ABA member booksellers attending this year's BookExpo America (BEA) will be eligible to win some fabulous prizes by picking up their ABA welcome kit at the Hotel ABA Chicago or by visiting the ABA/Book Sense Lounge at the McCormick Place Convention Center. Book Sense is giving away five Book Sense gift cards worth $100, redeemable at the Ingram store on the trade show floor; LIBRIS is offering free Sunday Book & Author Breakfast tickets; ABA is giving away six inkjet printers; and The History Channel will have daily random drawings for DVDs in the ABA/Book Sense Lounge.

Booksellers picking up their ABA member welcome kits at the ABA Concierge Desk in the lobby of the Hotel ABA Chicago should look for a Book Sense Gift Card. Each of the 900 kits includes a gift card, but only five have been randomly loaded with a prize of $100 for use at Ingram's Bookmarks bookstore (located in the North Concourse across from the entrance to the trade show). To find out if a card is a winner, booksellers should take the gift card to the ABA/Book Sense Lounge in Room 401 at the McCormick Place Convention Center and ask for a "balance check." Winners will be given an official coupon for use at the Ingram store. (For rules for the gift card giveaway, click here [5].)

The ABA/Book Sense Lounge is open all four days (Thursday, June 3 - Sunday, June 6), but will be closed on Friday at 3:00 p.m. for the ABA Town Hall Meeting and Membership Meeting, and again on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. for the Book Sense at Five Birthday Bash (at 5:00 p.m.) on the trade show floor. Ingram's Bookmarks bookstore is open Friday and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. until 6:15 p.m., and on Sunday from 8:00 a.m. until 4:15 p.m.

For booksellers who are looking for better odds, LIBRIS (League of Independent Book Retailer Insurance Services), ABA's insurance subsidiary, is inviting bookstore members who are not currently LIBRIS policyholders to meet with a representative in the ABA/Book Sense Lounge for a free, no-obligation quote. Every bookseller who meets with a LIBRIS representative at BEA will receive two Sunday Book & Author Breakfast tickets.

LIBRIS offers business insurance for independent booksellers and book publishers. Among the insurance coverages LIBRIS offers to meet the needs of booksellers are full replacement cost for buildings and business personal property; business interruption/extra expense; used and rare books; computer equipment/software; business liability protection; employee benefits liability; theft; workers' compensation; and coverage for cafés and restaurants.

While in the ABA/Book Sense Lounge, booksellers who drop off a business card will be eligible to win one of six Epson inkjet printers. Winners will be randomly selected from a fishbowl, hat, or whatever's handy -- it's that easy -- and announced in the Lounge on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Booksellers need not be present to win, but attendance is encouraged.

And the Lounge will also be where ABA marketing partner, The History Channel, will be giving away prizes on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. A representative from The History Channel will be collecting business cards for a daily drawing in which five people will win a Day of Valor DVD. The History Channel will also be collecting photos of Hardcover History and D-Day/Voices of Valor displays, and one store will win a trip for two to Washington D.C. with a stay at the Intercontinental Hotel. Display photos can also be e-mailed to Associate Book Sense Marketing Director Meg Smith at [email protected] [6] up until June 15.

Rules for the Book Sense Gift Card Giveaway

Open to ABA regular members. Offer valid June 3 - 6, 2004. Winning stores will be provided with an official coupon to use at Ingram's Bookmarks. One prize per bookstore company is permitted. Cards are valid for this promotion only and cannot be incremented or reused. For more information about this promotion and the Book Sense Gift Card program, contact ABA Marketing Director Jill Perlstein at (800) 637-0037, ext. 1283.