shortcuts and tips that are making their lives easier. The panel will be moderated by Senior Manager of IndieCommerce Geetha Nathan. There will also be time allotted for Q&A. If you are struggling with managing your store's online orders or looking for tips to make things easier, this session is definitely for you.
Panelists: Geetha Nathan, ABA (White Plains, NY); Jamie Thomas, Women & Children First (Chicago, IL); Luis Correa, Avid Bookshop (Athens, GA); Lexi Beach, Astoria Bookshop (Astoria, NY); Warren Lee, 44th and 3rd Bookseller (Norcross, GA); Cheryl Lee, 44th and 3rd Bookseller (Norcross, GA)

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Managing Online Sales Growth Chat Takeaways	93.29 KB

Join bestselling authors Lauren Groff, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Colson Whitehead for a discussion on the state of literature and what the future holds for the novelist in the aftermath of political upheaval. Moderated by Michelle Malonzo, buyer at Changing Hands Bookstore.

Switching to a remote customer experience — curbside pickup, FaceTime hand-selling, online orders, etc. — can create a challenge to providing a successful and cohesive customer experience. This session will showcase creative ways that booksellers have succeeded and even improved the customer experience in this new hybrid retail world.
Panelists: Sara Richmond, Director of Communication & Client Experience, Edelweiss; Phil Davies, ABA (White Plains, NY); Rosa Hernandez, Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park, WA); Michael Barnard, Rakestraw Books (Danville, CA); Cristina Rodriguez, Deep Vellum Books (Dallas, TX); Sarah Bagby, Watermark Books & Cafe (Wichita, KS); Lane Jacobson, Paulina Springs Books (Sisters, OR)

Join futurist Brian David Johnson (The Future You: Break Through the Fear and Build the Life You Want) in conversation with ABA CEO Allison Hill as they discuss the future of bookselling and how booksellers can shape what happens next.

This Coffee Break has been reprogrammed to focus on IndieCommerce and IndieLite, ABA’s e-commerce platforms for bookstores. For this special session, ABA IndieCommerce Director Phil Davies and Senior Manager Geetha Nathan will be available to discuss the IndieCommerce/IndieLite services and answer questions pertaining to the two. Booksellers currently using either of the services and booksellers interested in either service are encouraged to come prepared with questions.