Slide Presentation

Edelweiss360 allows booksellers to efficiently craft and send store-branded, personalized emails to customers based on individual purchase behavior and staff knowledge of customers. In addition to driving foot-traffic to the store, this new service will expand a store’s online ordering and pre-ordering capabilities to better compete with large online retailers. Currently, a dozen stores are beta testing this new functionality. Learn how the beta stores have been using it successfully and how this may be a game-changer for independent bookstores. Panelists: Chris Morrow, Northshire Bookstore (Manchester Center, VT), John Rubin, Above the Treeline (Ann Arbor, MI)

Batch for Books is a new electronic invoicing system created for booksellers and publishers in the U.S. The software-assisted service, based on the version used in the U.K., helps initiate payments between vendors and bookstore retailers at no cost to bookstores. CEO Fraser Tanner will moderate a panel of UK users and US booksellers who have been part of the US Batch for Books beta test. Panelists include: Nic Bottomley, Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights (Bath, UK); David Prescott, Blackwell’s (Oxford, UK); Antonia Squire, The Bookshop (Bridport, UK); Fraser Tanner, Managing Director, Batch LTD (London, UK); Tegan Tigani, Queen Anne Book Company (Seattle, WA); Ron Tucker, Politics & Prose Bookstore (Washington, DC)

If you want to boost your sales numbers, this is the session for you! Genre titles include a broad category of topics, including fantasy, science fiction, western, romance, horror, mystery, dystopia, and more. And readers of these genres are often heavily invested in purchasing these titles and participating in the fandom through events, cosplay, and more. Bookseller panelists will review the financial impact of increased attention on genre titles. Panelists: Jenny Cohen, Waucoma Bookstore (Hood River, OR), Amber Brown, Quail Ridge Books (Raleigh, NC), Danny Caine, The Raven Book Store (Lawrence, KS), Emily Hall Schroen, Main Street Books (St. Charles, MO)

Pre-registration required; space is limited. Registration is closed. In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) included burnout in the eleventh revision of the International Classification of Diseases. It is now classified as an occupational phenomenon and characterized as “...feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and reduced professional efficacy.” Burnout is real; it often impacts individuals from minority groups at higher rates, and if not addressed it can lead to more severe health consequences. While there is no one solution for this syndrome, there are changes that can be put in place, whether you are a store owner, a manager, or a frontline bookseller. A professional in this field will lead a session to help all attendees identify workplace stressors in their environments and consider possible solutions. Panelists: Jeannie A. Nigam, MS, PhDc, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Jason Wells, Books Marketing Director, American Psychological Association

E-commerce is too expensive, complicated, and time consuming for small or micro store, right? Wrong! If you have a micro store with yourself as the sole proprietor or with only a few staff, this session is for you. IndieCommerce Senior Manager Geetha Nathan will moderate a panel of booksellers from small stores who will walk attendees through their decision to include e-commerce, how they used the opportunity to expand their brand, and the resulting impact to both their customer base and bottom line. Panelists: Geetha Nathan, ABA (White Plains, NY), Rebekah Shoaf, Boogie Down Books (New York, NY), Doloris Vest, Book No Further (Roanoke, VA), Seth Marko, The Book Catapult (San Diego, CA)

Bookshop CEO Andy Hunter will present Bookshop.org, an online bookstore that financially supports independent bookstores and explain how they hope to work with indies. Bookshop targets book buyers that would otherwise go to the major online retailer, and gives socially conscious book buyers an alternative that supports their values. This session will contain a brief demo of the platform and discussion of how indie bookstores can participate in the profit-sharing and use the platform to sell books and earn revenue. Panelists: Andy Hunter, Bookshop

Podcasting has become an increasingly popular way to supplement your store’s programming, boost sales, and generate interest in your store among the literary community and beyond. In this session, we will discuss how to decide if a podcast makes sense for your store, different philosophies regarding the creation of content, the best recording equipment and editing software, different publishing platforms, and how to work with publishers and authors to promote their work and yours. Jason Jefferies, general manager of Quail Ridge Books, host of the store’s podcast, Bookin', and co-director of the North Carolina Book Festival, will moderate this panel. Panelists: Jason Jefferies, Quail Ridge Books (Raleigh, NC), Annie Jones, The Bookshelf (Thomasville, GA), Alena Jones, Seminary Co-op Bookstore and 57th Street Books (Chicago, IL), Layla Saad, author, Sourcebooks

Pre-registration required; space is limited. Registration is closed. Workplaces that go beyond inclusive policies to truly cultivate climates of inclusion are a win-win for employers and employees, as they capitalize on the focus and energy that comes from people bringing their full selves to work. An educator from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation will present data on how to make your business a more inclusive place and will provide an environment for reflection and discussion on how to make positive changes in your workplace culture. Panelists: Raina Nelson, Human Rights Campaign Foundation (Washington, DC)

Every title on the bookstore shelf goes through a similar cycle: author, agent, editor, and publisher activities that include editing, jacket design, sales and marketing, and all the things involved in promoting bookstore sales. This session will feature industry professionals discussing each aspect of the life cycle of the book and will give attendees a larger perspective on their part in the process. Panelists: Bradley Graham, Politics and Prose Bookstore (Washington, DC), Kaitlin Harri, Senior Marketing Director, Morrow Group, HarperCollins Publishers (New York, NY), Laura Lippman, Author, HarperCollins Publishers (New York, NY), Vicky Bijur, Owner, Vicky Bijur Literary Agency, Liate Stehlik, President and Publisher, Morrow Group, HarperCollins Publishers (New York, NY), Mary Beth Thomas, VP, Deputy Director of Sales, HarperCollins Publishers (New York, NY), Tegan Tigani, Queen Anne Book Company (Seattle, WA)

If you lost an important resource when Baker and Taylor left the indie community, this is a session you will not want to miss. The panelists will review the benefits of ordering direct from publishers and tips for organizing your resulting paperwork. Also on the panel will be booksellers who have accounts with wholesalers who can discuss those vendors' services for small stores. Panelists: PK Sindwani, ABA (White Plains, NY), Todd Dickinson, Aaron's Books (Lititz, PA), Lane Jacobson, Paulina Springs Books (Sisters, OR), Stephen Sparks, Point Reyes Books (Point Reyes Station, CA)

This is an opportunity for booksellers to come together to discuss meaningful and often difficult topics. The goal for this conversation is not to find a solution or to provide active take-away steps, but to practice active listening, contributing, and considering other points of view on complex issues facing our industry and society. This session will focus on the politics of curation. What social or economic factors do you consider when you buy, merchandise, hand-sell, and cultivate specific author and publisher relationships? Do you choose to exclude certain titles or authors from your inventory? This conversation will be facilitated by a professional moderator. Panelists: Lexi Beach, Astoria Bookshop (Astoria, NY), Luis Correa, Avid Bookshop (Athens, GA), Kenny Brechner, Devaney Doak & Garrett Booksellers (Farmington, ME) , Valerie Koehler, Blue Willow Bookshop (Houston, TX), Robert Sindelar, Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park, WA)

At each of the 2019 spring forums, ABA presented “ABACUS and Pre-Orders: Two Programs You Can’t Do Without,” 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. This educational session will focused on best practices for increasing pre-orders — including the latest on accurately reporting and tracking — based on in-store experiences and feedback from the Pre-Order Booksellers Task Force. 

ABACUS and Pre-Orders was presented by ABA at the 2019 Regional Spring Forums.

“Co-op” is a word booksellers often hear from publishers, but it can be quite confusing to try to decipher what it is. In this session, bookstores that maximize their spending using co-op dollars will share with attendees:

• What co-op is
• Where co-op comes from
• How a store can save by using their accrued co-op dollars

You have a good idea for an event, but it’s not catching fire. You’ve sent out emails, created fliers for the store, and have even posted on all of your store’s social media channels, so what gives? In this session, marketing and events managers teach attendees:

• Best practices for creating marketing campaigns
• Opportunities for advertisement
• Areas for potential partnerships for cross-marketing
• Marketing timelines
• Using social media methodically to get the most out of your posts
• Thirteenth-hour efforts for the final push

Bookstores that sell direct to schools are an invaluable resource to the local community and have made use of a successful strategy for increasing cash flow and profits. Bookseller panelists who have worked closely with their school districts will share with attendees how they, too, can foster a relationship with school districts and add to their store’s bottom line. In this session, booksellers will learn:

• Creating teacher wish lists and classroom requests
• Tips on book fair distribution
• How to manage in-school author visit orders
• Best practices for orders
• How to establish and manage subscription services with schools
• Best Practices for working with educational publishers