Sign up for a super-special five-week educational series on social media best practices. For the month of July, ABA’s Marketing and Technology Meetups are coming together every Thursday at 1:00 p.m. to look at this topic; be sure to join! Sessions will cover: need-to-knows and best practices; all about video; getting organized; how to know it’s working; and a final session where attendees can ask anything of the bookseller social media experts.

Today is the final day to apply for a scholarship to ABA’s 2022 Winter Institute, which will take place February 13–16 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The winning booksellers will be announced in July.

The deadline to complete the Independent Bookstore Day sell-thru survey has been extended to Monday, June 28. Help us plan for next year’s event — let us know how many of each exclusive item your store has sold to date for Bookstore Day 2021.

Mark your calendar for next week’s ShopTalk for bookstores with mixed and used inventory (Tuesday, June 29, at 3:00 pm ET).

ABA has launched a Meetups program for booksellers who identify as part of the Disability community. (The term disability includes but is not limited to physical, sensory, cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities, chronic conditions, and mental illnesses.) Take ABA’s survey about the new Meetup program to let us know how you’d like to connect with fellow members of the community.

Booksellers whose stores are ABC Group subscribers are invited to connect with children’s bookselling colleagues by joining the ABC Group Discord server. Email ABC Group Manager Gen de Botton for your unique link.

ABA is collecting information on BIPOC publishers (big or small publishers/presses or imprints within a larger company) that publish exclusively BIPOC titles and/or are BIPOC-owned/run. If you know of a BIPOC publisher, please let us know!

Through July 20, bookstore owners and community leaders can apply to serve on the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Council on Underserved Communities. The Council helps support the SBA’s prioritization of equity across its programs and initiatives.

BTW talked with T.J. Newman, author of the July Indie Next List pick Falling, “an absolute masterclass in unique suspense fiction,” according to Shelby Roth of Naughty Dog Books in Nashville, Indiana. 

During this same week in pre-COVID 2019, online sales revenue was 360 percent less than what we’ve been experiencing over the past seven days on IndieCommerce and IndieLite websites. Check out the latest ecommerce update here.

All stores can begin ordering the Best Books For Young Readers catalog in mid-July! The cost is $30 per 500-copy carton for ABC Group members ($40 for non-members), and ABC Group members will automatically receive 250 free catalogs. Stores are encouraged to imprint copies with their store’s name, logo, address, and phone number (imprinting is available on orders of quantities of 1,500 or more, and the plate cost is $85 for members/$130 for non-members). Questions about imprinting or joining the ABC Group can be sent to ABC Group Manager Gen de Botton.