Spring Forums Coming Up in SCIBA, NCIBA Regions

On Saturday, March 23, the American Booksellers Association is hosting a Spring Forum in Pasadena, California. Booksellers are invited to join ABA CEO Oren Teicher and Senior Program Officer Joy Dallanegra-Sanger for an education session (9:00 a.m.–10:00 a.m.) and lunch and an open forum (10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.).

The program is presented in conjunction with the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association (SCIBA); full programming can be found here. The SCIBA Spring Forum will take place at the Pasadena Hilton in Pasadena, California, located at 168 S. Los Robles Avenue.   

On Sunday, March 24, the American Booksellers Association is hosting a Spring Forum in San Francisco, California. Booksellers can join Teicher, Dallanegra-Sanger, and ABA Board president Robert Sindelar of Third Place Books in Seattle, Washington, for an education session (10:35 a.m.–12:05 p.m.) and lunch and an open forum (2:30 p.m.–3:15 p.m.).

The program is presented in conjunction with the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA); full programming can be found here. The NCIBA Spring Forum will take place at the Tides Thoreau Center in San Francisco, California, located at 1012 Torney Avenue in the Presidio.

Booksellers planning to attend either event are asked to RSVP to ABA Senior Membership Manager Daniel O’Brien.

Each spring forum event in Pasadena and San Francisco will feature an open forum discussion of industry issues plus the new education session “ABACUS and Pre-Orders: Two Programs You Can’t Do Without.” The session, to be led by ABA at each of the 10 forums, offers an update on two initiatives critical to the success of any independent bookstore: an active pre-orders campaign and participation in the annual ABACUS financial survey. 

As part of the open forum segment of the program, booksellers will have the opportunity to discuss any of their concerns related to ABA, the book industry in general, and other issues. The spring forum discussions are a critically important vehicle for ABA to gather feedback from members, and all are encouraged to come prepared to discuss their concerns.

All independent booksellers — ABA members and non-members alike — are invited to attend any of ABA’s Spring Forums.

Try Out an ABA Membership

Independent booksellers attending one of the Spring Forums are invited to sign up to test drive an ABA membership for free. This offer applies to stores that have not been ABA members in the past two years. Booksellers can join between now and May 15 to enjoy all the benefits of membership through August 31.

To take advantage of the offer, booksellers will need to attend one of the Spring Forums to receive the promotion code. Until May 15, booksellers will be able to enter the code in the new member application on BookWeb.org to sign up for the free trial. Following the trial period, stores will have the option to convert their membership to regular status until the end of the dues year (January 31, 2020) for a prorated portion of the new member rate of $199.

Need a New Website?

Booksellers are also invited to sign up for IndieLite, one of ABA’s two e-commerce platforms, between now and April 30 and get the first three months free. For details, e-mail [email protected].