General Member Resources

ABA offers members a variety of promotional programs and resources.

Advance Access | Digital Box with NetGalley | Box Mailings

Advance Access

ABA’s Advance Access program gives booksellers access to complimentary advance reading copies via a twice-monthly email featuring titles with galleys, advance copies, and finished copies that bookstores can request. After receiving and reviewing these titles, booksellers may choose to order the books for their store, nominate the titles for the Indie Next List and Kids Next List, handsell, and/or promote the titles in their store marketing to customers.

ABA receives revenue from publishers who participate in the Advance Access program and uses the proceeds from the program to run the association and offset membership dues. As part of ABA’s commitment to antiracism, representation, equity, and access, ABA reviews the Advance Access book descriptions to screen for titles that may egregiously violate this policy. However, ABA has very limited information about the titles and only reviews the book descriptions, leaving the ultimate decision of whether to request, read, sell, or support these titles to the booksellers.

For complete details regarding the Advance Access program, as well as for member bookstores to opt-in to receive the emails, contact Pete Reynolds at [email protected].

Digital Box with NetGalley

Members of the American Booksellers Association can utilize NetGalley for free to access digital review copies and audiobooks, nominate books for the Indie Next List, and discover new authors and publishers. Plus, ABA members can receive the exclusive Digital Box Newsletter, which grants pre-approved access to select digital galleys of upcoming print books!

Booksellers can add their ABA member ID number to their NetGalley profile. When you request books on NetGalley, publishers will see the ABA logo near your name, allowing them to easily identify you as a confirmed ABA member. Booksellers who enter their ABA numbers are generally approved more quickly and often (including being auto-approved).

Nominate books for the Indie Next List via NetGalley! NetGalley collects nominations weekly and submits them to the ABA for consideration. Once you’re approved or invited to view a book on NetGalley, click the “Give Feedback” button from the book page or on your Shelf. On the Opinions page, select “Yes” to nominate the book for the Indie Next List.

Opt into the monthly ABA Digital Box Newsletter from NetGalley! Sign up here to participate in the free Digital Box program; members will need to first log in to BookWeb.org. Each individual working at an ABA member store can receive their own Digital Box email.

As part of ABA’s commitment to antiracism, representation, equity, and access, ABA works with NetGalley to review the Digital Box program book descriptions to screen for hate speech as defined by the U.N.'s criteria, though the information available for screening may be limited. Screening is done for hate speech only, leaving the ultimate decision of whether to request, read, sell, or support these books to the booksellers.

Note: Since this screening policy began with the September 2021 boxed mailing, none of the titles submitted for the boxed mailing have met the U.N.'s hate speech criteria.

Gift Certificates

Box Mailings

ABA’s Box Mailing programs (adult and kids book boxes are sent quarterly) give booksellers access to galleys, advance reading copies (ARCs), and occasional finished copies of upcoming titles. ABA receives payments from participating publishers; however, the revenue generated is only used to support the program.

As part of ABA’s commitment to antiracism, representation, equity, and access, ABA reviews the Box Mailing program book descriptions to screen for hate speech as defined by the U.N.'s criteria, though the information available for screening may be limited. The ABA only screens for hate speech, leaving the ultimate decision of whether to request, read, sell, or support these titles to the booksellers. 

Note: Since this screening policy began with the September 2021 boxed mailing, none of the titles submitted for the boxed mailing have met the U.N.'s hate speech criteria.

All ABA members carrying new book inventory with a physical presence (storefront, pop-up, mobile, etc.) are eligible for the free adult boxed mailing program if they:

Submit regular nominations with supporting blurb to the Indie Next List
Report regularly to the Indie Bestseller List

The participating store list is reviewed monthly.

ABA wishes that we could send these boxes to everyone! But materials are limited and the eligibility criteria ensure that there is value for the publishers who support this program.

The adult box mailings contain:

• The initial allotment of the latest Indie Next List fliers
• Time-sensitive marketing materials from ABA for campaigns such as Indies First and Banned Books Week
• Point-of-purchase resources from publishers such as shelftalkers, easelbacks, bookmarks, and posters
• Vendor sell sheets and catalogs
• Galleys, ARCs, and finished books for new titles that publishers wish for booksellers to read and consider stocking, handselling, promoting, and nominating to the Indie Next List

Bookstore members of the ABA Children’s Group that fulfill the above criteria are eligible for the Quarterly Children’s Mailing. The participating store list is reviewed monthly.

Email [email protected] for more information about the Box Mailings, to opt-out of mailings altogether, or to change the amount of Indie Next List fliers you receive each month.