博客存档 - Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association

Making Waves Newsletter 6/20/25

6/20/2025

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GLIBA Regional Newsletter: June 20, 2025

REGIONAL BESTSELLERS

PUBLISHER PROMOTIONS

ARC PREFERENCE FORM

JOIN OR RENEW MEMBERSHIP

HEARTLAND FALL FORUM

Exhibitor Registration is Now Open!

Thank you for supporting this event! We have lots of info on the way for exhibiting at and/or attending Heartland Fall Forum 2025 in Indianapolis. Our show is all 6 and 8-foot table-tops, meaning: there will be no pipe and drape booth options this year. Our exhibitor space is much larger and is in one single area. Click HERE for a full list of exhibitor table cost and options. If you have any questions, please email Larry Law [email protected] or February Spikener, [email protected].

Exhibitor Registration Options

Exhibitor Registration Form

Bookstore of the Year Nominations Form

2025 HFF Author Submissions Form

Voice of the Heartland Nomination Form

Heartland Fall Forum Virtual Office Hours

Below are the sessions for June 2025:

June 24th, 10am & 4pm CST:
Heartland Author Pitches, Bookstore of the Year, Voice of the Heartland (Criteria; How and Where to Submit; General Questions)
Office Hours will only be for 30 minutes this week!

Click here for the Google Meet link for sessions, or click the button below to the Events page on the GLIBA site. For any questions, reach out to Executive Coordinator February Spikener at [email protected].

REGIONAL NEWS

State Representative honors

Vicksburg bookstore

By Chris Kosiba

Vicksburg, MI -- Gilbert and Ivy, the charming independent bookstore located in downtown Vicksburg, recently received a “special tribute” from Matt Hall, state representative for the 42nd district in Michigan, on Independent Bookstore Day held this past April 26th. The tribute details how important the commitment of these locally owned businesses are to the people who live near them, “...our local independent bookstores…foster knowledge, education and curiosity in our community.”

The tribute honors Gilbert and Ivy by saying:

“Thank you for fostering a love of reading and for supporting authors, both big and small, who contribute to the vibrant literary world. Your commitment to curating a diverse and unique selection of books helps ensure that readers of all tastes and interests can find something that speaks to them. You are an essential part of our literary landscape, and we are all grateful to have the Gilbert and Ivy bookstore as a resource and place to turn to.”

“I’m overwhelmed by this honor,” said Kimberly (Kimm) Mayer, owner of Gilbert and Ivy. “It feels good that independent bookstores are being recognized for what they do for the community. And for that, I’m thankful my contributions matter.”

Independent Bookstore Day was started by the American Booksellers Association (ABA) in 2013 across the country. According to the ABA, more than 1,600 bookstores participated in the event nationally this year. The day was created to bring book lovers to the independent bookstores and draw attention away from the big box stores and Amazon.

Mayer explains that Michigan has participated in Independent Bookstore Day for three years, starting with roughly 39 bookstores. In 2025, there were about 80 booksellers that participated throughout Michigan including ten different regions: North, South, Central, Southeast, West Coast, Detroit, Metro Detroit, Greater Flint, Grand Rapids, and Lansing (Gist, Turn the Page in Davison). The event kicked off in April with a book hop offering bingo cards, encouraging participants to visit and support as many indie bookstores as possible. Bingo winners could get bookstore merch and be entered in a drawing for a $500 gift card to Bookshop.org where books can be purchased from bookstores of choice. The event lapsed at the end of May.

Gilbert and Ivy was established in May of 2022 when Mayer, and co-founder Cathie McGill, opened up in a 410-square-foot space on West Prairie Street in Vicksburg. Prior to that the partners were doing pop-up events, “We were trying to learn the ropes a little bit before going all in,” said Mayer. The bookstore was in that location for approximately 18 months, when the current location on Prairie Street in Vicksburg became available. She said the move to the new location was perfect to grow the small business. Also during that time, Mayer became full owner of the bookstore. So in March of 2024, Gilbert and Ivy opened its doors - after community members joined in a book brigade, transporting books from the old location to the new store at 111 West Prairie Street. The larger space in the new location has given Mayer the opportunity to dive more deeply into offering community events such as book clubs, hosting author events, and providing an educational backdrop for teachers and students, etc.

Gilbert and Ivy, Vicksburg’s charming independent bookstore, celebrated its three-year anniversary in May with Mayer’s plan to continue to be an important member of the Vicksburg community.

“The support has been amazing and humbling. I cannot imagine a better community for Gilbert and Ivy,” says Mayer.

INDUSTRY NEWS

ABACUS BENCHMARKING SURVEY

Participating stores will receive:

Industry-wide reports for 2024, including an executive summary, detailed survey results, and multi-year trend comparison tables,
Individual company performance reports — confidential, individualized reports shown alongside appropriate industry comparatives (for instance, net sales and profitability, etc) that give stores an easy way to interpret their ABACUS results and provide actionable feedback on the success and/or improvement areas for each respondent.
Access to interactive online report-generating tools
Excel data tables of the aggregated ABACUS results for 2023 to which stores can add their data for analysis.
And, if there is enough participation to ensure a good sample, a regional report to show how your store’s financials compare with others in your region.

Need help filling out your ABACUS report? The ABA has shared this incredibly helpful video! Please help us help you and complete your ABACUS benchmarking survey by June 24, 2025. Complete your ABACUS and you will automatically be entered into the raffle to win a full scholarship to Winter Institute 2026 in Pittsburgh, PA! If you need assistance, email ABA Chief Financial Officer, PK Sindwani.

Indie-to-Indie Playlist:

Pride Month

Publisher members of the Independent Publishers Caucus have curated a lists of titles to help populate and distinguish your displays this month. Click here to View the list in Edelweiss!

JUNE BOOK LISTS