Tips & Tricks

A recording of the recent session “Twitter Engagement: To Tweet or Not to Tweet,” as well as a handout, can be found on the Education Resources page on BookWeb.org. 

In conversations with Bookselling This Week, a California hardware store owner and printshop owner each shared their own creative tips for retail success that indie bookstore owners can borrow easily.

In the first of a two-part story, Bookselling This Week discusses best practices with bookseller John Cavalier of Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs, Louisiana.

“The big takeaway from Events University was that launching a festival is feasible, and it is possible to do it without an army,” said Gathering Volumes owner Denise Phillips.

“We thought it would be worthwhile to try to add up all the ways the bookstore gives back in a given year and share that with customers who might not be aware of the scope of it,” Jessica Stockton Bagnulo said. “It’s also a way to point out how much independent and locally owned stores in general contribute to their communities, and reinforce our message of the value of shopping local.”

“Indie bookstores are awesome, as we all know, and it’s a good day if we can raise their profile,” said Cathy Berner of Blue Willow Bookshop.

Booksellers at the American Booksellers Association’s recent Winter Institute discussed marketing, merchandising, events, and more during a roundtable focused on genre titles. 

“It’s a daunting task, but very worth it. Planning and auditing are key,” said Vroman’s President/CEO Allison Hill.

Indie booksellers striving to stay in the know about upcoming releases spoke to BTW about inviting publisher sales representatives to their stores to talk books with both staff and customers.