Resolutions Reap Rewards

With the turn of the calendar and the start of the new year comes the perfect time to resolve to become more active in the marketing programs sponsored by the American Booksellers Association — and to reap their bountiful rewards.

Each month, ABA sends member booksellers who have opted into the IndieBound movement Red and White Box mailings, but who gets what depends on a bookstore’s level of participation. 

The Red Box, containing Indie Next List fliers and publisher-supplied items such as shelf-talkers, posters, easelbacks, catalogs, special offers, and other time-sensitive marketing materials, typically lands at all IndieBound bookstores by the middle of the month.

However, to receive the White Box, containing ARCs, galleys, and finished books supplied by ABA publisher partners, by the end of each month, stores must participate in the IndieBound movement in at least two of the following ways:

• Regularly report to the Indie Bestseller List (at least three out of four weeks monthly)
• Nominate titles for the Indie Next List (at least one nomination per quarter)
• Maintain membership in the ABC Children’s Group at ABA
• Use the ABA IndieCommerce product
• Create an Indie Next List store display and send a photo that ABA can both share with Publisher Partners and post on the IndieBound.org website (at least twice yearly)

The greater the level of participation by a bookstore, the more robust their White Box mailing will be each month.

The quarterly Children’s White Box will also be sent as long as a bookstore participates in at least two of the ways mentioned above.

“Our Publisher Partners have increasingly come to rely on the White Box mailings as an efficient and cost-effective way to get galleys and other materials into the hands of indie booksellers,” said Mark Nichols, ABA development officer.  “Stores take ownership of the Indie Bestseller List and the Indie Next List by their participation, and are rewarded accordingly.”

Any ABA member store not currently receiving White Box mailings can start receiving them by participating in ABA’s marketing programs as outlined above.

New bricks-and-mortar ABA bookstore members that sell some amount of new books will automatically receive the Red Box.  New stores will be exempt from the White Box requirements for the first three months of membership; however, to continue receiving White Box mailings after that time, they must participate in ABA’s marketing programs as described above.

Bookstores with questions about the Red and White Box mailings should contact Nichols via e-mail.