Dear Booksellers,

The week and September are already in full swing...

Advocacy

• COVID-19 Relief 
  Last week, ABA’s advocacy team met with staff from the Senate Small Business Committee to reiterate the need for additional COVID-19 relief for small businesses that is flexible in nature and sustains small business through next year. Congress is in a deadlock over additional funding, so it is crucial that lawmakers hear from their constituents.
  • Booksellers can use this template to contact their lawmakers and stress the need for renewed negotiations and additional relief. Find contact information for your Representative here and your Senators here.
  • Booksellers interested in setting up a meeting with their lawmaker and ABA are urged to contact [email protected].
    
    
• NFIB Webinar on EIDL and PPP: Wednesday, September 16, at 12:00 p.m. ET
  The National Federation of Independent Businesses is hosting a webinar on frequently asked questions about Economic Injury Disaster Loans and the Paycheck Protection Program EZ Forgiveness Application. There will also be dedicated time for Q&A. Submit your questions in advance and register here.

Upcoming Events

• Coffee Break: Tuesday, September 15, at 3:00 p.m. ET
  Join us for an opportunity to share support, ask questions, and trade best practices. All booksellers are welcome. Email [email protected] for Zoom login details.
  
  
• “Q4 Top 10 Things to Know About: Improving Operational Workflow”: Thursday, September 17, at 3:00 p.m. ET
  With the onset of COVID-19, many bookstores made an overnight switch from welcoming customers for in-store browsing to operating as fulfillment centers for online orders, curbside pickup, and local deliveries. This change has been one of many that stores have been faced with during this crisis. With online sales predicted to increase across all retail sectors this holiday season, now is the time to review and streamline operational workflow for these new processes made necessary by COVID-19. Join us for a conversation that will help you think about streamlining your current processes — online fulfillment, curbside pickup, local delivery, etc. — to improve efficiency and accuracy. 
  
  Sign up now.
  
  
• “Why Sales and Bestseller List Reporting Is Vital in 2020”: Tuesday, September 29, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ET and Friday, October 2, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET
  Remember a lifetime ago when Harvard University associate professor Ryan Raffaelli spoke to us at Winter Institute about the importance of data? Your bestseller list (in-store and online) is critical data for publishers, and one of the most important things every store can be doing right now is reporting your bestsellers. These lists convey how valuable the indie channel is, help publishers forecast how many books to print with the indies in mind, and demonstrate the indies’ ability to “break” a book. As an example, if stores are closed and selling books online but not reporting those sales, then publishers don’t see those sales and that influences everything from print runs to how they’re approaching accounts payable. The first half of this event will look at what reporting means, how to report, and what to report. Afterward, booksellers will join breakout groups for POS systems IBID, IBID/ie, Anthology, Basil, Bookmanager, Booklog, Wordstock, Square, and iMRCHNT to talk with fellow booksellers about how best to report through their system.
  
  Booksellers can sign up now. The deadline to register is September 25.

IndieCommerce

Selling Sidelines on IndieCommerce Websites
Fall is the perfect time to get non-book merchandise onto your website in preparation for the holiday shopping season. Here are two options to consider:

• Ingram’s “T” category is currently available to IndieCommerce stores and includes 26,000 calendars, book-like bound items (such as blank books), and maps.
• The Ingram “M” category will be available this week and will include 25,000 gifts and games.
  

You can enable one or both of these categories on your IndieCommerce website by going to: Store > Configuration > Account Information and Preferences > Configure Book Settings. (For stores on the IndieLite platform, we hope to have both “M” and “T” merchandise categories available for sale within the next two weeks.)

If you want to upload your own non-book merchandise, your IndieCommerce website offers a bulk importer. This feature is designed to help you create and manage a large number of non-book products on your IndieCommerce website. For details, see the Bulk Importer page.

Good News

Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices, a new series by Netflix, is worth bingeing and celebrating.

ABA is here for all of you. Please reach out if there is anything we can help with. Members can email the Membership, Advocacy, or IndieCommerce teams.

Best,
Allison