New Offers Seek to Increase ABA Membership

 The American Booksellers Association has created two new membership offers -- one for non-member booksellers in the U.S. and the other for members of the Canadian Booksellers Association who would also like to hold membership in ABA.

The special trial offer, which runs from now through March 31, 2006, allows non-member booksellers in the U.S. to sample ABA member services and makes them eligible to attend the Winter Education Institute, to be held from January 26 - 27 in Long Beach, California. During their trial membership, participants will have access to the ABA Book Buyer's Handbook online and will be able to take advantage of the association's many business management services.

The $100 fee for trial membership will be applied to Regular Bookstore membership dues if participants become full members before May 1, 2006. (Trial membership is not available to former ABA member bookstores with termination dates after October 27, 2003.)

Booksellers who sign up for trial membership anytime between now and January 23, 2006, will be able to attend the Winter Institute's comprehensive education program free of charge. Session topics range from increasing margin to reevaluating payroll expenses, from understanding best co-op practices to buying and selling non-book product. (For a full schedule, click here.)

Trial participants planning to attend the Winter Institute are also eligible for the discounted room rate of $89 at the Long Beach Hilton, the event's headquarters hotel. To take advantage of the special rate, booksellers must sign up for the trial offer and book the hotel no later than November 15. (After November 15, the rate is $112 per night.)

Trial membership does not include participation in the Book Sense marketing program, voting rights, or discounted BookExpo America (BEA) admission.

Booksellers can sign up for the special trial offer through an online form on BookWeb. Questions about trial membership should be addressed to Meg Smith, ABA's director of membership marketing, at (800) 637-0037, ext. 6641 or [email protected].

In an agreement between ABA and the Canadian Booksellers Association, Canadian booksellers can now join ABA for half of the price of regular ABA membership if they join through CBA. Membership gives Canadian booksellers access to ABA educational sessions (including the Winter Institute, regional seminars offered at different times of the year in the U.S., and ABA's Day of Education at BEA), the ABA Book Buyer's Handbook online, and discounted admission to BEA.

Canadian booksellers will not have ABA voting rights and may not participate in the Book Sense marketing program.