Fall is near, and with that comes ABA’s Fall holiday shopping campaign: Good books come to those who shop early! Given continual national supply chain issues, communicating to your customers to shop early and shop local is even more imperative than the last two years. Whether that is purchasing pre-orders for this season’s most anticipated releases or shopping the shelves currently at your store, shopping early for your customers means avoiding out-of-stock books!

Created by ABA, the initial marketing assets for the campaign are now available [5], including in-store displays and recommended messaging for newsletters and social media. Additional assets will be released on a rolling basis through October including videos, printables, how-to articles, and more graphics. 

We have also introduced an indie bookstore cat mascot who needs a name! Submit your suggestions for a gender-neutral name [6] by Wednesday, August 31, to be used throughout the year to promote indie bookstores. A poll to vote on the final name will be in a future BTW issue!

If you haven’t started creating and implementing your Fall Marketing Plan, check out this Guide to Planning Holiday Marketing Campaigns [7] resource containing some questions to consider as you start to think about your marketing plans for the upcoming holiday season.

While these assets provide a consistent brand for independent bookstores, booksellers can customize the messaging for their respective stores’ needs. In addition to using these graphics, booksellers should also explain shopping options (such as in-person, online, or curbside pickup) and COVID-19 policies to customers. 

Visit the Marketing Assets page on BookWeb.org [5] now to download these new designs.