Paz & Associates to Manage Co-op for ABA E-Commerce Solution

This week, the American Booksellers Association announced that beginning April 1 Paz & Associates will manage co-op for booksellers participating in the ABA E-Commerce Solution. ABA E-Commerce staff currently solicits publisher co-op funds to offset the monthly maintenance fee paid by booksellers and handles all administration of the program on behalf of participating stores.

"We are pleased to have Paz & Associates assume this important role for our participating bookstores," said Ricky Leung, director of ABA's E-Commerce Solution. "Through its newsletter marketing program, Paz has worked to maximize publisher co-op for independent booksellers for the past 12 years. They know the intricacies of the plans and special offers that can help booksellers enhance marketing efforts." ABA is transferring co-op management to Paz & Associates so that it can better concentrate on core member benefits, Leung added.

Paz & Associates partner Mark Kaufman, who has facilitated bookseller workshops on co-op and led the development of the company's proprietary co-op software, currently serves as co-op administrator for 30 independent booksellers who use Paz's newsletter marketing services. "Offering a greater number of titles that will specifically appeal to independent booksellers and increasing the amount of co-op available for website and newsletter promotion are our primary goals," said Kaufman in a statement." We are devoted to making it easier for booksellers to work with publishers and having increased ability to aggressively promote and sell books within their communities."

Among the responsibilities that Paz & Associates will assume on behalf of ABA E-Commerce Solution clients are developing and maintaining publisher relationships; identifying opportunities to claim co-op for website and/or newsletter promotion; ensuring client compliance with publisher terms and conditions; preparing claim request forms that allow clients to seek reimbursement from publishers; and maintaining financial records to track publisher allocation of co-op funds.

Details about co-op administration are available from Paz & Associates at (800) 260-8605 or mkaufman@pazbookbiz.com. Information about ABA's E-Commerce Solution is available on BookWeb.org or by contacting ABA's Scott Nafz at (800) 637-0037, ext. 6654 or scott@bookweb.org.