Save the date: This year’s Annual Meeting and Town Hall will occur on Thursday, May 27, starting at 2:00 p.m. ET. (The Annual Meeting starts at 2:00 p.m. ET, followed immediately by the Town Hall.) Booksellers can submit questions or comments ahead of time at [email protected], or they are invited to speak during the meeting. This is an opportunity for members to be in conversation with the ABA Board. Register here.

Today, Friday, May 14, Oprah and Marilynne Robinson will discuss the last in the Gilead novels quartet, Jack. Remind your customers to stop by the Oprah Book Club website to watch.

On Tuesday, May 18, at 3:00 p.m. ET, ABA will be holding a ShopTalk for nontraditional stores to share best practices, crowdsource ideas and solutions to problems, and have a conversation about the unique needs of operating their business. Advance registration is required.

Join six breakout authors and their editors at the Book Buzz Editors Panel on Wednesday, May 19, at 7:00 p.m. ET for a discussion of their upcoming titles. The event will be moderated by Donya Craddock of The Dock Bookshop. Find more information about the event and register here.

The deadline for submitting to ABACUS is Monday, May 31. Booksellers have told us that completing the survey has gotten easier over the years, and that this year’s survey might be the easiest one yet. The ABACUS financial survey is a free report filled with detailed information highlighting where your store falls across a range of areas, including profitability, productivity, and financial management. Using the ABACUS report is like adding a financial officer to your staff. To get this great tool look for an email your store received from Michael Becher of Industry Insights, with the subject line “ABACUS Benchmarking Survey,” which has all the necessary information. And here's more information on ABACUS.

**NEW DAY & TIME**  IndieLite stores: Sign up for the second in a two-part session on switching credit card processors, which will now take place on Wednesday, June 2, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. ET. (The date has been moved from May 19.) This session will focus on new tools and features available to stores after they switch to their own credit card processor. Register here. Stores that have already switched to their own credit card system and have questions can reach out to [email protected] to schedule a one-on-one training.

ABA is exploring interest in space for our booksellers and bookstore owners who identify as a member of the Disability community to come together for connection, support, community, resources, and networking. Please take a few minutes to complete this short survey by Sunday, May 16. Allies and those who do not identify as Disabled should not respond to this survey.

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

Bookstores that plan to celebrate Banned Books Week 2021 are encouraged to sign up to receive a Banned Books Week kit. The deadline to sign up is June 11. Important: All bookstores (including stores that already signed up in the past) MUST sign up to receive a kit this year.

Booksellers, submit your application now for a scholarship to ABA’s 17th annual Winter Institute (Wi17). Wi17 will take place February 13-16 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Recognizing the high value that stores place on the event, ABA wants to make Winter Institute available to as many stores as possible and help facilitate a more diverse attendee base, while also offering educational and networking opportunities to booksellers who hope to make a career in the industry. The scholarships are open to regular ABA member bookstores in good standing. Booksellers can apply via the Wi17 scholarship form on BookWeb.org. Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, June 25. Scholarship winners will be contacted directly if they have been selected, and the winning names will be announced in July 2021

Indies Introduce panelists and authors will present the titles chosen for the Summer/Fall 2021 program at Edelweiss Bookfest, which will take place virtually on June 8 and 9. Take a look at all the titles that will be presented here.

On June 8 and 9, attend Edelweiss Bookfest, a virtual celebration of all things books. Keynote speakers will include bestselling authors Tayari Jones, Anthony Doerr, and TJ Klune. Attendees will have their pick of over 65 sessions, including Indies Introduce, author panels and genre-focused sessions, Edelweiss training, meetups, and more. Stores can also opt-in to receive direct attendee e-commerce book sales. 

Based on the results of a recent survey, ABA will be providing space on Thursday, June 10, at 7 p.m. ET for our LGBTQIA+ Booksellers and LGBTQIA+ bookstore owners only to gather for connection, support, community, resources, and networking. Booksellers interested in attending should use the sign-up form at the bottom of the ABA Meetups page to join the LGBTQIA+ Meetups mailing list. To ensure that this space belongs to the attendees, ABA staff will not be in attendance and another attendee will act as the host.

The virtual event series Indie Shindig, first launched in 2020, will be returning for 2021. This year, Indie Shindig will consist of six one-hour themed events occurring on the second and fourth Mondays of each month, from Monday, May 10, through Monday, July 26, at 4 p.m. ET. View the schedule and sign up here. Each event will take place on Zoom. Participating publishers will split a donation of $20 per bookseller attendee for each event between The Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation and We Need Diverse Books (WNDB). Booksellers can also find digital assets here.

Read a recap of last week’s Marketing Meetup, which focused on marketing tips for nontraditional stores.

A recording of the CAE’s session on handling microaggressions in the workplace, as well as a recording of their session on de-escalation, can be viewed here. The recordings will be available until June 15.

The American Booksellers Association is inviting all member booksellers to contribute suggestions for topics and speakers for upcoming educational events. Suggestions can be submitted year-round via this Google Form. Booksellers can make suggestions at any time; ABA staff will review the list of submissions when planning for upcoming ABA events, such as Winter Institute, Children’s Institute, the Spring Forums, the fall regional trade shows, Marketing and Technology Meetups, and more.