Winter Institute 2018

Pre-registration required; for owners and managers only. Registration is closed. Exiting a much-loved business can be difficult to consider, but whether you are preparing to retire or you expect to own your store for many years to come, it is important to have a plan in place for your business and to consider all succession options. A bookseller who has gone through the process of selling a store as well as a representative from a local financial group that offers business valuations will lead a conversation on how to prepare for this important step in the life of your store.

Booksellers who have successfully expanded sections to include diverse books will share resources and techniques for buying, marketing, and handselling these books. Panelists will represent stores from communities of different sizes and demographics.

Making hiring decisions for a diverse sales force often requires a new and different approach to hiring — including looking outside your normal sources for candidates and fostering relationships both in the store and in the larger community. Mecca E. Santana will be joining Marc Villa (Politics and Prose Bookstore) in a discussion on how to make your store more diverse and inclusive. Mecca is the Vice President of Diversity & Community Relations for Westchester Medical Center Health Network in White Plains, NY. Prior to this position, Ms. Santana served as the Chief Diversity Officer for the State of New York, and was responsible for the promotion of workforce diversity and inclusion, while also leading new initiatives to increase Minority & Women Owned Business (MWBE) procurement opportunities.

Multiple programs are available to help booksellers work with local self-published authors. Panelists, including representatives from the Independent Book Publisher Association and Ingram Spark as well as booksellers who have created mutually beneficial relationships with self-published authors, will discuss existing programs and tips for successful relationships.

The romance genre has one of the highest shares of fiction sales in the U.S. market at 23 percent (NPD Book 2016). Now is the time to take a closer look at marketing and selling this dynamic genre. In this session, bookseller and publisher panelists will discuss best practices for developing a successful relationship with the romance reader as well as tips for marketing this genre in a general bookstore.

Schools serve as an established audience for children’s authors. In this session, booksellers will learn how to develop relationships with schools and libraries, build pre-order sales, and encourage publicists and authors to put their store at the top of a publisher’s list for sending visiting authors to their community.

Sensitivity readers review manuscripts for bias and potentially offensive words and situations, but do they create a chilling effect on the publication and sale of works with serious value? Recent book controversies have caused publishers of children’s books to cancel titles that have come under attack or that they fear will be attacked. One national review publication retracted a starred review under such pressure. In this session, free speech experts will join booksellers in discussing the free speech implications of the increasing sensitivity to diversity and authentic multicultural representation in the publication and sale of children’s books, including the use of a sensitivity reader on a bookstore staff.

In today’s competitive, high-cost world, building a financially viable bookstore is a challenge more than ever, resulting in the need to identify and explore non-traditional business building and creative funding options. In this roundtable, owners and managers will meet to share and discuss their experiences with various non-traditional ways to start a book businesses and access funding in different economic environments.

Small stores can have a large impact on the community and the literary world. This session will focus on the things small stores are doing to become successful retailers and stars in their community.

Creating successful community partnerships — with businesses ranging from toy stores to clothing boutiques — allows bookstores to expand their reach and to offer more creative and diverse authorless events. Bookseller panelists will review the challenges and rewards of local partnerships as well as the financial and logistical considerations that may arise when working with other businesses or local associations.

Regular communication with employees creates a stronger bookselling team. Experienced booksellers will discuss how staff meetings can reinforce your store’s mission and provide an opportunity to share updates and brainstorm solutions to problems. Panelists will also share tips and best practices on everything from scheduling and creating agendas to successfully conducting a staff meeting.

Covering some lesser known but still incredibly helpful features, this session will help you make the most of Edelweiss+ while also helping you to avoid common mistakes. Bring one of your own best practices to share with the group!

Booksellers and publishers often see the industry from their own perspectives, but some of your colleagues have had the benefit of working both sides of the business. In this session, booksellers who started their careers in publishing will discuss how the experience has impacted their current career as booksellers, and publishers who had previous bookselling careers will discuss how that experience impacted their approach to publishing.

Indies Introduce is about what independent booksellers do best: Discover exciting debut authors and share the best with readers across the country. You will hear from the bookseller panelists who curated the “diverse list of fabulous books that every American should read,” as Pete Mulvihill of Green Apple Books called it. Many of this season’s debut authors will be present to read a short passage and answer a question posed by a panelist.

IndieCommerce and IndieLite are ABA’s online platforms for marketing events and author appearances as well as selling books and other merchandise. Both users and non-users of IndieCommerce and IndieLite are invited to schedule a one-on-one time with a program specialist from the IndieCommerce team. Space is limited, but walk-ins are welcome. Hours are offered Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Details and signup are here.