Booksellers, email [email protected] to submit your questions or comments ahead of time for the upcoming Annual Meeting and Town Hall now. The Annual Meeting will begin at 2:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 27, followed immediately by the Town Hall, ending at 4:00 p.m. ET. Register here.

An Evening ShopTalk will be held on Thursday, May 27, at 8:00 p.m. ET. ABA will send the meeting link to the entire membership a few hours before each event. If booksellers do not receive the email invitation (and cannot find it in their spam folder), they should reach out to [email protected].

Submit to ABACUS by Monday, May 31. The free ABACUS financial survey highlights where your store falls across a range of areas, including profitability, productivity, and financial management. 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. 

ABA’s Summer/Fall 2021 Indies Introduce titles will be presented at Bookfest on June 8 and 9. Take a look at all the titles that will be presented here and sign up to take advantage of special publisher promotions.

Is your bookstore planning to celebrate Banned Books Week this year? Don't miss out on the opportunity to sign up for 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.

To optimize the education at Children’s Institute, the ABC Group is asking booksellers to complete a brief survey on what they would like to see discussed during specific roundtable discussions. Please submit your answers by Friday, June 18. The responses to the survey will inform the agenda created for each roundtable.

Booksellers, submit your application now for a scholarship to ABA’s Winter Institute (now abbreviated as Wi2022). Wi2022 will take place February 13-16, 2022, in Cincinnati, Ohio. ABA wants to make Winter Institute available to as many stores as possible, help facilitate a more diverse attendee base, and offer educational and networking opportunities to booksellers and bookstore owners who hope to make, or have, a career in the industry. The scholarships are open to ABA member bookstores. Booksellers can apply via the Wi2022 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.

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.

ABC Group subscribers can now communicate using the ABC Group Discord server. Email ABC Group Manager Gen de Botton for an invitation link.

Stop by ABA’s booth at the U.S. Book Show today, tomorrow, and Thursday. Take a look at when ABA staff will be available.

On June 8 and 9, attend Edelweiss Bookfest, a virtual celebration of all things books. Booksellers can opt-in to receive direct attendee e-commerce book sales.

Beginning on June 8, the NYC Department of Small Business Services is offering a free limited four-session workshop series, “The New Normal: Adapting Your Small Business Playbook,” to help small businesses respond to the coronavirus pandemic and prepare for the future.  Register here.

The Small Business Administration (SBA), along with Public Private Strategies, launched a new regional webinar series “Getting Back on Track: Help is Here.” The webinar series aims to provide small businesses with resources to continue to recover from the pandemic and will feature speakers from The White House, the SBA, Members of Congress, and small business leaders. Register here.

Eligible bookstores should remember to take advantage of the Employee Retention Tax Credit (worth up to $5,000 per employee for 2020 and $28,000 per employee for 2021). The tax credit can be claimed on quarterly tax filings. Learn more here, and consider registering for an NFIB webinar (May 26, 12:00 p.m. ET) on how to maximize the tax credit.

Indies Introduce panelist Olivia Edmunds-Diez of Boulder Book Store talked with Ava Reid, author of The Wolf and the Woodsman (Harper Voyager) about folklore and fairy tales.

ABA is currently looking to hire an Executive Assistant & Project Administrator. This position will report to ABA's CEO and COO, and will be located in White Plains, New York. Find more information about responsibilities, compensation, and how to apply here.

Did you know 70 percent of cyberattacks target small businesses, which can result in a data breach? It pays to know the six signs of an impending data breach, because it could happen to your bookstore. Watch BTW in June for more information about cybersecurity.