Advocacy

 
 
23 Oct

6 Steps to Help Deal with Curation Protests

An increasing number of stores have been dealing with abuse or harassment because they do or do not carry certain books. We’ve collected some steps you can take if (or before!) your store faces curation challenges.

 

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25 Sep

ABA Booksellers Gather in DC to Support the Credit Card Competition Act

Last night, about 50 American Booksellers Association (ABA) bookseller members from across the country traveled to DC to support the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA), a bill that would require credit cards to be routed over at least two unaffiliated networks to allow small businesses a choice in taking credit card payments.

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11 Sep
ABFE

Free Expression Friday: “Trouble in Censorville” with Rebekah Modrak and Willie Carver, Jr.

Rebekah Modrak is one of the editors of Trouble in Censorville: The Far Right's Assault on Public Education and the Teachers Who are Fighting Back; Willie Carver, Jr. is a former Kentucky Teacher of the Year and one of the voices in the book.

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ABA is committed to making a difference in the lives of its members. Through direct engagement in political and trade-related efforts comes change and progress—improved publisher trade terms; the adoption of sales tax fairness laws and resolutions; minimum wage; access to capital; overtime rules; increased consumer awareness of shopping locally; and governmental activity on behalf of small businesses.

Toward that end, ABA has created a number of toolkits to help booksellers advocate to their lawmakers. Most recently, ABA launched the AdvoKit (Advocacy Action Kit), a state-specific toolkit that provides booksellers with template letters on a range of key policy issues affecting independent booksellers. Under each state, the AdvoKit provides template letters that booksellers can use to reach out to both state and federal lawmakers and officials. Each letter can be used for a number of key policy issues. The letters also serve as a way for booksellers 

 

Small Business Issues

ABA has created this continuously updated Advocacy Action Kit (AdvoKit) to help independent booksellers advocate on any number of issues, from minimum wage, access to capital, and e-fairness to overtime rules.

Small Business Rising

ABA has joined with Small Business Rising, a coalition of small businesses formed in 2021 that urges policymakers to rein in monopoly power and level the playing field that has allowed monopolies like Amazon to amass outsized power and influence.

Economic Impact & Local First

 The Stepping Stone to Monopoly is the ABA Advocacy Division’s latest white paper detailing Amazon’s anticompetitive behavior. While the previous white papers focused on Amazon’s impact on different markets, the latest focuses exclusively on the bookselling and publishing markets.

Read white paper ›

This year’s Civic Economics report, Unfulfilled: Amazon and the American Retail Landscape, includes studies which provide the opportunity to build a deep understanding of how Amazon affects small businesses and communities across the nation, and how those impacts have changed over the years.

No Amazon Monopoly

ABA believes that Amazon is a modern-day monopoly. Its abuse of its dominance has had a negative impact on free expression and the health of America’s book industry, including a chilling effect on the diversity of, and access to, books and information. ABA is bringing that argument to Congress and to state attorneys general, and are asking booksellers to make the case.

Free Expression – ABFE

 

Visit the ABFE and Free Speech page by clicking here.

 

About ABA

American Booksellers Association is a national trade association that supports and advocates for the success of independent bookstores. We provide members with education, networking opportunities, advocacy, resources, and technology. In turn our members support local schools through book fairs, donations and author visits; promote literacy; provide inclusive community centers; connect readers and books; add character to neighborhoods; champion and center diverse and new voices; and contribute to the local economy. We feel honored to support them in their work.

Contact

PRESS INQUIRIES: [email protected]

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ALL OTHER INQUIRIES: [email protected]

 

 

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