In the wake of book bannings across the country, show your support for free expression and Banned Books Week by purchasing an "I Read Dangerously" T-shirt. All proceeds go to support ABFE, ABA's free expression initiative. Let everyone know you support the right to read! These shirts are sold on-demand and will begin shipping June 8.

Happy Pride Month! We are sharing bookstores celebrating Pride all month in BTW! Check out how stores around the country are celebrating and submit your events, displays, and photos to be featured!

Next week, join us for the Summer/Fall 2022 Indies Introduce Adult Titles Presentation on June 8, 2022, at 4:30 pm ET! Register now and discover exciting debut authors, meet the bookseller panelists who curated the list, and hear this season’s debut authors read a short passage from their books.

Last chance! Sign up by June 3 to promote the Summer/Fall 2022 Indies Introduce titles and take advantage of the special offers from publishers on these titles. Stores who have signed up in the past do not need to sign up again. View the publisher offers and sign-up form on BookWeb.org. 

The deadline for updating settings for automated reporting of sales through store Point of Sale systems has been extended to June 27, 2022. For more information on updating your system to continue participation in sales reporting, or to get started, check out the Updating Your Reporting System page on BookWeb.org or contact [email protected].  

Critical changes to the underlying technology of the NPD BookScan reporting process are underway. Some stores reporting their weekly sales through their Point of Sales system will need to update certain settings in order to continue reporting without interruption.

Reporting your sales each week benefits your store and the indie bookstore channel as a whole.

The Buzz Books Young Adult Editors Panel, sponsored by Publishers Lunch and ABA, is on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. Join YA editors as they describe exciting forthcoming titles and interview their four breakout authors. Be sure to download the entire Buzz Books 2022: Fall/Winter sampler to read excerpts of these titles as well as dozens more before the event!

Here are the 25 Indie Next List and 6 Now in Paperback picks on the July 2022 Indie Next List flier. Top pick? Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. And, to mark the start of a new month, June Indie Next List social media assets are live on BookWeb.

ABFE along with ALA, Authors Guild, AAP, PEN, Barnes & Noble, and eight other organizations strongly condemned an order finding probable cause that Gender Queer and A Court of Mist and Fury might be “obscene for unrestricted viewing by minors.” In a statement on May 31, the group stressed: “The undersigned organizations strongly urge Virginians — and all Americans — to stand against any attempt to use government action to dictate what we can read and how to think about what we read. Prohibiting the sale and distribution of books is an affront to our democratic values and threatens each person’s and each family’s individual liberties.”

Last week ABFE issued its own statement condemning the order. ABFE continues to work with Virginians and other organizations on this issue. Any booksellers who are approached about being plaintiffs in the case are encouraged email David Grogan so we can help coordinate efforts. 

The American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) invites local businesses to partner for growing the Independents Month Campaign this July, part of the Shop Indie Local year-round movement! Independents Month is a time to recognize your locally owned and independent businesses and the community values they embody. 

As a partner, you’ll receive campaign templates such as press releases and social media posts to amplify the message and engage your community in this effort. 

Toya Wolfe is the author of the novel Last Summer on State Street, a Summer/Fall 2022 Indies Introduce adult selection. Here, Wolfe and Anne Frey of Watermark Books & Café in Wichita, KS discuss Last Summer on State Street.