ABA Refreshes Indie Next List With New Design, New E-newsletter Partner

This week, the American Booksellers Association announced the debut of the new Indie Next List logo as well as a new e-newsletter partner, Matchbook Marketing.

Booksellers should visit the Matchbook Marketing Indie Next List page now to:

• Continue sending the Indie Next List e-newsletter to their customers
• Sign up to send the Indie Next List e-newsletter to their customers

Booksellers must upload their email subscriber list and store logo by Monday, April 5, to be part of the May mailing. Stores will also be able to add a special message at the top of the newsletter each month.

As part of its ongoing evaluation of member benefits, ABA has been reevaluating the Indie Next List (INL) program and associated branding and materials. According to a survey conducted in February, the program remains highly valued to both tell the indie bookselling story and sell books. As such, and with a view toward using financial resources as efficiently and effectively as possible, ABA has streamlined and updated the program, including a logo refresh, newly designed e-newsletters, and easier-to-read printed pieces for the adult, kids, and reading group Indie Next Lists.

The logo, e-newsletters, and print versions of the lists have been redesigned to be more visually appealing and conducive to buying. In the new design, booksellers’ store logo is well-identified, the blurbs are shorter, and the number of titles and annual lists has been adjusted:

• The adult list will contain 30 titles, five of which are from small and independent publishers
• The kids’ list will contain 31 titles and be published every other month

As of May, the adult and kids’ e-newsletters will no longer be delivered and managed by Shelf Awareness, but rather by Matchbook Marketing — a name familiar to many booksellers, as Matchbook manages and sends the Indie Next List Reading Group Guide.

Booksellers can visit the Matchbook Marketing Indie Next List page now to upload their subscriber list and logo to be part of the May mailing. There will be rolling onboarding with Matchbook, so stores can submit their customer subscriber list and logo at any time, though for stores participating in the Shelf Awareness program, it is recommend doing so before April 5 so there is no interruption in service to customers. 

Stores already sending the INL Reading Groups can update their subscriber list and logo and choose any additional lists to send on the Matchbook Marketing Indie Next List page.

Stores can track email-generated traffic and sales using analytics tools like Google Analytics. Stores can see the list of tracking codes, linked from Matchbook’s Indie Next List page, and filter analytics by each newsletter’s unique code following each mailing.

Be on the lookout in BTW for other improvements to the Indie Next List, including new social media and promotional assets.

Questions can be directed to [email protected] or Matchbook Marketing’s Gwyn Ridenhour.