Registration Opens for Introduction to Bookstore Business Seminar

The American Booksellers Association is inviting prospective booksellers to a free, full-day seminar, “How to Succeed at Retail Bookselling:  Introduction to the Bookstore Business,” on Sunday, June 3, at the St. Giles Hotel, in New York City. The introductory workshop is the day before ABA’s Day of Education [1], sponsored by the Ingram Content Group, and the opening of BookExpo America [2].

The seminar will be facilitated by Donna Paz Kaufman and Mark Kaufman of The Bookstore Training Group of Paz & Associates and is open exclusively to ABA provisional members and employees of ABA regular member stores.

“We are pleased to be working again with Paz & Associates to offer a one-day workshop aimed at helping prospective booksellers launch their retail operations,” said ABA Content Officer Dan Cullen. “Donna and Mark are known for presenting new booksellers with the crucial information they need to make informed decisions about opening or buying a bookstore. This program will provide participants with an introduction to the business of bookselling.”

The full-day program will help prospective booksellers begin to: budget and plan for opening a bookstore; analyze margins and sales projections; review the key indicators for a successful site location; and understand what it takes to compete in today’s retail marketplace. Participants are also encouraged to attend ABA’s Day of Education, on Monday, June 4, and they will receive a free badge to the BEA trade show.

Registration for the “How to Succeed at Retail Bookselling” seminar is required. Current ABA members can sign up here. [3]

Non-ABA members can join the association [4] and then sign up to participate in the one-day workshop, the ABA Day of Education, and BEA.

Questions regarding the workshop should be e-mailed to ABA Education Manager Lisa Winn [5].

Paz & Associates is offering a more intensive workshop retreat for prospective booksellers, from September 10 - 14 on Amelia Island, Florida. The workshop presented at BEA is comparable to Session 1 of the five-day workshop. Participants in the ABA workshop at BEA who want to delve deeper into the business of bookselling can register for Session 2 of the September Paz workshop. Paz & Associates gives ABA members a $200 discount on the full-week workshop and $100 if they attend just one of the week’s two sessions. Questions about the September workshop should be addressed to Donna Paz Kaufman and Mark Kaufman [6].

Questions about ABA membership should be directed to ABA’s Member Relationship Managers Kaitlin Pitcher and Nathan Halter [7].