Making Waves Newsletter 3/21/25

3/21/2025

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GLIBA Regional Newsletter: March 21, 2025

REGIONAL BESTSELLERS

PUBLISHER PROMOTIONS

ARC PREFERENCE FORM

JOIN OR RENEW MEMBERSHIP

Attention Publishers!

Please use the form below to share your promotions with GLIBA bookstores. At the beginning of each month all promotions will be deleted and a new form will be be emailed to our publishing partners. Thank you!

PROMOTION SUBMISSION FORM

ANNOUNCING SPRING FORUM KEYNOTE AUTHORS!

Don't miss our Spring Forum keynote author event featuring bestselling authors Veronica Roth and Dan Chaon in conversation with each other!

Veronica Roth is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent series (Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant, and Four: A Divergent Collection), the Carve the Mark duology (Carve the Mark, The Fates Divide), The End and Other Beginnings collection of short fiction, Chosen Ones, and many short stories and essays. She lives in Chicago. Her latest from Tor Books is To Clutch a Razor.

Dan Chaon is the author of several books, including Ill Will, a national bestseller that was named one of the ten best books of the year by Publishers Weekly. Other works include the short story collection Stay Awake, a finalist for the Story Prize; the national bestseller Await Your Reply; and Among the Missing, a finalist for the National Book Award. Chaon’s fiction has appeared in the Best American Short Stories, the Pushcart Prize Anthologies, and the O. Henry Collection. He has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award in Fiction and the Shirley Jackson Award, and he was the recipient of an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature. Chaon lives in Cleveland. His latest from Holt is One of Us.

To Clutch a Razor

One of Us

SPRING FORUM SCHEDULE

Wednesday, April 16, 2025

Grand Rapids Bookstore Bus Tour & Reception Schedule

1:30 pm ET - Bus Pick-Up at The Amway Grand Plaza Hotel

2:00 pm - 5:00 pm ET - Bus Tour

Bookstores on the Tour

NEW! Orchard House Books & Café

5:00 pm - 7:00 pm ET - Broadleaf Brewery and Spirits

Thursday, April 17, 2025

Spring Forum Programming

Schuler's Books

2660 28th St SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49512

Schedule

10:00 am - 1:00 pm ET - Arrivals and Welcome; Education; Tour of Schuler Books

1:00 pm - 1:30pm ET - Lunch (provided)

1:30 - 2:50 pm ET - Meet the Authors (line-up TBA)

3:00 - 3:45 pm ET - Keynote Author Event - Veronica Roth in conversation with Dan Chaon

4:00 - 5:30 pm ET - Author Reception

We've added a Fifth Store on the Bookstore Tour!

We'll be visiting the following stores: Redux Books, Vault of Midnight, Orchard House Books & Café, Cellar Bird Books, and Books & Mortar! Join us on the bookstore tour to see the incredible stores Grand Rapids has to offer, AND to welcome a few of our newest members to GLIBA!

RECEPTION VENUE

Broadleaf Brewery & Spirits, Kentwood

2885 Lake Eastbrooke Blvd.

Kentwood, MI 49512

(616) 803-0602

Join us for a fun evening of Pickleball and Kickpin Bowling!

RECOMMENDED ACCOMMODATIONS

Amway Grand Plaza, Curio Collection by Hilton

187 Monroe Ave NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503

(616) 774-2000

Room Rate: $199

Reservation Link

RESERVE YOUR ROOM TODAY

ORGANIZATION NEWS

Heartland Fall Forum Virtual Office Hours

Below are the sessions for March and April 2025:

March 18th, 10am & 4pm CST: Call for Education Topics!
April 1st, 10am & 4pm CST: Feedback for Education Sessions & Retreats
April 28th, 10am & 4pm CST: Education Sessions: General Slate (Feedback, Topics, Panel Leads)

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

Don't Miss the Annual Indy Book Crawl THIS WEEKEND!

Indianapolis, IN—MARCH 4, 2025--The Indy Indie Book Crawl (IIBC) will span Central Indiana for its second year on March 20-23, 2025, with 27 independent bookstores and 7 literary organizations participating. This year’s book crawl is generously supported by Indiana Humanities and Butler MFA, as well as local business sponsors Maywright Property Group, Cafe Lending, Pegedo E-Bikes, UVA Wine Tastings, and Bottleworks Hotel, and venue sponsor Maven Space.

The format will remain the same as the first IIBC in 2024: visit any of the participating

bookstores and they will stamp your official bookmark (available at all book crawl locations

starting on 3/20). At the conclusion of the book crawl, enter your information into the form linked on the official bookmark and the Indy Indie Book Crawl Instagram page and you will be entered to win one of three prize packs. The more stores you visit - the higher your chances of winning!

All information about the 2025 Indy Indie Book Crawl – including the participating locations – will be posted to the official Instagram page: @indyindiebookcrawl. For more information or questions regarding the promotion of IIBC, please contact Kasey Upchurch at [email protected].

INDUSTRY NEWS

Registration now open for 2025 Children's Institute in Portland, Oregon from June 11 to June 14, 2025

The Children’s Institute 2025 will take place at the Oregon Convention Center. We’ll kick off with the Buddy Meet & Greet followed by the PATHWAYS Mixer for Black, Indigenous, AAPI, Latina/o/x, Chicana/o/x, Hispanic, and BIPOC attendees on Wednesday, June 11, at 5:15 pm PT.

The ABA hotel block will open on Thursday, April 10 at 1:00 pm ET. A booking link will be emailed to registered attendees.

ABA Survey: Looking for Regional Input for Publisher Meetings

We would love input from the regions for our Publisher meetings. The deadline is April 5. Here is the survey link.

Batch for Books Expands Partnership Network with Simon & Schuster

NEW YORK (February 23, 2025) — Batch for Books is thrilled to announce a new partnership with Simon & Schuster, marking a major milestone in our mission to simplify invoice and payment management for bookstores and publishers. With this addition, all of the Big Five publishers are now part of the Batch for Books network, reinforcing our commitment to streamlining industry operations with efficiency and ease.

Simon & Schuster expects to be fully integrated with Batch by June 2025. Bookstores

interested in signing up for Batch should email [email protected] for more

information.

S&S Seeks Field Account Manager

The Simon & Schuster Indie Team is looking for Field Account Manager based in the San Francisco Bay Area to sell their complete list - Wholly-Owned Children’s, Adult, Audio, and Distributed Client titles - to an account base of 40 independent bookstores in the Bay Area. Details and application here.

PBS Bookstore Finances Course Registration Open!

Registration for Bookstore Finances opens Monday, March 10 at 1 pm ET / 12 pm CT.

Tuition is $400
Discount Code: GLIBAbf

Indie-to-Indie Playlist: Women's History Month

Publisher members of the Independent Publishers Caucus have curated a list of titles to help populate and distinguish your Women's History Month displays. View the list in Edelweiss by clicking here!

March is Indie Press Month!

$500 display contest and a social media campaign to raise awareness

for indie presses and the bookstores that love them!

What You Need To Know:

COMMIT: To creating an in-store display of Indie Press month titles (available on Airtable and Edelweiss). You are welcome to feature titles outside of this list (we want every bookstore to celebrate in a way that is authentic to them) but we ask that 50% of your display include these promotional titles!

SUBMIT: A picture of your display. All stores, regardless of social media, will be considered for the $500 prize.

PROMOTE: Indie Press Month, your display, and indie presses in general on social media. You can post anytime in March, but the first five posts on March 5 will receive $50 in co-op. (Tag us @indiepubs on Instagram).

Marketing assets for social, email newsletters, and in-store displays are available.

All of this information and more is available on our Indie Press Month website, so check it out now! We hope you'll celebrate with us and take this opportunity to raise greater awareness for the awesome work indie presses do!

Books Across Borders 2025-26 applications open

Books Across Borders (BAB) is accepting applications for the Fall 2025-Spring 2026 season starting Wednesday, February 12, 2025. Booksellers interested in diverse and international literature and in fostering relationships with the international literary community are encouraged to apply. Strong consideration is given to booksellers who demonstrate a history of reading and promoting international literature, and who communicate a kinship with Books Across Borders’s mission and values. Fellows are chosen by the Books Across Borders Board of Directors. The application deadline is May 1, 2025.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY!

Countdown to Independent Bookstore Day 2025

We are just over three months out from Independent Bookstore Day 2025!

Get your store ready with the ABA's To-Do List for January.

Independent Bookstore Day Planning Guide

IBD Key Dates

March 31, 2025: Indie Bookstore Day 2025 Participation Form closes. (Stores that didn't order exclusive items can sign up to participate until this date.)
April 4, 2025: Indie Bookstore Day Searchable Map goes live on IndieBound
Early- to mid-April: All exclusives ship to bookstores
April 21–25, 2025: Indie Bookstore Day Spirit Week
April 26, 2025: Independent Bookstore Day