ABA and Bookseller 2023 New Year’s Resolutions

In the spirit of the New Year and a fresh start, here are ABA’s suggested New Year’s Resolutions!

1. Sign up for Batch! Save time and/or money on payroll, improve the efficiency of the industry, and be greener. Try this free service to see if it helps your store, and to benefit the industry. The more bookstores that sign up, the more publishers that will sign up.

2. Participate in ABACUS! Filling out ABA’s financial benchmarking survey is a small investment in time compared to the significant benefits: improving your understanding of your store’s financials and finding ways to improve your profitability through the ABACUS report. Email ABA’s CFO, PK Sindwani, with any questions, suggestions, or needs for assistance. The more stores that report, the better the data will be! ABACUS opens in June 2023 and help sessions are scheduled for June and July. Watch BTW for details.

3. Model Kindness! Practice Kindness first with customers, employees, other booksellers (online and in-person), ABA staff, and publishers. We’re all in this together. 

4. Speak up! Support equity and antiracism within your stores and within the industry. Achieving this goal supports a more diverse industry, creates an industry that is more reflective of our customers, and better positions our industry for doing business in an increasingly diverse world. 

5. Report Sales! Reported sales are one of the ways publishers assess the value of the indie channel. They also impact local and national bestseller charts and can drive sales to the independents. (The Washington Post is one source that promotes the ABA’s Indie Bestseller list derived from these reported sales.) Watch the video on why reporting your book sales is important and start reporting today!

And thanks in advance for your help with one of ABA’s New Year’s Resolutions. We’ve taken your feedback to heart and ABA will be breaking our habit for extending deadlines in 2023. Watch for BTW reminders about deadlines going forward!

Happy New Year!