About Bookselling

ABA COO Len Vlahos writes about his recent trip to New Zealand and Australia, where he was invited to speak on the digitization of the U.S. book market.  While in Auckland and Sydney, he visited area indies, made many new friends, and learned a lot about the similarities, and differences, in the three book markets.

On the second Tuesday morning of every month, Warwick’s hosts “Coffee With a Bookseller.” The store serves free coffee and scones, and staff member Seth Marko leads customers on a “casual, informal journey” through new releases and Warwick’s staff picks.

As you ready for the holidays, don’t forget to stock up on Mary Engelbreit's "A Book Is a Present You Can Open Again and Again" paper gift certificates.

If you play music in your bookstore, you need to understand what your legal responsibilities – and rights – are. Here's an up-to-date look at the major performing rights organizations, what they do, and the factors that dictate their licensing fees.

An interesting media meme has emerged in the last month: that there are unique opportunities for indie booksellers in a society of hyper-connectivity and technological saturation.

 As stores look to the future of bookselling, an increasing number are establishing consignment relationships with publishers. Boulder Book Store and Water Street Bookstore are two of the latest to enter into a consignment arrangement with publisher Chelsea Green.

When Robert Sindelar of Third Place Books tried to buy gift cards via the websites of several major indie bookstores in another city, he was very surprised by what he found.

Standout sidelines – whether they’re laminated stamp bookmarks, quality fair trade journals, or flip toys – usually sell themselves.

As a growing number of independent booksellers look to make their online presence a key part of their store identity, it is important to ensure that the bookstore website is as productive as possible.

The decision to sell a business begs a series of hard questions, including: How much is the business worth? How can its value be increased? What are alternatives to exiting the business? How are buyers selected? Panelists tackled these questions and more during the Day of Education session "Succession Planning: Valuing Your Business."

Eastern Connecticut is drying out from last week's record-setting rains, but it will take time to repair all the damage caused by flooding. In the meantime, Westerly, Rhode Island, bookstore Other Tiger is keeping its Connecticut customers supplied with books.

Anderson's & Naperville READS Bring Gaiman to 8,000

Naperville READS, a community reading project co-sponsored by Anderson's Bookshops, brought Neil Gaiman to town for a series of readings and events on February 23 and 24. Organizers estimated that 8,000 people saw the author in classrooms, auditoriums, and the bookstore.

At last month's Winter Institute, there was the planned, organized education, and then there was unplanned, spontaneous education. At the "Customer Surveys" session led by ABA COO Len Vlahos, "someone brought up Paco Underhill's book Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping(S&S)] and asked if anyone had hired a consultant to review their store," Christie Olson Day told BTW.

Three savvy indie booksellers shared their ideas for using online tools to promote book sales with a packed house at the Fifth Annual Winter Institute education session "Handselling 201: Using the Digital Age to Your Advantage." Panelists Andrew Getman of Politics & Prose, Kelly Justice of Fountain Bookstore, and Pete Mulvihill of Green Apple Books presented real-life examples of how they have boosted sales via their store websites, in-house videos, Twitter campaigns, e-newsletters, and more.