Remind Customers to Shop Local, Support Your Store, and Buy Gift Cards This Holiday Season

The American Booksellers Association has created a range of digital assets, available to booksellers in the Marketing Assets section on BookWeb.org, to help encourage customers to shop locally during the holiday season, including on Small Business Saturday, November 28.

The images are keeping in the style of the “October is the new December” and “November is the new December” assets released earlier this year.

Among the new assets are:

• “Shop now, shop local” image
• “’Tis the season to shop local” image
• “One size fits all” image for gift cards
• Indie bookstores / book lover / Amazon distracted boyfriend meme
• “You get a gift card!” Oprah GIF with accompanying text to promote gift cards
• “Best wishes” Schitt’s Creek GIF with accompanying text to promote gift cards
• Yes-themed Nicole Byer GIF with accompanying text to promote gift cards

In addition, two customizable images say “How You Can Support Indies” and “All We Want for the Holidays Is You,” with space for booksellers to add their own text.

For these two images, booksellers can choose from a range of suggestions, or create their own. Here are some ideas:

• Pre-order a book
• Make a donation to our store
• Support our fundraising campaign
• Buy a gift card
• Use us to mail gifts to your family
• Start a Libro.fm subscription
• Buy a subscription box
• Share on social media how much you love us!

Assets can be modified using the online tool Canva. To begin, download the assets to your desktop and then create a Canva account. Next:

• Select the “Social Media” tab on the homepage, then select “Instagram Post.”
• From the left-hand column, click on “Uploads” and click on the purple “Upload media” button. Select “Device” and upload the file from your desktop.
• When the image populates under “Images,” click on it and it will appear on the blank canvas to the right.
• Additional elements (photos, text, etc.) can be added by using the toolbar on the left. For example, select “Text” to add a sentence about placing a pre-order. You can choose from a variety of styled fonts, or simply select “Add a heading” to drop a text box onto the canvas. Text boxes can be resized and moved as needed.
• When finished, click “Download” in the upper right corner.

In addition, booksellers promoting Indies First on Small Business Saturday can choose from images featuring spokesperson Dan Rather, customizable images for stores’ individual celebrations, and images to promote the December 2 Indies First event with Rather.