Special Publisher Terms for Indies First Make a Difference, Booksellers Say

It’s time for ABA member booksellers to take advantage of the special terms publishers are offering for this year’s Indies First on Small Business Saturday, a special shop-local event that brings together authors, readers, and publishers in support of independent bookstores on November 24.

As part of the sixth annual celebration of Indies First, 37 publishers (and counting) have signed on to offer indie booksellers specials on books and exclusives. These special terms from traditional publishers as well as nearly a dozen university presses can be applied to a wide array of frontlist and backlist titles; the terms are available between now and January 2019.

All of these special terms are listed on a downloadable Excel spreadsheet that will continue to be updated as new publisher offers come in. As each special offer becomes available, booksellers can use the promotional codes listed on the spreadsheet, which is accessible from the ABA Book Buyer’s Handbook and from the Indies First homepage on BookWeb.org.

“These stock offers are a great deal and are pretty easy to use. We can insert them into our regular electronic ordering procedure,” said Jeanne Costello, book buyer at Maria’s Bookshop in Durango, Colorado.

Costello told Bookselling This Week that she keeps her own spreadsheet to track the specifics of each offer — the time period, the number of times it can be applied, and the specific promotional code needed — and sorts the offers chronologically by expiration date. She also keeps details for her multi-use promotions on a sheet of paper taped to the bottom of her computer screen in order to maintain easy access to suppliers she orders from frequently.

“It’s really great to know that I can apply these special promotions to orders I am already placing and accumulate significant, measurable reductions in our cost of goods,” said Costello. “As a buyer, I work hard to be systematic about getting all the details into my spreadsheet as they are offered so I don’t drop the ball. In a business with small profit margins, this can make the difference that puts you in the black.”

ABA bookstore members will need a username and password to access the spreadsheet from the ABA Book Buyer’s Handbook or the Indies First homepage; e-mail [email protected] for login information.