Industry News

Booksellers at the upcoming Heartland Fall Forum, NCIBA Fall Discovery Show, and the SCIBA Trade Show will have the opportunity to attend the all-new ABA education session “The Economics of Publishing and How They Impact Booksellers.”

Bestselling author and tireless literacy advocate James Patterson is kicking off the holiday season with a thank-you gift to independent bookstore employees: a donation of $250,000 that will be granted as bonuses of $1,000 to $5,000 to individual booksellers at ABA member stores.

Resources are now available to help booksellers promote the titles in the 2015 ABC Best Books for Young Readers Catalog, which is scheduled to begin arriving in stores next week.

The Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees Act, a bill that amends the Affordable Care Act, has passed the U.S. House and Senate. If signed by the President, the legislation would give states the right to determine what size business constitutes a “small business.”

For the entire month of October, ABA member stores can take advantage of specials on a wide array of frontlist and backlist titles from publishers that are showing their support for Indies First. Ordering opens today on more than a dozen offers.

SBA offers EMV card webinar; Schumacher wins Thurber Prize; We Need Diverse Books to present first Walter Dean Myers Award; 23 publishers sign deals with IPG; National Book Foundation announces 2015 “5 under 35” honorees; 2015 Kirkus Prize finalists announced; NetGalley introduces “Wish Granting”; Edelweiss partners with DOGObooks; HarperCollins forms HarperCollins Italia 

Following a September 22 New York Times article that highlighted a downturn in e-book sales, other national, local, and international media outlets have been sharing the news that print books remain a favorite for readers and that physical bookstores are benefitting. 

ABA has sent a letter to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to request that independent booksellers be given an opportunity to help craft a solution that raises the state’s minimum wage based upon sound economic principles.

Registration for the first of two IndieCommerce webinars on order processing opened on Wednesday, September 30. Attendance at the October 7 webinar is limited to the first 30 registrants.

Bookstores including Quail Ridge Books & Music, The Regulator Bookshop, and Left Bank Books are fostering community conversations about race and diversity by holding public forums, hosting book discussions, and engaging in activism.  

ABA is currently seeking the input of ABA member stores on two important governance matters: prospective candidates for the 2016 ABA Board elections and a change to the association’s bylaws.

A full-day workshop offering a crash course on the essentials of opening a bookstore or buying an existing store will be held on Saturday, January 23, 2016, just prior to the evening opening of Winter Institute 2016, at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel in Denver, Colorado.

There will be an explosion of activity on social media when Banned Books Week launches this Sunday, September 27. To help get the ball rolling, the event’s sponsors have announced several ways in which everyone can use the Internet to promote the freedom to read.

Winter Institute 11 will be held in Denver, Colorado, from Saturday evening, January 23, through Tuesday, January 26, 2016, but between now and then there are few dates that registered booksellers should keep in mind.

2016 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction longlist revealed; German booksellers association files complaint against Amazon/Audible; Oyster e-book subscription service to end; National Book Foundation to honor James Patterson; Financial Times, McKinsey announce shortlist for 2015 Business Book of Year