ABA to Offer “Making the Most of Your ABA Membership” Session at MPIBA and NAIBA Shows

Staff from ABA’s membership department will be leading an education session at this year’s fall regional trade shows on “Making the Most of ABA Membership,” designed for new ABA members, booksellers at newly opened stores, and anyone else who is interested.

Booksellers can join the session to discuss the programs and resources the association provides to strengthen independent booksellers’ businesses. The educational opportunity, which also took place at each of the previous six fall shows, will look at key services offered by ABA, including:

• Education and networking, from Winter and Children’s Institute to online education resources and bookseller forums
• Resources to improve the bottom line, including affinity partnerships, bookstore insurance, and the Book Buyer’s Handbook
• Indie campaigns, including the Indie Next List, Independent Bookstore Day, Indies First, Indies Introduce, the Well-Read Black Girl book club, and more
• The IndieCommerce and IndieLite e-commerce solutions
• Advocacy initiatives, including the Prime Numbers report
• The ABACUS benchmarking report

Alex Rhett, owner of the new children’s bookstore Sandcastle Tales in Del Mar, California, attended the session at last month’s NCIBA Fall Discovery Show and said, “[Senior Membership Manager Daniel O’Brien’s] availability to chat with and listen to us was a real treasure. I not only felt supported, but he reminded me how passionate I truly am about my bookstore.”

Throughout the session, she said, O’Brien guided the group through a variety of options and tools to make running their business easier and more profitable.

“We’re already applying many of the tips he mentioned: reading the BTW news, calling publishers to get authors to our bookstore, using the ABA Book Buyer’s Handbook, getting business loans, offering customers the option to pre-order books,” said Rhett, whose store opened in July. “To me, our new business is like being a new mom; you constantly face milestones with your new little baby that seem to be challenging. But the presentation again reminded me of my own experience as a new mother: It’s normal, it too shall pass...move on, and cheer the baby on every time it takes a new step.”

The “Making the Most of Your ABA Membership” session will take place during the remaining shows as follows:

Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association (MPIBA)
October 10–12, Denver, Colorado
“Making the Most of ABA Membership”: Wednesday, October 9, at 3:00 p.m. (with Senior Membership Manager Daniel O’Brien)

New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA)
October 15–17, Cherry Hill, New Jersey
“Making the Most of ABA Membership”: Thursday, October 17, at 9:30 a.m. (with Member Relationship Manager Liz Roberts; roundtable format)