A Letter From ABA’s President

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October 20, 2010

Dear Fellow Booksellers,

This might be one of the most important things I ask you to do this year to help ensure your store’s continued financial health.

If you haven’t yet submitted your numbers to this year’s ABACUS Survey, please submit them today. The deadline for submissions is Friday, October 29. Many of your fellow indie booksellers are already taking part in the ABACUS Survey, but more participation is needed to produce an ABACUS 2010 report. (And, if you have already submitted your numbers, many thanks!)

ABACUS is a unique and powerful tool that can only exist with the participation of you and your fellow booksellers. The insight, important business benchmarks, and critical data in the ABACUS Survey provide both a road map to profitability and essential information for any conversations with banks or negotiations with landlords.

Listen to what Nicole Magistro of The Bookworm of Edwards, Colorado, has to say about ABACUS in this YouTube video.

This year, we are conducting the ABACUS Survey in conjunction with the National Association of College Stores’ OnCampus Research -- an accomplished research operation -- but you are still submitting your ABACUS numbers via a completely secure and confidential electronic form. And, as Nicole notes in her video, most participants need less than an hour to submit their numbers.

As an added incentive, booksellers at stores that submit their data by the October 29 deadline can apply for the Avin Mark Domnitz Scholarship to the Sixth Annual Winter Institute.

For instructions about participating in the survey, check your inbox for an ABACUS Reminder from Martha Love at NACS OnCampus Research. Booksellers with questions about submitting data can contact Martha Love via e-mail at [email protected]. Booksellers who have general questions about ABACUS can contact ABA COO Len Vlahos via e-mail at [email protected] or at (800) 637-0037 ext. 6650.

I hope you will join your fellow indie booksellers in this critically important project -- and many thanks in advance for your participation!

Sincerely,

Michael Tucker
President, American Booksellers Association
Books Inc.
San Francisco, California