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Wednesday, February 23, 2022  
 
There’s still time to register for Snow Days!
 

Missed the deadline to register for Snow Days? No problem — we’ve extended it! Register by Sunday, February 27. If you sign up for Snow Days (only $35!) and attend a Rep Picks session or an author reception in Kumospace, you’ll be entered to win one of two raffles for a free trip to Children’s Institute!

Here is just some of the Snow Days programming you won’t want to miss: 

  • Unions 101: Hear two attorneys — one who represents employees and one who represents employers — explain the unionization process for workers and for owners. This Zoom webinar format will ensure attendees’ anonymity. Submit anonymous questions ahead of time via this form, or during the session via Q&A. (Only ABA staff and lawyers can see the names in Q&A.) This Zoom Webinar can only be joined by Snow Days attendees. The link will only be made available in the Hopin event platform.

  • Publishers by Appointment: Sign up for a 15-minute slot to meet with participating publishing sponsors and business partner vendors of your choice. Take a look at who’s available. 

  • Zoom Heads or Tails: Join in the fun and play Zoom Heads or Tails to win $250! Here’s how: Donate $20 to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc) for one chance to win or $35 for two chances to win. Then Binc will send you the Zoom link to join the fun. You have to play to win — so donate now!

  • Kumospace: As close as it gets to actually being together at an author reception…without actually being together. Here’s how it works. 

Once you register, join the Snow Days Facebook Event. 
**New!** A Special Board Edition of BTW

As part of the ABA Board’s commitment to transparency and increased communication, watch your inbox this Friday afternoon for a special Board Edition of BTW. This edition will include a link to a recording of last week’s Town Hall and the Q&A, a recap of the February board meeting, information about proposed changes to ABA’s bylaws, and a letter from Board President Christine Onorati and Co-Vice Presidents Kelly Estep and Angela María Spring. Stay tuned!

Children’s Institute

Get ready! Registration for the 10th annual Children’s Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, opens at 1:00 pm ET on Thursday, March 3! Registration for the ABA Hotel Block will open later in March. Watch for more information in next week’s BTW.

Action Items

Booksellers: Tomorrow, February 24 is the last day to give your feedback on ABA's health insurance partner LIG Solutions. ABA partners with LIG Solutions to help members navigate a wide array of health insurance options and we want to improve this service. We’d appreciate any input before the survey closes on Thursday, February 24 (11:59 pm EDT). The survey is confidential and should take no more than five minutes to complete.

Submit your membership renewals by March 1. Membership benefits can be reviewed on BookWeb.

Questions about dues renewal can be emailed to the Membership Team.
 

Monday, February 28, is the last day to join over 900 stores in the biggest independent bookstore celebration to date! Sign up to participate in Independent Bookstore Day and be listed on the IndieBound searchable map! If you purchased IBD exclusive items, you will automatically be added. Once you’ve done that, attend our IBD ShopTalk on March 1 to hear from participating stores on plans for the day.
Save the Date

Save the date for our March events:
What to Know

Take a look at our new Welcome to Bookselling asset, which includes industry resources, quick explainers, and definitions of commonly used acronyms. **New!** The asset now includes a section with dedicated content based on region.

Independent booksellers across the country have chosen Rebecca Serle’s One Italian Summer (Atria Books) as their top pick for the March 2022 Indie Next List. Here, Bookselling This Week and Serle talked about how she wrote the book.

Over the past two years, retail customers have been shopping online at independent bookstores in record numbers. To help manage the boom in online shopping, recent updates to the IndieCommerce platform can help make the fulfillment process easier and cheaper — and faster for your customers.

Last week, we held a series called “Three DEIA Workshops — Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone: Knowing Better Means Doing Better.” We’ve gotten some incredible feedback from attendees, including one comment that said the sessions are really going to help with honing in “the more nebulous (but still very valuable) conversations we've been having around inequity with tools for a way forward." 


Due to the sensitivity of the discussion, these sessions were not recorded, but handouts are available on BookWeb, which can help you conduct a diversity audit of your store. 

 

22in'22 is a Zibby Books initiative encouraging readers to visit  bookstores in-person 22 times throughout 2022. With over 90 indie bookstore partners and thousands of active participants, this campaign was created to remind readers of the value of visiting bookstores, encourage mingling with like-minded book lovers, support local businesses, and help with the discoverability of books and authors. Booksellers, learn more and join in by sending your logo, then start spreading the word to your communities and customers.

 
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