2003 Booksellers Forum Season Ends in New England

The 2003 ABA Booksellers Forum series came to a close on May 1 at the UConn Co-op, in Storrs, Connecticut. The forum, organized in conjunction with the New England Booksellers Association (NEBA), followed a meeting of the New England Children's Booksellers Association. The ABA/NEBA forum was the twelfth forum of 2003. Since the launch of the forum program in January 1998, ABA has hosted over 70 meetings with member booksellers across the country.

At the forum, booksellers asked a number of questions about ABA programs and initiatives, which were answered by ABA Board member Suzanne Staubach of UConn Co-op; Avin Mark Domnitz, ABA CEO; Oren Teicher, ABA COO; and Dan Cullen, editor-in-chief of the Book Sense 76 lists and director of ABA's Information Department.

A prime topic of discussion at the forum was ABA's development of a Book Sense electronic gift card program. Domnitz gave attendees an update on the association's research into and development of the program and said the current goal was to launch this summer. Noting that gift cards now constitute 70 percent of gift certificate business, Domnitz said, "ABA realizes that it is necessary for our members to have a gift card," especially given the increased potential to market the gift card throughout the bookstore.

He explained, however, that it was almost certain that booksellers would have to purchase an additional piece of hardware to process the card at the point of purchase in stores, and he estimated that the hardware might cost approximately $350. As was the case in other regions, the price did not appear to be a barrier for most booksellers. "I don't think that the cost is particularly problematic for what I think will be the benefits," said Roxanne Coady of R.J. Julia Booksellers in Madison, Connecticut, citing especially the appeal of gift cards to younger shoppers.

The meeting also featured discussion about Book Sense, including the new BookSense.com Co-op initiative. The program is designed to give BookSense.com members a simple way to collect exempt newsletter co-op funds for some or all of the cost of their BookSense.com Web sites. BookSense.com handles all the paperwork for participating bookstores, and, in turn, will charge bookstores 15 percent of the co-op dollars earned from the publishers to help cover administrative costs. Booksellers at the forum praised the recently announced marketing partnership with Levenger, Inc., to cross-promote their Web sites and merchandise, and looking ahead, Domnitz also said that BookSense.com was exploring the possibilities of incorporating music and used books.

Booksellers from New Hampshire's The Toadstool Bookshop expressed concern regarding the inclusion in the May/June Book Sense 76 flier of ads for the "Book Club Sweepstakes" marketing promotion launched by Minute Maid's BACARDI Mixers. In response, Staubach noted that the decision came only after in-depth consideration by the ABA Board, with consultation with the members of ABA's Booksellers Advisory Council. The goal was to include non-intrusive advertising from businesses that did not directly compete with ABA bookstore members. By diversifying the Book Sense program's revenue stream, she said, ABA could work to continue to develop the program and help ensure that there would be no charge for booksellers.

A number of booksellers asked about the progress of the new ABACUS program. "We have gotten 35 to 50 submissions in the last 30 days," Domnitz said, and he added, "It is gratifying to see how many people have participated [in ABACUS]. It's really, really great." Domnitz reminded booksellers that all member bookstores that have submitted data to the project will receive their own store's results compared to relevant "data slices" from ABACUS. For instance, stores will be able to compare their results to stores in the same sales range, region of the country, or profitability range. In addition, there will be a special session on ABACUS at this year's BookExpo America on Friday, May 30, from 9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. The session will present an in-depth report on the project's first year's results, and all ABA members are invited to the session.

Teicher noted that booksellers nationwide are increasing their efforts on two key political issues, sales tax equity and the repeal of Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. On the latter issue, Teicher noted especially the efforts of NEBA President Linda Ramsdell of the Galaxy Bookshop in Hardwick, Vermont, who -- working with other Vermont booksellers and state librarians -- helped convince Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to introduce the Freedom to Read Protection Act of 2003. The bill would prevent the FBI from seeking "personally identifiable information concerning a patron of a bookseller or library."