Just in time for Independent Bookstore Day, President Barack Obama talked books and reading with six independent bookstores: Politics & Prose, Literati Bookstore, Eso Won Books, Parnassus Books, The Lit. Bar, and Square Books. Find more information about how to join in on the fun here.

Remind your customers to stop by the Oprah Book Club website today — Friday, April 23 — to watch the first conversation between Oprah and her most recent book club pick Marilynne Robinson, author of the Gilead novels quartet: Gilead, Home, Lila, and Jack.

Get ready for Independent Bookstore Day (IBD) this Saturday, April 24! A variety of downloadable items to help celebrate — including signs, teasers, shelf-talkers, social media assets, and more — are available on the Independent Bookstore Day website. On Saturday, IBD will also hold two virtual events, and choose the final winner of the #BookstoreShoutOut campaign.

The deadline to cast your vote in the ABA Board of Directors election is April 27. If you’re the designated voter for your store, submit your store’s ballot now. Learn more about the candidates here.

Look for the email from Michael Becher of Industry Insights, with the subject line “ABACUS Benchmarking Survey,” which has all information necessary for you to begin filling out your ABACUS financial survey. Participating member stores will receive free reports that provide detailed information about where your store falls across a range of areas, including profitability, productivity, and financial management. ABACUS will highlight areas that need improvement, areas in which your store is succeeding, and everything in between. Here’s more information on ABACUS.

Wondering about how to optimize your Bookshop.org page? Join a Marketing Meetup led by Bookshop Partnerships Manager Sara High on Tuesday, April 27, at 3:00 p.m. ET to learn more. Sign up at the bottom of BookWeb.org’s Meetups page here.

ABA’s A Universe of Wishes four-part virtual reading series for indie bookstore customers and in support of We Need Diverse Books will conclude on April 28. Find more information about the event here.

Join in on a session called “Business Models: Nonprofits” to hear from booksellers who will provide information on starting a new nonprofit on Thursday, April 29, at 3:00 p.m. ET. All booksellers are invited to register now.

Share best practices, talk business strategy, and crowdsource ideas and solutions to problems at this month’s ShopTalk in the Evening on April 29, from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET. ABA will send the meeting link to the entire bookstore membership a few hours before each event.

Booksellers, continue nominating titles for the annual ABC Best Books for Young Readers consumer catalog through Edelweiss or using the form on Bookweb.org.

ABA is exploring interest in space for our LGBTQIA+ booksellers and bookstore owners to come together for connection, support, community, resources, and networking. Please take a few minutes to complete this short survey. Allies and those who do not identify as LGBTQIA+ should not respond to this survey.

As Independent Bookstore Day approaches this Saturday, April 24, don’t forget to report to the Indie Bestsellers Lists during the busy weekend to demonstrate the power of all independents.

Take a look at the Indie Cooking Bestseller List, based on sales for the eight-week period ending April 18, 2021.

The Biden Administration touted a tax credit for small businesses to give employees paid time off to get the COVID-19 vaccine during remarks on his pandemic response earlier this week. The credits, which were established in the American Rescue Plan, are available from April 1 through September 30. Learn more here.

Rhode Island and New Jersey have small business grants available. Rhode Island’s grant of up to $5,000 is open now through April 30. Booksellers can pre-register for New Jersey’s grant of up to $20,000 between April 19 and April 29; pre-registration is required in order to receive a grant. 

IndieLite stores can watch the first in a two-part series on switching credit card processors here. The second part of the series will take place on May 19 at 1:00 p.m. ET, and will focus on new tools and features that will be available to stores once they switch to their own credit card processor. Register here. And, don’t forget the deadline to switch July 30, 2021.

Let ABA know what you’re reading by submitting blurbs to the Indie Next List! Take a look at this shelf-talker, which can be printed and posted in-store, for this year’s deadlines and more information.

In this week’s E-commerce Update, online sales and traffic appear to have become more stable, which supports the theory that we won’t see online sales and traffic regress to pre-pandemic levels anytime soon. Learn more here.