Main Street/Shop Local

Winter Institute’s session “ABC Group Presents: A Year of In-Store Promotions” welcomed three panelists who offered an array of children’s book-inspired ideas and events for drawing customers to their stores throughout the calendar year.

The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies will be hosting a free webinar on February 18 on the findings of the Independent Business Survey, a post-holiday survey of 2,602 independent business owners across the U.S., which was released last week.

A post-holiday survey of 2,602 independent business owners across the U.S., including ABA member bookstores, has found that the Buy Local message is boosting customer traffic and improving the outlook on Main Street.

Crown Business is offering booksellers the opportunity to send a free copy of Decisive, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath, to three local businesses. Before learning about the offer, Inklings Bookshop owner Susan Richmond gave, at the store’s expense, seven copies of Decisive to local city council members in Yakima, Washington. 

ABA member stores can sign up until March 15 for the 2014 Find Waldo Local campaign, co-sponsored by ABA and Candlewick Press. Participation is capped at 250 stores.

Small business owners have until February 9 to enter FedEx’s Small Business Grant Contest, with the opportunity to win a grant worth up to $25,000, and until February 25 to create a submission video for BizClips’ Small Business Video Contest, which will present the winner with $2,500 worth of products to make over their business.

Following up on bestselling author Dan Heath’s successful opening plenary at last week’s Winter Institute, which featured insight and best practices from Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work, Crown Business has announced a special program for indie booksellers who would like to network and build stronger ties with other local businesses.

On Wednesday, January 22, preregistration opened for the third annual celebration of Find Waldo Local, co-sponsored by the American Booksellers Association and Candlewick Press.

For the third year in a row, ABA is partnering with Candlewick Press to bring the Find Waldo Local campaign to hundreds of communities nationwide. Booksellers will be able to sign up online beginning next Wednesday, January 22.

NBCC awards finalists announced; Holiday sales numbers as predicted; IBM says e-commerce will lose to bricks-and-mortar; S&S to launch Simon 451 imprint; Deadline approaching for NBF’s Innovations in Reading Prize; Macmillan to distribute Guinness World Records; Laurie Muchnick named fiction editor at Kirkus

ABA is urging member stores to complete the seventh annual post-holiday survey, which was sent in an e-mail from ABA CEO Oren Teicher on Monday, January 6. The deadline for completing the survey is midnight PST on Tuesday, January 21.

California Bookstore Day has tallied 80 bookstores that will be participating in its inaugural celebration on May 3, 2014. Thirteen special word-based items to be created especially for the day are now in the works. 

Caldecott, Newbery announcements to be webcast on January 27; Zola Books acquires Bookish; Oregon Book Awards finalists announced; Study looks at showrooming practices

ABA is urging member stores to complete the seventh annual post-holiday survey, which was sent in an e-mail from ABA CEO Oren Teicher on Monday, January 6. The survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete and is completely confidential.

Bookstores should be on the lookout for an e-mail from ABA arriving on Monday, January 6, with a link to the seventh annual post-holiday survey, conducted this year by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and the Advocates for Independent Business.