Join us for two special Meet the Editor events with Simon & Schuster. Registration is not required. The link to the adult event and children's event are below. See you then!

Adult Fall 2020 Presentation
Wednesday, June 10 from 3PM - 4 PM CT / 4PM - 5PM ET

Children's Fall 2020 Presentation
​Wednesday, June 17 from 3PM - 4 PM CT / 4PM - 5PM ET

Dear Booksellers,
I’ve talked to many of you this week and there were a few things on your minds:
Valuable Info for Stores Reopening
How to handle the question of sanitizing books for reopening is one of the most frequently asked questions right now. Some stores are removing books that have been touched from the shelves for a few days before putting them back. Some stores are attempting to wipe books down after they’ve been touched. Some stores have considered providing gloves, or only letting staff wearing gloves touch books. The CDC has reiterated in recent days that they do not believe the virus spreads easily via surfaces. We’ll continue to research the topic and keep you updated but in the meantime, the Institute of Museum and Library Services hosted a session with Dr. David Berendes and Dr. Catherine Rasberry from the Centers for Disease Control for libraries back in March that offered some valuable insight about books and cardboard, how to keep staff safe, and what to focus sanitizing efforts on. And for more information, check out ABA’s Resources for Reopening page.
Possible Good News About PPP
Many bookstores that received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) money are struggling to understand and meet the requirements for their PPP loan to be forgivable. I’ll reiterate my refrain that communication is the best thing you can be doing for your business right now. In this case, communicate with your lender. Have a conversation sooner rather than later about your understanding of the requirements and what you’re doing to meet them to ensure that you’re on the same page as your lender. In the meantime, stay tuned. There’s a ways to go but yesterday, the House of Representatives passed the Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act. If passed into law as is, it would give businesses up to 24 weeks to spend PPP funds and still have the Small Business Administration loans forgiven. The legislation extends the time period to pay back any unforgiven portion of the loan from two years to five years and allows businesses whose loans are forgiven to delay payment of payroll taxes. Further, the bill includes additional exemptions to the reduction in loan forgiveness for not maintaining employee levels if certain criteria are met. It would also reduce the requirement that 75% of the money be used on payroll to 60%, allowing more of the money to be spent on other expenses. However, it is important to note that even with the reduction to 60%, loan forgiveness may still be reduced if you do not rehire your employees and maintain pay. While this bill doesn’t solve all of the problems with PPP, it is a step in the right direction. 
Contact your Senators NOW to tell them to quickly pass the Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act! The eight-week period for many businesses is running out, and small businesses need to be able to plan for the future. Uncertainty surrounding current PPP guidelines is making planning next to impossible. Pass the Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act today! Your email to them can be as simple as stating those facts.
Racism in America
The top five selling books on IndieCommerce and IndieLite the last few days have been: How to be an Antiracist; White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism; Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor; So You Want to Talk About Race; and The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. This bestseller list is a sign of hope for humanity, and at the same time, not nearly enough. This was a painful week for our country and I can’t begin to know the pain for our booksellers of color. Our thoughts are also with our bookstores in Minneapolis. There is so much more to say as a human being, but as CEO of ABA I just want to restate ABA’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and our belief that anti-racism is part of that commitment. ABA will continue to develop programming and services to live up to that commitment. To borrow from Eleanor Roosevelt’s statement about peace, it isn’t enough to talk about anti-racism or believe in it. We must work at it.
ABA is here for all of you. Please reach out if there is anything we can help with. We are an incredibly creative, resilient, supportive industry. We’ll get through this, together.
Best,
Allison

Short and sweet today. Let’s talk about sales:

• Like many other stores, Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, New Hampshire, is offering shopping by appointment to adhere to social distancing. Unlike other retailers, though, Gibson’s customers purchase a $25 gift card to make their reservation, guaranteeing the bookstore a minimum sale.
  

• Story & Song Bookstore Bistro in Fernandina Beach, Florida, bought big on puzzles and blew out of them all after placing an ad in the local newspaper. Local print advertising is back as your customers return to local newspapers to take a break from screens and to feel connected to their communities.
  

• Stores that are promoting greeting cards are seeing significant sales as customers buy for both occasions they’re missing and to stay in touch with those they’re distanced from. Sell cards pre-stamped and promote them alongside a list of occasions to send them for (Father’s Day, thinking of you, thank you)  and people to send them to (your postal worker, your child’s teacher, a friend). Village Books in Bellingham, Washington, set up an easy form for customers to use for this purpose. 
  

• As IRL events are cancelled due to social distancing restrictions, look for ways your store can help fill the social void. When their community’s beloved annual shrimp festival was cancelled, Story & Song Bookstore Bistro stepped in to offer a special story time, a lecture on seafood “farming,” and carryout lunches featuring local fresh shrimp. Pasadena, California, has an annual chalk festival in June that draws crowds of people. If social distancing requires the event to be cancelled this year, Vroman’s Bookstore might consider promoting a community chalk event. The store could sell chalk and design books and encourage customers to participate in a DIY chalk festival in their neighborhoods that same weekend. Sales, publicity, and community connection.
  

• My friends’ donut store in Northern California launched Project Comfort, which asks customers to make donations to support the store delivering coffee and donuts to community hospital personnel. What can bookstores do? Maybe it’s a national indie bookstore campaign to thank teachers…hmmm….
  

• Now’s a great time to produce a short, funny video promoting services your customers may never have used before — curbside pickup, Hummingbird e-books, Libro.fm audiobooks, your store’s ecommerce wishlist feature, your website, and more.
  

• Speaking of wishlists and registries, promote your ecommerce wishlist! IndieCommerce stores have a tremendous opportunity right now to promote their site’s wishlist/registry feature and help customers with their shopping and their book daydreaming.
  

• Some stores are thinking about big events with big-name authors. But think differently, too. Does your community have a beloved local author who would be willing to do a private Zoom event for your store? Or a beloved local hero who would do a private talk or book group for your store? Or maybe one of your booksellers is friends with an author or a musician. Sometimes the right small event can sell more books than a big one. Customers who purchase the book and/or event ticket receive the link to the event. Partner with a local restaurant or wine store and now it’s a party.
  

• Now’s also a great time to try some new events. Hannah Oliver Depp, owner of Loyalty Bookstores in D.C. and Silver Spring, Maryland, launched two new series recently: the Anti-Racist Book Club reading program and Date Night with Alyssa Cole. The first event is in response to customer requests and both events promise to serve the store’s current customers while also attracting new ones.
  

• There’s an opportunity right now to stand out with special promotions, content, and celebrations. Here’s a list of holidays, most of which you’ve probably never heard of, to design marketing and promotional campaigns that aren’t business as usual.
  

• And lastly, one more from Story & Song that owner Donna Paz Kaufman wrote about their newsletter: “(We) add our personal photos of each person on our crew and beautiful poems and calming, inspiring quotes that show there is a greater good opportunity in our lives, always, and especially right now.”
  

Seems like the perfect note to end on.
ABA is here for all of you. Please reach out if there is anything we can help with. We are an incredibly creative, resilient, supportive industry. We’ll get through this, together.
Best,
Allison

IndieCommerce

• The trend we’ve observed over the past three weeks is that traffic to bookstore websites is much higher than usual, but it is slowly dropping. We’ve also seen a slow drop in the e-commerce conversion rate during this same period. Some of this is due to states reopening for business, while some of this is due to an annual seasonal drop as weather improves and people go outside. Keep in mind that the conversion rates on bookstore websites are still extremely high. Bookstores should take advantage of this by encouraging customers to shop online; if their store now offers curbside or in-store pickup, they should heavily promote this as a safe shopping alternative. 
  
• Bookstores should not be conservative with their online marketing right now. Many stores are increasing the frequency of their email newsletters, email marketing, and social media marketing. With the elevated conversion rates we’ve been seeing, if bookstores can get customers into their website, there is a good chance they will convert to a sale.
  

Advocacy

• Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) FAQ: As a reminder, ABA has created a frequently asked question sheet on the PPP loan forgiveness application. The article will be continuously updated with any new information. Even if you are not yet nearing the end of your eight-week period, look through the forgiveness information to ensure you are keeping the required records. Doing this now will make filling out the application later much easier. Read the FAQ here.
  
• PPP bonuses and hazard pay update: The Small Business Administration (SBA) and Treasury Department issued an interim final rule on PPP loan forgiveness, stating that as long as an employee’s total compensation is less than $100,000 annually, bonuses and hazard pay are eligible for loan forgiveness because they are considered a supplement to salary or wages. The rule also clarifies that salary, wages, or commission payments to furloughed employees are eligible for forgiveness. Still, be wary of awarding atypical bonuses and hazard pay to be on the safe side. Speak to an accountant or your lender before making a decision.
  
• $10 billion in PPP funds for CDFIs: Today, May 28, the SBA and Treasury announced they will set aside $10 billion of “round two” PPP funding exclusively for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) in an effort to reach the underserved communities CDFIs typically serve. Locate a CDFI near you.
  
• PPP forgiveness application walkthrough: A recent National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) webinar featured a series of videos from Finch CPA Firm walking through the PPP forgiveness application. See the videos on PPP forms, a business example, PPP Schedule A, and the PPP application.
  
• MBAs Fight COVID-19: A new initiative, MBAs Fight COVID-19, is offering pro bono help to small businesses. Current MBA students are matched with businesses to provide help on a variety of projects (PPP, EIDL, cost cutting, etc.). Get help here.
  

Events

• We look forward to seeing you on June 11 at the virtual ABA Annual Meeting (2:00 p.m. ET) and Town Hall (3:00 p.m. ET). We want to hear from you! Please submit Town Hall questions and comments, or just introduce a topic you want us to address, ahead of time at townhall@bookweb.org. Questions or comments can also be introduced during the meeting via the Q&A interface; however, because the meeting is being presented in webinar format, booksellers will not be able to speak. The event link and further details will be emailed to booksellers and publishers next week. The Publishers Weekly 2020 Bookstore of the Year Award ceremony for Porter Square Books will occur immediately following the town hall meeting!
  
• Join us for a Marketing Meetup on Thursday, June 4, at 1:00 p.m. ET on “How to Make Friends and Influence Purchases: Digital Marketing’s Self-Help Guide to Customer Retention.” Registration is required.
  
• Join us for a Technology Meetup on Thursday, June 11, at 1:00 p.m. ET, featuring bookseller Angela Trigg of Haunted Bookshop in Mobile, Alabama, who has created a chatbot through which customers can place orders. Registration is required.
  
• Beginning in June, ABA’s Coffee Break meeting schedule is changing! Coffee Break meetings will be held via Zoom every Tuesday from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET and the last Thursday of each month at 6:00 p.m. ET. Join the Zoom calls here: the meeting ID is 850 6348 6159 and booksellers should check their email for a Coffee Break Reminder containing the password.
  

Announcements

• Indies Introduce! Thursday, June 4! Free! Booksellers can register now for the Zoom event featuring the upcoming season’s top adult debut titles, chosen by a panel of independent booksellers. It’s an exciting list of books and an opportunity for the indies to pave the way for a bestseller! (Children’s books will be presented during the virtual Children’s Institute program, to be held July 15–16.) 
  
• #SupportSmall Grants program! FedEx has launched a grant program to support 200 small businesses due to the crisis. I know 200 isn’t very many, but why not you? Each grantee will receive a $5,000 check and a $500 credit for FedEx Office print and business services. 
  
• Check out Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s new offer for classroom books — an extra 5% discount on B2B orders for HMH’s 135 most commonly used classroom books. This is a great opportunity for stores to reach out to schools and teachers who need to use their budgets before the end of the school year, or who might be preparing summer reading for students. See the Book Buyer’s Handbook for more details. 
  

Information

• In our scan of interesting information about the future, we found this interesting article in Forbes. 
  

ABA is here for all of you. Please reach out if there is anything we can help with. We are an incredibly creative, resilient, supportive industry. We’ll get through this, together.
Best,
Allison

Dear Booksellers,
​
Now that #SaveIndieBookstores has ended, ABA is gearing up for the next indie campaign. We’re excited to spread the word about Sourcebooks and Shelf Awareness’ #ReadIndieForward, a pay-it-forward movement to help independent bookstores.
This initiative is all kinds of good—the industry supporting one another, everyone sharing their love of books, readers buying books from the indies, and people connecting with the people they love.

Here are the details:
What
A pay-it-forward movement supporting independent bookstores by gifting books to friends and family.
Who
Everybody! Booksellers. Bookstores. ABA. Shelf Awareness. Sourcebooks. Other publishers. Authors. Readers. Customers. Everyone can help spread the word to #ReadIndieForward.
When
The next 8-10 weeks. (As shipping times are delayed right now, start early!)
How It Works
Step One:
An individual buys a book from their favorite independent bookstore and sends it to a loved one.
Step Two:
They post to social media with #ReadIndieForward, tagging the independent bookstore they bought the book from and the person they’re sending the book to.
Step Three:
They encourage the person who receives the book to #ReadIndieForward, too.
Step Four:
The person who receives the book posts on social media when they get the gift to say thank you. They can tag the sender and the indie bookstore.
Step Five:
The recipient can the start the whole cycle again: #ReadIndieForward.
How Bookstores Can Help
Spread the word. Turnkey, downloadable social media assets and ads are available at ReadIndieForward.com! You can personalize with your store’s logo or just upload the images to your social media or your website. You can even put your own spin on it and encourage customers to buy books that support local authors or diverse authors.
Why
Because #ReadIndieForward is exactly what we all need right now: something to connect us, and something to look forward to. 
ABA is grateful to Sourcebooks and Shelf Awareness, and all of the other publishers and authors who we know will get on this bandwagon. #SaveIndieBookstores raised over a million dollars. This time, let’s sell over a million books!
ABA is here for all of you. Please reach out if there is anything we can help with. We are an incredibly creative, resilient, supportive industry. We’ll get through this, together.
Best,
Allison
P.S. We didn’t want to wait to share this resource for booksellers beginning to reopen their stores: Here’s a handy list of tips for keeping your staff and customers safe, as well as a list of where to source related COVID-19 supplies.

• Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgiveness: While we are still waiting on PPP loan forgiveness guidance from the Small Business Administration and the Treasury Department, remember to periodically check ABA’s article on PPP loan forgiveness. The article is updated as new information becomes available and covers:

• • When the eight week period begins;
  • How to spend PPP funds to maximize forgiveness;
  • What expenses are forgivable;
  • How to apply for loan forgiveness;
  • What documentation is required for loan forgiveness; and
  • How Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) affect PPP loan forgiveness.

• PPP payroll expenses:

• • Paying employees to stay at home: If your state is still under a stay-at-home order or your store is voluntarily closed to the public, you can use your PPP funds to pay employees to stay at home. While employees are at home, you can try to find projects such as updating your website, creating a marketing campaign, or long-term strategizing. If there are no at-home projects, you can pay your employees to stay at home and not work. It may sound strange to pay employees not to work, but the main goal of PPP (as it is currently written) is to try to get businesses through the “shut down” phase and lessen the strain on the unemployment system, while also providing some extra funds for non-payroll expenses. Provided that your employees are back on payroll during your eight-week timeframe (at the same rate and hours they were before the pandemic), it does not matter if your employees are being paid to work or not to work.
  • Paying employees bonuses: We’ve heard from some members asking if they can use PPP funds to pay their employees bonuses. Some experts have warned against “going crazy with bonuses.” In other words, paying small bonuses to employees may be okay, but you should proceed with caution when considering awarding large bonuses. The government does not want to see businesses using PPP outside of the program’s intended purpose. When granting loan forgiveness, lenders will want to see that your expenses line up with what you’ve spent in the past. If you have a history of awarding bonuses each year to employees, then using PPP funds for this may be okay. Upcoming guidance may clarify the use of PPP funds on bonuses.
    In addition, some stores may wish to pay more to employees who are working in the store during the crisis. However, until a rule specifically allows for a small business owner to do this with forgivable PPP funds, ABA recommends that bookstore owners assume that any extra pay above the normal should not be included in your calculation for forgiveness; err on the side of caution to ensure that the loan is forgiven until there’s more information provided on this subject. 

• Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) update: The Small Business Administration (SBA) is no longer accepting new applications for EIDL from most small businesses. The EIDL application is now only available to agricultural businesses since they were previously ineligible for EIDL. Small business applicants who have already submitted their applications will continue to be processed on a first-come, first-served basis. If you have questions about your EIDL status, you can contact the SBA Office of Disaster Assistance via phone at 1-800-659-2955 (TTY/TDD: 1-800-877-8339) or disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.  

Stamped Book Club: Please spread the word about cancelling!
The Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix Virtual Book Club scheduled for Wednesdays in May is completely sold out (great news!) but the waitlist is long and we want to ensure that as many people as possible can attend. Please encourage customers who have signed up but do not plan to attend to cancel their reservation through Eventbrite, which will then automatically register the next person in line on the waitlist. 
Store Status: Please update!
Please update your store status! Open? Closed? Closed with curbside service? Selling online? This information helps us update publishers, wholesalers, and shippers, and find ways to support you. If your store is closed, the alternate address you provide may be used for ABA shipments and/or publisher galleys. You can fill out the form (it takes just three minutes) and also see the results. (Note: This information will be public.)
Bookstore Images: Please send us photos!
We want to see you! Please send gen@bookweb.org photos of your stores. We want to see what your stores look like right now and hear a little bit about what’s going on. Content and photos may appear on an updated #SaveIndieBookstores website and/or be used on ABA social media.
Technology Meetup: Please join us!
The May 14 Technology Meetup, to be held at 1:00 p.m. ET, will look at services and tools that are helping booksellers manage the new ways of doing business that many are having to adjust to. Advance registration is required.
Fundraising: Please check out this new vendor!
Satisfactory Printing, one of ABA’s business affinity partners, is a locally owned and operated screen printing and design shop based in Athens, Georgia. They offer complimentary graphic design for T-shirts, tote bags, hats, enamel pins, and more, and a way to sell that merchandise directly to your customers.
ABA is here for you. Please reach out if there is anything we can help with. We are an incredibly creative, resilient, supportive industry. We’ll get through this, together.