On Thursday, April 30, at 11:00 a.m. ET, following up on the success of the April 9 and April 23 meetups on virtual events, the American Booksellers Association will present a Marketing Meetup on virtual events from a publisher perspective.

With readers staying home and bookstores in various states of closure due to COVID-19, virtual events are quickly becoming one of the main ways bookstores are keeping their connection with customers and the local community. The publisher panelists in this session will share what online platforms they are using, any tips/tricks/best practices they have come up with, what types of events are being held, how they are deciding whether to ticket or offer free events, what they are contributing to bundles, and how they work with the bookstores and the platforms they are using.

Guest speakers will include:

• Melissa Campion of Macmillan
• Lara Phan of Penguin Random House
• Taryn Roeder of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Karen Torres of Hachette Book Group

Next week, the May 7 Marketing Meetup will focus on retaining new customers, as stores are seeing an increase in online sales. For this two-part session, taking place at 2:00 p.m. ET, Jordan Brannon of Coalition Technologies [7], who previously partnered with ABA for an SEO session during Winter Institute [8], will return to offer expert guidance on this subject. “We’re interested in helping independent bookstores achieve sustainable growth and an engaged, loyal audience through proven digital marketing techniques,” said Brannon. “The session will focus on message-based marketing, SEO, SEM, social media, and more.”

Learn more about ABA meetups here [9].