Making the Most of Indies First on Small Business Saturday: Some Final Reminders

With just a few days to go until Indies First on Small Business Saturday, November 26, here are some last-minute reminders and tips on how to make the most of the celebration.

Now is the time to put the finishing touches on Indies First and Small Business Saturday events. Check out the sortable list of authors and illustrators who have volunteered their time to visit stores, sign books, or both for Indies First. In invitations to authors and illustrators, remind them — and any other guests you’ll be working with — to link to your store on their websites year-round.

Encourage visiting authors and illustrators to promote collaborations on social media ahead of time with the hashtag #IndiesFirst.

Remind customers that American Express is offering card holders who enroll their cards the chance to earn two times the points on purchases made at small retailers. The promotion runs through the end of the year. Check out the full list of eligible credit cards here.

Get on the Indies First publicity map, which now features nearly 500 stores — with room for more! Booksellers should submit their event plans through the Indies First Activity Registry by 5:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday, November 23. Information will appear approximately 24 hours after submission; for multiple locations, e-mail each location’s details separately to [email protected].

To edit a submission to the Indies First publicity map, booksellers should locate the confirmation e-mail from [email protected], which has a link at the bottom to view, edit, and update the original submission. If you are hosting Indies First activities in multiple store locations or a location other than your store, e-mail ABA directly to update those listings.

To promote Indies First and Small Business Saturday celebrations with in-store and online signage, there are new image files for posters, logos, and web and newsletter banners available in both the Small Business Saturday and Indies First sections of BookWeb’s DIY Designs & Downloads.

For content to share on social media, check out the new Stories to Share section on BookWeb, which features images that have been specially sized for social media.

Booksellers sharing an image on social media that they would also like to see fellow booksellers share can add the hashtag #bookweb to their post. ABA will include that content as part of its Stories to Share social media contest and the contributing bookstore will be entered to win $50 off their 2017–2018 ABA dues.

Don’t forget to snap photos throughout the day. Booksellers are encouraged to share photos with ABA by e-mailing [email protected]. Authors should be asked to sign this downloadable release form, giving permission for photos to be used by ABA for marketing and publicity purposes; stores planning to use the photos for their own marketing and publicity should include their names on the form.

There are a few more days to take advantage of special offers from publishers supporting Indies First. Booksellers can find promotional codes for the special offers as well as a downloadable Excel spreadsheet listing the offers on BookWeb (a username and password are required to log in).

Follow Indies First on Facebook and Twitter for up-to-the-minute news about the event, and share Indies First updates with customers using the hashtag #IndiesFirst. Questions about Indies First should be directed to [email protected].