Winter Institute 2020

This forty-five minute long session offers attendees three lightning talks from booksellers who have had game-changing aha! moments in the past year. Presentations will be short — 10 minutes or less — and will focus on concepts that have saved money, improved operations, created a new efficiency, or increased sales. From major shakeups to a better system for ordering store supplies, innovative ideas come in all sizes but can make a big impact. Presentations this hour include: How to Turn Social Media Activism Into Increased Sales (Danny Caine, The Raven Bookstore, Lawrence, KS); Black Books Matter (Ramunda Lark Young, MahoganyBooks, Washington, D.C.); and Ithica is Books (Lisa Swayze, Buffalo Street Books, Ithaca, NY). Panelists: Danny Caine, The Raven Bookstore (Lawrence, KS), Lisa Swayze, Buffalo Street Books (Ithaca, NY), Ramunda Lark Young, MahoganyBooks (Washington, D.C.)

Pre-registration required. Space is limited. Booksellers are encouraged to attend the seminar in its entirety. Registration is closed. An employee manual is the documentation for your store’s policies and procedures, as well as for employees’ legal rights and obligations. But it is more than that. This document provides a window into the unique workplace vision and culture that you have built — or that you want to build. The workshop will cover the following sections for your employee manual:

• Workplace culture, including store values and mission statement
• General employment information
• Code of conduct
• Benefits
• Disciplinary procedures and grounds for termination
• Employee manual disclaimer

Panelists: Stephanie Steinberg, Hachette Book Group (New York, NY), Rebecca Fitting, Greenlight Bookstore (Brooklyn, NY), Jenny Cohen, Waucoma Bookstore (Hood River, OR)

This informal yet informative talk is designed to provide a relaxed atmosphere for inspiring and educational conversations. Two booksellers with experience with everything from fundraising to campaigning to serving will discuss and offer suggestions and encouragement for those who are curious about what it takes to serve in office. Panelists: Kate Schlademan, The Learned Owl (Hudson, OH), Becky Anderson, Anderson's Bookshops (Naperville, IL)

Pre-registration required. Space is limited. Booksellers are encouraged to attend the seminar in its entirety. Registration is closed. Attention frontline booksellers! ABA is offering this in-depth, interactive seminar to help you learn more about the industry and become better booksellers. The subjects for the afternoon include:

• Personal Finance: Because finances make your life work! Tina Hay, author of Napkin Finance (HarperCollins), will present “Napkins for the Frontline Bookseller.” Tina developed this visual way of understanding financial concepts and managing money while attending Harvard Business School. Her visual learning strategy uses sketches and infographics that helped her succeed in her studies and master even the most complex financial topics.
• When Hand-selling is Difficult : Maybe you’re not into kids’ books or history or cooking, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a competent and meaningful exchange on the topic and help guide a customer to the best choice.
• Career Management: Take some time to focus on your future. A panel composed of booksellers and publishers will share insights on their career trajectories and tips for creating a career plan for future success. You won’t want to miss this conversation.

Panelists: Tina Hay, author, Dey Street Books , Cynthia Compton, 4 Kids Books and Toys (Zionsville, IN), Michael Triebwasser, Politics and Prose Bookstore (Washington, D.C.)

Welcome to ABA’s live Marketing Meetup! Marketing is more than social media, newsletters, or placing ads. While all of these tasks are vital to marketing, it is important not to overlook search engine optimization, or SEO. In this session, you’ll learn what SEO is, why it matters, and some best practices for implementation. Panelists: Ryan Quinn, ABA (White Plains, NY), Eileen McGervey, One More Page Books (Arlington, VA), Cassie Clemans, Roundabout Books (Bend, OR) and  Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialists Jordan Brannon, Coalition Technologies (Culver City, CA), and, Cassandra Cross, Coalition Technologies (Culver City, CA).

It has been more than a year since ABA and the Pre-Order Task Force began a dedicated push to help booksellers better capitalize on this important yet underutilized option for sales. Since then, many participating booksellers have witnessed increased sales both from targeted pre-order campaigns and overall sales of popular titles. In this session, publishers that have worked with ABA will review pre-order campaigns from their perspective and will provide additional data and best practices. And booksellers who have had success with pre-orders will share tips to further increase pre-orders and sales overall. Panelists: Joy Dallanegra-Sanger, ABA (White Plains, NY), Geetha Nathan, ABA (White Plains, NY), Dave Lucey, Page 158 Books (Wake Forest, NC), Robert Sindelar, Third Place Books (Seattle, WA); Karen Torres, Hachette Book Group (New York, NY); Meg Sherman, W. W. Norton & Company (New York, NY)

Some of the best fiction and nonfiction is born out of crisis, and the human struggle – for peace, for freedom, for safety – is the backbone of some of our most enduring works of literature. Join five writers for a discussion of how they approach writing about crisis, and how stories of crisis can inform and inspire readers. With Julia Alvarez, Erik Larson, James McBride, and David Simon, moderated by Emma Straub. Panelists: Erik Larson, author, Penguin Random House, Julia Alvarez, author, Algonquin, James McBride, author, Penguin Random House, David Simon, author, Akashic Books, Emma Straub, Books Are Magic (Brooklyn, NY)

Pre-registration required. Registration is closed. Join bestselling and award-winning authors Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds in conversation on the history of racist ideas in America and how to better navigate these complex realities. Reynolds and Kendi’s Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, March 2020) delivers a timely YA reimagining of Kendi’s National Book Award-winning Stamped From the Beginning. Through his work, Kendi has explored how racist ideas were developed by some of the most brilliant minds in history to justify and rationalize the nation’s deeply entrenched discriminatory policies. But while racist ideas have always been easy to fabricate and distribute, they can also be discredited. Jason Reynolds’s remarkable reimagining of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning also offers the tools needed to combat these ideas. With Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, Kendi and Reynolds have come together to deliver an energizing narrative that speaks to young people and shines a light on the many insidious forms of racism—and on ways readers can identify and stamp out racist thoughts in their daily lives.

One of the most anticipated and talked about books of the 2020, American Dirt, touches on issues of immigration on the southern US border, the politics of our current world and ultimately a mothers fierce love for her son. Javier Ramirez, co-owner of Madison Street Books (Chicago, IL) and Jeannie Cummings, author, will engage in a conversation about the work and the impact it has already had in the industry and indie bookselling community. Panelists: Jeanine Cummins, author, Flatiron Books, Javier Ramirez, Madison Street Books (Chicago, IL),

Congratulations on making it through Winter Institute 2020! What are you taking away from this conference? What has excited or inspired you? If you attended the Bookseller Discussion Groups on Wednesday, you will find your moderator ready to guide your group through this debrief discussion. If you are attending on a day pass, you are welcome to join any table with a “Day Pass” stanchion. Your moderator will be a member of the ABA Booksellers Advisory Council or ABC Advisory Council.

Welcome to the Winter Institute Board Game Playroom! This is your opportunity to sample games with colleagues or game reps, review discounts, and place orders. If you are looking for new non-book inventory, this may be an opportunity for you. Game publishers on hand will include: Atlas Games, GIGAMIC, Hush Hush Projects/Fog of Love, Iello Games, Looney Labs, Peachstate Hobby Distributors, R&R Games, Smirk and Dagger Games, Storymatic, USAopoly, Van Ryder Games, and WizKids.
Panelists: John Stacy, Executive Director, GAMA (Columbus, OH)

ABA invites Wi15 attendees to join in honoring and toasting outgoing ABA CEO Oren Teicher.