More Bookstore Participation Needed for ABACUS

The American Booksellers Association is reminding booksellers who have not yet submitted their store's financial data to this year's ABACUS survey to take advantage of the deadline extension to August 15 and to participate now.

While the pace of submissions to the survey has picked up during the past few weeks, ABA's director of special projects, David Walker told BTW, "We still do not have enough participants to produce a report that will provide meaningful results; however, we're hoping that a number of booksellers will take advantage of the two-week deadline extension to gather and submit their information."

Walker is available, via e-mail at [email protected] and telephone at (800) 637-0037, ext. 6612, to respond to questions and to help booksellers if they need assistance completing the online form. If booksellers are unable to contact him during normal business hours, Walker said, "I would be happy to speak with any bookseller during the evening or over the weekend."

It should take a bookseller about an hour to complete the self-calculating form.

In return, participants will receive a customized report on their store's financial performance, as well as a $50 rebate off of their ABA membership dues. Rebate checks will be sent to all participating stores in September.

In a July 5 Letter to the Editor, Brian Sweet of Trails End Bookstore in Winthrop, Washington, expressed his thoughts about the value of the ABACUS survey. "I'm here to say that ABACUS has been invaluable for our little bookstore," he wrote. "We have modified our business plan based upon our results and by comparing our numbers with those stores that are even more successful. We are doing well and have been more profitable every year since we opened, and I give much of the credit to the industry organizations (ABA, PNBA) and their programs.... I hope more people spend the hour to send in their financial numbers to ABA and then use the data that ABA sends back to make their store more successful and to keep the world of independent bookselling alive and thriving. ABA is trying to help us, but we have to help ourselves."

For more information about ABACUS and to access this year's survey form, visit www.bookweb.org/education/abacus/.