Seminar for Prospective Booksellers to Be Held Before Wi8: Registration Opens Next Week

The American Booksellers Association will open registration next Thursday for the full-day seminar “How to Succeed at Retail Bookselling: Introduction to the Bookstore Business,” to be held in Kansas City, Missouri, on Friday, February 22, the day before Winter Institute 8 [1]begins.

The introductory workshop is exclusively for ABA Provisional members and employees of Regular member stores. The cost of the workshop is $100 and includes lunch and two coffee breaks. Attendance will be capped at 20 participants, and if fewer than 10 members register, the workshop will not be offered. All attendees will be able to register for Wi8, which has its opening reception on Friday, February 22, and runs through Monday, February 25.

The workshop will be facilitated by Mark and Donna Paz Kaufman of the Bookstore Training Group of Paz & Associates, and the content of the workshop is comparable to Session One of their intensive workshop retreat, “Opening a Bookstore: The Business Essentials.” For the full agenda, visit PazBookBiz.com [2]. The workshop fee of $100 reflects a special rate for ABA members. 

The intensive day of training will provide both those who are exploring the possibility of opening or buying a bookstore and new owners with the opportunity to learn the fundamentals and best practices of independent bookstore retailing. The day will cover such key topics as the capital needed for opening a bookstore; the realities of bookstore profit margins and why they are more challenging than other forms of retail; realistic benchmarks for bottom-line earnings; and key indicators for successful site selection.

Current ABA members can sign up beginning next Thursday for the one-day intensive workshop; they will also be able to register for the sold-out Winter Institute. Questions about the workshop should be addressed to ABA Education Manager Lisa Winn [3].

Non-ABA members can join the association [4] and then sign up to participate in the workshop.  Questions about ABA membership should be directed to Member Relationship Managers Kaitlin Pitcher and Nathan Halter [5].