Pencils Ready? ABA to Offer Array of Education Sessions at BookExpo

The American Booksellers Association is offering a number of education sessions later this month at BookExpo 2018, which will be held May 30 to June 1 at the Javits Convention Center in New York City.

Booksellers should mark their calendars for the following sessions:

Data-Driven Bookselling: Using Analytics to Work Better and Smarter
Wednesday, May 30, 11:00 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., Room 1E10
One of the biggest challenges booksellers face is effective inventory management. By using analytics to uncover trends and benchmark performance, you can take the guesswork out of your operations. Which books are likely to sell well, and which ones need to go? What can you learn from the performance of titles at other stores? Join John Rubin and Ruth Bradstreet from Above the Treeline, the minds behind Edelweiss Analytics, as they discuss best practices for using data to guide stocking decisions and increase efficiency.

A Discussion on Diversity and Inclusion Tactics for Booksellers
Wednesday, May 30, 3:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Room 1E12/1E13/1E14
Join bookseller colleagues for a roundtable discussion on key issues regarding implementation of diversity and inclusion tactics in your bookstore, such as training and internal operations to increase staff diversity; reviewing how the store can better present itself as a diverse space; thoughtful outreach to communities beyond your established customer base; and more. This session will be led by ABA Diversity Task Force members Hannah Oliver Depp of WORD (Brooklyn, New York, and Jersey City, New Jersey), BrocheAroe Fabian of Quail Ridge Books (Raleigh, North Carolina), and Veronica Liu of Word Up Community Bookshop (New York City). Learn more about this session in Bookselling This Week.

eCommerce Marketing Tips and Tactics
Thursday, May 31, 1:00 p.m. to 1:50 p.m., Room 1E10
Join fellow booksellers for a roundtable discussion to exchange online marketing strategies that work (or ones that don’t). Topics may include but are not limited to: newsletter marketing, local search optimization, social media marketing, and video marketing. Interested booksellers are encouraged to share questions and topics of discussion ahead of the meeting.

NPD Featured Talk: BookScan for Booksellers
Thursday, May 31, 4:45 p.m. to 5:35 p.m., Room 1E10
Join your colleagues for an informative and useful discussion on BookScan data. A representative from NPD (previously Nielsen) will walk booksellers through the methodology for compiling designated market area reports as well as industry bestseller lists. A bookseller panelist will review how this information can be used for increasing sales and better curating inventory, and a representative from ABA will be on hand to answer questions related to the ABA Indie Bestseller lists.

POS User Group Roundtables
These 50-minute walk-in sessions with POS vendors IBID, Basil, Wordstock, and Booklog will be held in The Vital Bookstore exhibit on the trade show floor. The group discussions are an opportunity for current users to ask questions and gain insight into maximizing the use of their current POS system. Walk-in session times are as follows:

• IBID: Thursday, May 31, 10:10 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
• Basil Bookseller Software: Thursday, May 31, 12:25 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.
• Wordstock: Friday, June 1, 1:10 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
• Booklog: Friday, June 1, 2:10 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

How Non-Buyers Can Use Edelweiss+
Friday, June 1, 3:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m., Room 1E10
An informed and passionate staff is one of a bookstore’s most valuable assets. Edelweiss+ can be a big help, whether you use it to get your staff’s reading preferences in front of your sales reps, offer store colleagues easy access to digital review copies and Indie Next List nomination options, or access tools that allow your staff to communicate plans for the next big title. Find out how stores are using Edelweiss+ to increase sales as staff become more knowledgeable about buying choices.

In addition, ABA and the Writer’s Guild of America are partnering to present For Authors: Working Successfully with Independent Bookstores (Thursday, May 31, 10:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m., Room 1E10). Developed for authors, this panel features booksellers who have formulated best practices for working together to create events that benefit both stores and authors. The session will cover a number of issues, from author publicity to dealing with pre-event nerves.

Finally, Sourcebooks, Harlequin, and HarperCollins are offering booksellers the opportunity to attend the Reaching the Romance Reader: A Step-by-Step Guide for Indie Booksellers session (Friday, June 1, 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., Room 1E10), which will feature publishers, booksellers, authors, and industry professionals who will discuss the romance genre and romance buyer, win over booksellers who struggle with the concept of selling romance, uncover tactics and first steps to reach the romance reader, and share activities and events to engage the romance reader so that they become loyal customers. The session will feature Maryelizabeth Yturralde, co-owner of Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, and Kevin Elliott, manager of 57th Street Books, in addition to staff from Romance Writers of America, HarperCollins, Avon, Sourcebooks, and Harlequin.

Booksellers can register for free badges to BookExpo by providing their ABA member ID number during the registration process. More information about ABA’s programming at BookExpo can be found on BookWeb.org.