Marketing

Praveen Madan of San Francisco's The Booksmith often brainstorms and writes about how indie bookstores can find new ways to "bring people together to talk about books and ideas." One idea that has caught on is Bookswap, an event that's gotten notice everywhere from the New York Times to book blogs.

Who doesn't like free? IndieBound is launching the first annual celebration of e-Free Day on Saturday, April 17. A unique promotional idea for bookstores, e-Free Day encourages customers to take a vacation from e-mails, status updates, tweets, chirps, and pings. The new marketing campaign casts indie bookstores as the ideal antidote to consumers' digital overload.

At ABA's Day of Education, to be held at BookExpo America on Thursday, May 28, at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City, ABA members will find roundtable discussions available for all store sizes. In addition, on Saturday, May 30, ABA members are invited to attend informal roundtable discussions covering an array of topics.

This week, Carole Horne of Harvard Book Store, Casey Coonerty Protti of Bookshop Santa Cruz, and John Hugo of Andover Bookstore share their tips for marketing when money is tight and the holiday season is fast-approaching. Key among their recommendations is getting the message out that books are a great gift value.

Over the next few weeks, the eyes of the nation will turn first to Denver and then to Minnesota's Twin Cities for the Democratic National Convention and Republican National Convention, respectively. As the population swells in each of the cities -- when delegates, media, and politicos come for some socializing, caucusing, and, yes, to see their candidate receive the official nomination of their party -- opportunities abound for local indie booksellers. Here is a look at what some Denver and Twin Cities bookstores are doing for the upcoming conventions.

Claire Klassen couldn't wait to return home from BookExpo America and start using IndieBound at Austin, Texas' BookPeople. "We are the perfect environment to spread the message of 'independents,'" she explained.

Page23, a one-year-old project of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, promotes reading among people who may reject traditional marketing approaches through specially selected title lists, displays, and other promotional materials.

Part I of a Bookselling This Week miniseries about online endeavors that will keep you on trend and put you in touch with the tens of millions of people who engage in online social networking. Coming up next week: bookseller-bloggers, and why you might want to become one.

In 1951, journalist Edward R. Murrow debuted his This I Believe series on CBS Radio.