BTW - Week of November 20, 2019

For the upcoming membership year, the American Booksellers Association is inviting all member bookstores to renew their dues via an online form.

The survey aimed to gather information on booksellers’ current level of awareness of the foundation’s services, to rate program performance and relevance, and to solicit suggestions for new programs.

Retail sales at U.S. bookstores were down by 2.3 percent in September 2019 compared to September 2018, according to preliminary figures from the Bureau of the Census. As of November 13, the year-to-date sales among ABA member stores, as reported to the weekly Indie Bestseller Lists, are up 0.11 percent over 2018.

The Board has sent letters to the attorneys general of each state calling for an investigation into Amazon’s monopolistic and anticompetitive conduct. 

Three of the main themes discussed were: the U.S. government has failed to address monopolies; simply fining companies for wrongdoings does not go far enough; and monopolies impact nearly every industry.

When They Come for You: How Police and Government Are Trampling Our Liberties — and How to Take Them Back explores how federal, state, and local governments have violated Americans’ fundamental constitutional rights.

At this upcoming session, an Eventbrite representative will teach attendees about the service, and three ABA booksellers will discuss how they use it to market their events.

At a cost of $59 per person, booksellers can attend one of two separate interactive, classroom-style workshops: one for users of IndieCommerce and one for users of IndieLite. 

The 2019 list contains four Indie Next List number-one picks.