Independent Bookstore Day 2024

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version
Independent Bookstore Day For IC 1.0 and IL Webinar Recording
IndieCommerce and IndieLite stores have a platform-exclusive feature for those participating in Independent Bookstore Day.  This all-in-one feature:
  • Creates a custom IBD Product class
  • Creates all of the IBD-exclusive items as products of that custom product class with all available metadata - title, images, price, and description.
  • Creates a landing page containing all of the products in a booklist
  • Creates a block for stores to use to promote the upcoming event
  • Allows stores to unpublish the products they are not selling online and make them inaccessible for customers.
  • Will not display an Add to Cart button until April 27th or the date the store specifies (more on this below).  Until then, the IBD products will display “Indie Bookstore Day exclusive products will be available to order on April 27th, 2024”.
  • Will allow stores to set a specific time for the Add to Cart button to display.
This feature will be enabled by IC staff for participating stores.  All products are created as the Product Class titled ‘IBD Product’ and available under ‘Content’.  No one will be able to place an order for these products until the official date.
 
Please note: because the products and pages are created automatically, they will have 'anonymous' as their user/creator. 
 
Participating stores should already have placed orders for the products they will be offering.  There is no Ingram fulfillment for these items from your IC/IL website.  All orders are to be filled with the stock available in-store.  
 
For more information, please see the Independent Bookstore Day Bookseller Information Packet and Independent Bookstore Day website.

Step 1: Verify Products are Available on your website

Once this feature is enabled, all of the Independent Bookstore Day products will be listed on your IC or IL site.  To verify that these products are available, click ‘Content’ in the Admin toolbar.
 

Administrator Toolbar with Content button highlighted

Next, filter by ‘Type’ = ‘IBD Product’. You should see the IBD products on your site, created as the ‘IBD Product’ type (product class).

Content Filters with Type Highlighted

You may want to click on a few products and see what it looks like.  Each product page has the:
  • Title
  • Cover image
  • Metadata
  • Price
The note ‘Indie Bookstore Day exclusive products will be available to order on April 27th, 2024’ will display until the date and time set by the store.  On April 27th, this will be replaced with the Add to Cart button.

Step 2: Not Selling a Particular Item?

In many cases, your store might not carry all of the IBD exclusive products.  For items that the store is not selling, you can simply unpublish the product, which will make it unavailable to customers.  To unpublish the product:
  1. Click ‘Content’ and find the product you aren’t selling
  2. Go to ‘Edit’
  3. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, where the additional settings live and click ‘Publishing options’ on the left
  4. Uncheck the box next to ‘Published’
  5. Save

 

This will unpublish the product and not make it visible to customers or available for purchase on your website.  Unpublished content will usually have a pink background to denote that it is not accessible to customers.  You may still carry the item at the store but this gives you the option to quickly remove it from your website for purchase.

Step 3: Exclusive Landing Page with Booklist 

To make it easier and save stores time in creating promotional content, the IBD feature also comes with a pre-created page with a booklist of all IBD products.  To access this page, head to ‘Content’, filter by ‘Page’, and you should see one of the newest pages titled ‘Independent Bookstore Day’.
 
The booklist contains all of the IBD exclusives by default. Just like any other piece of content, this can be edited as needed if you’d like to add text or different images to the body!

To upload an image to the body of the page:

When logged in as an admin and looking at the Independent Bookstore Day page, click ‘Edit’.  
 
This will bring up the editing options for the piece of content.  In the WYSIWYG toolbar, click the Image button icon in the editing toolbar (7th icon in from right - top row).  We have more on uploading Images at our Help Center as well.
 
WYSIWYG Editor Example with Image Icon Highlighted
 
  1. Select ‘Browse Server’
  2. Select the file

    1. From the image list if it was previously uploaded
    2. Or select ‘Upload’ in the ‘File Browser’ window
    3. Select ‘Browse’ or ‘Choose File’
    4. Locate the file on your local drive, select it, click ‘Open’
    5. Select ‘Upload’ 
  3. Double click the ‘File’
  4. To ensure the image is responsive, remove the width and height
  5. Add alternative text for accessibility
Once you’ve made the changes you want, click ‘Save’ at the bottom of the page.

To Rearrange Titles on the List

You can edit the booklist and rearrange the products as well!  When on the IBD landing page, click ‘Edit’ and scroll down to the ‘Books’ section.
 
On the left hand side are square arrows with four points, which can be used to re-order the products.  Click on the arrow and drag the IBD products into the desired order and then ‘Save’ the changes at the bottom.
 
Important note: if you previously unpublished an item, it may still appear on the booklist here when logged in as an Admin.  

To remove unpublished products from the booklist:

  1. On the IBD landing page (‘Independent Bookstore Day’), click ‘Edit’
  2. Scroll down to the ‘Books’ section
  3. For any product that’s unpublished, click the ‘Remove’ button
  4. Save changes

Step 4: Place IBD Block

A pre-made block with one of the IBD logo images is available for stores to promote the event as well.  The logo links to the landing page that contains the list of available IBD products the store is selling.  

To place the IBD block:

  1. Navigate to Structure > Blocks
  2. Under the ‘Disabled’ section, look for ‘Independent Bookstore Day Block’
  3. Use the drop-down menu in the Region column, select the region you’d like to place the block.
  4. Scroll down to save the configuration.
Please note that his block cannot be customized.  If you would like to use a different image, a new block is required.

To create a new IBD block:

  1. Navigate to Structure > Blocks > Add Block
  2. Block Title: This text will be as the header on your block. If you do not wish for a title to be displayed you may leave it blank on your published page.  You can also place <none> (including the brackets) in this field to keep it blank.
  3. Block Description: Required; this is used to describe your block on the ‘Blocks’ administration page. It should be clear and easy to identify its content.
  4. Body: Use the built-in WYSIWYG editor to add text, images, links, and any type of content you would like to create.  Here is where you can add a graphic or image of your choice!
  5. In the editor, there is an icon that looks like a picture, click on it to open up a second window for image management:

    1. Select ‘Browse Server’ and then select the file
    2. Select ‘Browse’ or ‘Choose File’
    3. Locate the file on your local drive, select it, click ‘Open’, and then select ‘Upload’ 
    4. Double click the ‘File’, enter your ‘Image Properties’ as desired.  Please add alternative text for accessibility and remove the image width and height to keep it responsive.
    5. Lastly, click ‘Insert image’ to place the image in the body.
    6. Link tab - This block should link to the IBD page on your site.
    7. URL - Enter a URL in this field to send visitors to the location when they click on the image.  As this will point to an internal page, you can use the relative path for the URL.  This can be found after the ‘.com’ part of the URL for the Independent Bookstore Page page specifically:  Example: www.yourbookstore.com/independent-bookstore-day
    8. Target - Select the link target from the options provided.
  6. Visibility Settings: There are a few ways in which you can adjust the visibility settings of a block:

    1. Pages: You can determine which pages a block appears on. In this case, you may want to limit this block to the front page.  To do this, select ‘Only the listed pages’ and enter <front> (including the brackets) into the text field at the bottom.
  7. Save Block: Once you have completed creating your block make sure to ‘Save’ it.
Blocks are disabled by default after being created.  From the list of all available blocks, head down to ‘Disabled’ to find the one you just created, and place it in a region that fits your theme.  
This can be done either by the four-pointed arrow to the left or by the drop-down menu; be sure to save your changes using the button at the bottom of the page.

Theme Regions

If you’re not sure which region to place the block in, you can view a ‘map’ of the current default theme.  Head to Structure > Blocks, and then click the ‘Demonstrate block region (theme name)’.
 

 

Step 5: Not Selling Until Specific Date or Time?

For some stores, it may be imperative that IBD items are available on the site at a specific time or date.  Stores are able to set the on-sale date and time for the Add to Cart button to appear for the IBD exclusives (no earlier than 4/27/2024, 12:00AM).
 
Please note that the time setting on this page is based on the time zone that the store’s website is set to at Configuration > Regional and Language > Regional Settings.
 
To change the on-sale date and/or time:
  1. Navigate to Store > Configuration > Indie Bookstore Day 
  2. Adjust the date and time as needed

    1. The date must be in YYYY-MM-DD format
    2. The time must be in 24 hour format

indiecommerce indie bookstore day settings

This will adjust the on-sale date and time and update the message that appears on each published IBD product to reflect the new date that was set.

Step 6: Check Out The Changes As a Customer!

It’s a best practice to check any changes to the site as a customer.  When doing so, you should not be logged into the site; log out of your account to verify any edits, additions, and other changes you’ve made to the IBD content on your site.

The following are additional steps stores can take outside of the IBD feature for IC and IL:

Step 7: Displaying On-Hand Quantities (IndieCommerce Only)

IndieCommerce stores that want to display available quantities and control how many products are available to customers can do so either via LSI for Non-Books or the Stock feature.
 
Please note: IndieLite stores unfortunately are not able to display on-hand quantities of products.  However, product pages can be unpublished, preventing customers from seeing the page or placing further orders for a product.

LSI for Non-Books

IndieCommerce stores utilizing LSI for Non-Books can add the SKUs of the IBD products on the site to the store's LSI file along with the quantities on the day of IBD.  More information on Non-Book Local Store Inventory is available here. https://www.bookweb.org/indiecommerce/non-book-products-indiecommerce-faq 

Stock

Stores that utilize the Stock feature have a slightly different workflow to display on-hand quantities of the IBD products.
 
To update on-hand quantities using the Stock feature:
  1. Click ‘Content’ and find the product you aren’t selling
  2. Go to ‘Edit’
  3. At the top of the page, select ‘Stock’

indiecommerce stock feature example

  1. On the next page, you’ll see:

    1. Active Checkbox:
    2. Stock
    3. Threshold

indiecommerce stock feature example

  1. Enable the ‘Active’ button for the product
  2. Enter the ‘Stock’ amount - this is the total stock count you have to offer
  3. Enter the ‘Threshold’ amount - when this count is reached, a ‘Threshold’ email will be triggered and sent to an assigned email address.
  4. Save changes
This will update the on-hand quantities of products available. 

Step 8: Excluding Items From Media Mail Shipping (IndieCommerce Only)

Some of the IBD-exclusives are not eligible for Media Mail and will need to be excluded from this particular shipping method.  The quickest way to do this would be to set up a condition that excludes the IBD Product Class from media mail shipping methods that your website offers.
 
Please note: IndieLite stores do not have access to creating conditions on shipping methods.  If you need IBD items excluded from Media Mail, please email [email protected] and a member of the support team will assist.
 
To create a shipping condition that excludes the IBD Product Class:
  1. Navigate to Store > Configuration > Shipping Quotes
  2. On the shipping method for Media Mail, click ‘Conditions’
Media Mail Shipping Condition Example
  1. Click ‘Add New Condition’
Example of Media Mail Shipping Condition With Add New Condition Highlighted
  1. From the drop down menu, select ‘Check an order’s product classes’
  2. On the next page, under ‘Value’, select ‘IBD Product’
Media Mail Shipping Condition Example With Product Class Highlighted
  1. Check the box next to ‘Negate’
  2. Save
This creates a condition based on a ‘Not this Product Class’ logic that prevents the Media Mail shipping method from appearing for orders with an IBD product in the cart.

Optional Step: Selling Independent Bookstore Day T-Shirt from Bonfire (IndieCommerce Only)

IndieCommerce stores can create a custom product for the IBD T-Shirt if that’s being sold along with the IBD exclusives.  This involves using a custom product class along with attributes and options to offer size and color variations as needed.
 
NOTE: Because the ‘IBD Product’ product class is directly tied to the IBD date settings (and thus prevents the sale of those items prior to the set date), it is recommended that you use either a pre-existing product class you use for similar merchandise or create a new one.  This will allow you to sell the shirt ahead of IBD.
 

Optional Step: Restricting Quantities (IndieCommerce Only)

IndieCommerce stores can restrict the quantities per order for a particular custom product.  IBD exclusive products are, due to their nature, custom products outside of the book data system.  This can be handy if a store would like to limit the quantity of a product that can be added to an order.
 
NOTE: This does require an additional feature to be enabled on your site.  Please contact [email protected] for more details.
  1. To restrict the quantity of an IBD product:
  2. Click ‘Content’ and find the product you want to restrict quantities of
  3. Go to ‘Edit’
  4. At the top of the page, select ‘Features’
Restricting Quantity Feature With Feature Highlighted
  1. From the drop-down menu, select ‘Restrict Qty’ and then ‘Add’
Restrict Quantity Feature Demonstration
  1. On the next page, you’ll see the SKU of the product and a field to enter a quantity limit.  Enter the maximum quantity you’d like for a customer to be able to purchase. Ignore the setting for a lifetime restriction.
indiecommerce restrict quantity example
 
Enabling this for a product will not allow for the quantity of the product to be adjusted in the cart.
 
In addition, if a customer attempts to add more than the maximum quantity to their cart from the product page, they are sent to the cart page with an error message of ‘You may only add # (product name) to your cart.  Quantity has been restricted.’

 

Files: 
PDF icon 2024 IBD Help Document.pdf
PDF icon IBD 2024 Slideshow.pdf
D7 Taxonomy: 
IndieCommerce
IndieLite

IndieCommerce Help Documents

 

About ABA

The American Booksellers Association, a national not-for-profit trade organization, works with booksellers and industry partners to ensure the success and profitability of independently owned book retailers, and to assist in expanding the community of the book.

Independent bookstores act as community anchors; they serve a unique role in promoting the open exchange of ideas, enriching the cultural life of communities, and creating economically vibrant neighborhoods.

Contact

PRESS INQUIRIES: [email protected]

INDIECOMMERCE: [email protected]

ALL OTHER INQUIRIES: [email protected]

 

 

Copyright 2024 American Booksellers Association. BookWeb is a registered trademark of ABA.
Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, Accessibility Statement

 

Follow ABA