Dear Booksellers, The race to the start of 4th quarter has begun! Thursday is October 1! To-Do List- Claim Your Constant Contact Rebate: We have 30 remaining stores who have not yet claimed their Constant Contact rebate. If you're a Constant Contact user through the ABA program, check the list and complete the reimbursement form.
- Double-check Your Social Media: While working on a project this weekend, we looked up many of your stores on social media. In some cases, when we went to a store’s website and clicked on their social media icons, the links were broken or didn’t work properly. Do some basic maintenance on your social media accounts before the holiday season starts. Check that your social media icons link through to the platforms.
- Meet IndieCommerce’s October 22 Deadline: If it seems like we’re harping on the credit card processing migration, we are. More than 200 stores still haven’t transitioned to their own credit card processor, and the deadline is in just three weeks. (This is for stores that used ABA’s credit card processor and are still on the shared ABA credit card account.) ABA made this change to ensure that stores’ IndieCommerce service isn’t disrupted and that receipt of funds isn’t delayed. Stores that have not switched over by October 22 risk disruption and delays, and they will begin paying a 4.5% service fee (in addition to the 1% IndieCommerce fee) to cover ABA’s additional costs. You can find answers to some of your questions here and instructions for setting up your own account here. You can also email [email protected] with any questions or if you need recommendations for a credit card processor. We are happy to guide you through this process.
- Give Your Credit Card Processor a Heads Up: Give your (online or in-store) credit card processor a heads up that your demand will be increasing for the holiday season.
- “October Is the New December”: Queue up the assets for this buy-early campaign to start on Thursday, October 1.
- Double-check Your IndieBound Information and Links: Indiebound has had 2.4 million users since March. Let us know if you need changes or corrections to your listing on the IndieBound store finder. And we’re launching a fresh look for October! Watch for an upcoming announcement.
- Check Again for Relief: State and local small business relief may still be available. Act quickly and continue to check your state and local government websites for funding opportunities. For example, Summit County, Ohio, has grant relief available (deadline October 7).
- Participate in Banned Books Week (September 27–October 3): Take advantage of:
- Ingram’s three percent discount on banned and challenged books until October 4 (no promotional code needed)
- Promotional tools, including a counter card, social media and web banners, infographics and handouts, and more
- Resources, including the list of the top 10 most challenged books and a Banned Books Week handbook
- Banned Books Week Coalition’s events page. If you are hosting an event, register your event online to be included in the free event calendar.
- Virtual program ideas from the American Library Association
This Week’s Events
Tuesday, September 29, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ET
Friday, October 2, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET
Why Sales and Bestseller List Reporting Is Vital in 2020 Registration is closed, but booksellers can keep an eye on BookWeb’s Education Resources for a recording. The first half of the event will look at what reporting means for the book industry and the indie channel. Afterward, booksellers will join breakout groups based on their POS system to talk with fellow booksellers about how best to report through their system (this portion will not be recorded).
Tuesday, September 29, at 3:00 p.m. ET
Coffee Break Join us for an opportunity to share support, ask questions, and trade best practices. All booksellers are welcome. If you’ve never attended this event before, it’s a great way to hear what’s working well at other stores and crowdsource solutions to any challenges you’re facing at your store. Email [email protected] for Zoom login details.
Wednesday, September 30, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET
IndieLite 101: How to Get Your New IndieLite Site Ready for Launch New to IndieLite or just don’t know where to start? Join us to learn easy steps and best practices on how you can prepare your site for the holiday season. Register now.
Thursday, October 1, at 3:00 p.m. ET
Top 10 Things to Know About: Leveraging Customer and Sales Data Knowing how to collect and use your customer and sales data is key to successful marketing and better customer engagement. Jordan Brannon and Cassandra Cross of Coalition Technologies, a Los Angeles-based digital marketing agency, will introduce some key elements of maximizing the value of the data your business captures, and ABA’s Ryan Quinn will present the top 10 tips and notes from indie bookstores. Register now.
Thursday, October 1, at 6:00 p.m. ET
BIPOC Coffee Break The next meeting space for BIPOC — Black, Indigenous, or People of Color — booksellers and bookstore owners to gather for connection, support, community, resources, and networking will be held on October 1 at 6:00 p.m. ET. This will be a non-hosted opportunity; there will not be a facilitator and ABA staff will not be in attendance. Booksellers and store owners interested in attending should email [email protected] for the Zoom information. Each BIPOC Coffee Break meeting has a new password, so please be sure to email for details.
Monday, October 5, at 1:00 p.m. ET
New Member Coffee Break The New Member Coffee Break, a new quarterly session for new and provisional bookstore members, will include a tutorial on navigating BookWeb.org to ensure a better understanding of where to find the information most vital for members. The presentation will look at education resources, networking and community, business affinity partnerships, indie marketing, advocacy, and much more. The second half of the session will offer booksellers an open forum during which they can ask questions and talk with ABA staff. Registration is required. ABA is here for all of you. Please reach out if there is anything we can help with. Members can contact me directly, or email the Membership, Advocacy, or IndieCommerce teams. Best,
Allison |
