Education Resources

 

Keeping a bookstore running can feel like having too many tabs open in your brain at once. Luckily, there are project management tools and strategies that can help with that. In this presentation, booksellers who have cracked the code on project management will share the tools and strategies that have helped them set goals and timelines and stay organized with their short- and long-term projects. You’ll leave this session with a better understanding of effective project management, which tool or approach is right for you, and what your next steps are for getting started!

 

Speakers

Kirsten Hess, The End & Let's Play Books Bookstore(s) - Emmaus, PA

Angela Schwesnedl, Moon Palace Books - Minneapolis, MN

Rachel Watkins, Avid Bookshop - Athens, GA

Cori Theroux, The Green Dragon Bookstore - Fort Dodge, IA

 

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Slide Deck

Project Management Reading List

Description

You’ve meticulously curated your inventory, designed the perfect displays, and developed an events program for your community — but how will you know if what you’re doing is working? Tracking Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will give you the answer. KPIs are specific outcome-based targets that support your strategic plan and can be measured quantitatively, such as inventory turnover ratios, sales per square foot, and average transaction value. By the time you leave this session, you will: (1) understand the meaning and value of critical retail KPIs and how to track them, (2) understand how to compare your store’s KPIs against financial metrics found in the ABACUS report, and (3) be able to apply this data to create an improvement plan for at least one area of your store’s performance.

 

Speakers

Cynthia Compton, MacArthur Books - Carmel, IN

Melissa DeMotte, The Well Read Moose - Coeur d'Alene, ID

Candice Anderson, Tombolo Books - St. Petersburg, FL

 

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Description

Investing in the leadership skills of your staff has both short-term and long-term benefits, from building a better culture for your team to identifying potential successors when you retire. In this session, Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor and the forthcoming Radical Respect, will teach you how to nurture staff into leadership roles, and evaluate the process for success!

 

Speakers

Kim Scott, author of Radical Respect : How to Work Together Better (On sale May 7, 2024 from St. Martin's Griffin)

 

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Slide Deck

 

Description

Contemporary fiction increasingly invites the reader to see race, gender, and sexuality not as binary identities, but as a vibrant spectrum of diversity. This year's new fiction is opening up space for new ideas about how we might expand our understanding of identity and what myriad of relational dynamics are possible beyond the normative concepts of race, gender, and sexuality. In this keynote panel, four authors share their thoughts and experiences writing for a world that has moved beyond the traditional binary definitions of identity and belonging.

 

Speakers

Miranda July, author of All Fours (On sale May 14, 2024 from Riverhead Books/Penguin Random House)

Danzy Senna, author of Colored Television (On sale September 3, 2024 from Riverhead Books/Penguin Random House)

LaDarrion Williams, author of Blood at the Root (On sale May 7, 2024 from Labyrinth Road/Penguin Random House)

Maysoon Zayid, author of Shiny Misfits: A Graphic Novel (On sale April 16, 2024 from Graphix/Scholastic)

Anton Bogomazov, Politics and Prose Bookstore - Washington, DC

 

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Live Captioning

Description

The Indies Introduce program is about what independent booksellers do best: discovering exciting debut authors and sharing the best with readers across the country. Enjoy lunch while learning about the title selection process from the bookseller panelists who curated the Winter/Spring 2024 Indies Introduce list. Many of the Winter/Spring 2024 Indies Introduce debut authors will be present to read a short passage and answer a question posed by one of the bookseller panelists. Authors will be available to sign copies of their debut books following the presentation.

 

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Live Captioning

Winter/Spring 2024 Indies Introduce Flier (PDF)

Description

Developed for author guests in the early stages of their writing careers, this panel features booksellers who have formulated best practices for creating events that benefit both stores and authors. This session will cover a number of issues, from author publicity to dealing with pre-event nerves.

 

Speakers

Paul Hanson, Village Books - Bellingham, WA

Linda Kass, Gramercy Books - Bexley, OH

Errol Anderson, Charis Books and More - Decatur, GA

Bunnie Hilliard, Brave + Kind Bookshop - Decatur, GA

Javier Ramirez, Exile in Bookville - Chicago, IL

 

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Slide Deck

Education for Authors

 

 

This panel session, led by Andy Hunter of Bookshop.org, will feature a panel of booksellers discussing how they use digital platforms to sell books, build an online audience, and drive in-person and online sales. The panel will discuss selling with e-commerce, highlighting events and community through social media, reviewing and acting on website traffic to increase the visibility of your store with search engine optimization (SEO), and engaging customers through Edelweiss to create email marketing.

 

Speakers

Veronica Liu, Word Up Community Bookshop/Librería Comunitaria - New York, NY

Amanda Lepper, Dog-Eared Books - Ames, IA

Evisa Gallman, Uncle Bobbie's Coffee and Books - Philadelphia, PA

Andy Hunter, Bookshop.org - Brooklyn, NY

 

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Description

According to the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC), “Worker cooperatives are values-driven businesses that put worker and community benefit at the core of their purpose. Worker members…participate in the profits, oversight, and often management of the enterprise using democratic practices.” If you are interested in opening a worker-owned co-op bookstore or transitioning to one, this conversation is for you. In this session, a representative from USFWC will talk about the benefits of a worker-owned model as well as the drawbacks. They will review legalities of incorporation, decision making, financial operations, and more. Leave this session with the knowledge you need to evaluate if this shift is the right fit for you.

 

Speakers

Cullen Nawalkowsky, Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse - Baltimore, MD

Talia Whyte, Rozzie Bound Books - Boston, MA

Ellen Vera, Co-op Cincy - Cincinnati, OH

 

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Description

Most of us know how to help when we see someone in cardiac arrest — we start CPR, or at the very least, call 9-1-1. But too few of us might know how to respond when we see a customer having a panic attack, or if we are concerned that a co-worker shows signs of alcoholism. Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is a training program that takes the fear and hesitation out of starting conversations about mental health and substance use problems. It helps to improve understanding and provides an action plan that teaches people to safely and responsibly identify and address a potential mental illness or substance use disorder. Rich Palmer, a certified MHFA instructor will provide an introduction to basic MHFA skills on how to navigate hard conversations, tackle stigma in the workplace, and address what resilience truly means – with strategies to alleviate burnout.

 

Speakers

Rich Palmer, Mental Health America of Northern KY and Southwest OH - Blue Ash, OH

 

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MHFA Resources Handout

 

Description

Michele Norris is one of America’s most trusted voices in journalism, earning numerous honors over a long career, including Peabody, Emmy, Dupont, and Goldsmith awards.  As founding director of The Race Card Project, a Peabody Award–winning narrative archive where people around the world share their reflections on identity—in just six words, she ignited the conversation with the seemingly simple prompt: Race. Your Thoughts. Six Words. Please Send. The responses she received have been challenging and complicated, intimate and candid, revealing fear, pain, triumph, and humor. Her transformative new book, OUR HIDDEN CONVERSATIONS (Simon & Schuster) and her work with The Race Card Project reminds us that even during times of great division, honesty, grace, and a willing ear can provide a bridge toward understanding and maybe even empathy.

 

Speakers

Michele Norris, author of Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think about Race and Identity (available now from Simon & Schuster)

 

Files & Links

Live Captioning

Slide Deck

YouTube Video