Idea Exchange This Week

Every week dozens of booksellers seek and share advice and information about bookselling and the book industry on BookWeb's Idea Exchange Forums. Here BTW presents a look at some of this week's topics, with the hope that more booksellers will join in.

The Idea Exchange Forums are open to ABA bookstore and provisional members only. (Booksellers who do not already have a BookWeb Account will need to create one; to do so, click here.) The greater the number of booksellers participating in the forums, the more useful they become as an educational tool for the whole independent bookselling community.

In the General Forum, which provides ABA member booksellers with an opportunity to network and to benefit from the perspectives that could only be gained from other booksellers, this week's discussions included paper and e-mail newsletters; book fairs -- homegrown and international; vendor-of-record programs; unique ways to present gift cards; books on the radio; and jewelry as a sideline.

The "Ask ABA" Forum provides booksellers with the opportunity to ask questions or make comments directed towards the ABA Board and staff. The Book Sense Bestseller Lists, the Tokyo International Book Fair, and book sales statistics were among the subjects raised this week.

Booksellers are also reminded that the Ask BookSense.com provides an opportunity to ask questions of the BookSense.com staff as well as discuss their concerns and find out how other booksellers are using the e-commerce site. And the Inventory Control Forum is the place to ask for your colleagues' opinions about the various POS systems.