ABA Offers New Membership Category

The American Booksellers Association recently introduced its new Auxiliary membership category. This membership class, meant for businesses or individuals who want to support independent bookselling, was created, in large part, at the suggestion of booksellers at ABA's Town Hall Meeting at BookExpo America (BEA) this past May. The Auxiliary category replaces the individual, institutional, and international categories.

Now, for a yearly fee of $200, ABA Auxiliary members can network with independent booksellers nationwide, stay current about industry trends and issues that affect their businesses, and enhance bookselling and/or management skills to stay competitive.

Auxiliary membership in ABA offers members:

• The weekly electronic issue of Bookselling This Week (BTW). BTW delivers to ABA members up-to-date news and crucial information on the key industry issues.
  

• Membership discount registration at the annual BookExpo America, the largest English-language book trade show in the world. At BEA, ABA members can take advantage of the numerous educational and informational seminars and roundtable discussions to learn more about the book business.
  

• The opportunity to obtain insurance through LIBRIS, the insurance company formed and owned by ABA. Its goal is to ensure ABA members the broadest insurance coverage at the most competitive cost. Among its many benefits, LIBRIS offers competitive rates, insurance market stability, and loss prevention services.
  

• ABA's business management services, including credit card processing and ABA's Small Shipment Freight Program, which offers members competitive shipping rates.
  

Auxiliary members of ABA can not participate in the national Book Sense marketing program and do not have access to the ABA Book Buyer's Handbook online.

ABA is the only national trade association that represents the interests of all independent booksellers. ABA's mission is to provide advocacy, education, business management services, new business models, and peer networking to enable independent booksellers to successfully compete.

For more information or to apply for Auxiliary membership, click here or call (800) 637-0037, ext. 1124.