A radical approach to running a business, Open Book Management empowers everyone in an organization to actively participate in tracking metrics that directly contribute to business success. By tracking key numbers and learning the story behind the scoreboard results, employees get a real sense of how they directly impact the success of the business. Explore what Open Book Management is, why it works, and what it looks like in the day-to-day of your store.

Speaker

• Elnian Gilbert, ZingTrain - Ann Arbor, MI

Files & Links

• Video Recording
• Slide Deck
• Intro to Open Book Management Workbook

Recorded February 11, 2024 at Winter Institute 2024 in Cincinnati, OH

Additional bookstore education resources can be found at www.bookweb.org.

Theme song by Constant Companion

ABA's Indies Introduce interview series spotlights debut authors handpicked by booksellers from around the country. In each episode, a bookseller from the Indies Introduce panel interviews an author featured in the program to celebrate the release of their book.

In this episode, Holly Weinkauf of Red Balloon Bookshop (St. Paul, MN) interviews John Cochran, author of Breaking Into Sunlight (Algonquin Young Readers/Hachette Book Group), available June 18 at your local independent bookstore.

The changing landscape of bookselling brings new challenges every day, and it is essential to learn how to respond without losing sight of your goals or purpose. Join Bonnie Wan, author of The Life Brief, for a workshop that creates space to declare your ambitions/focus for 2024 and design a brief for how you will achieve growth, engagement, and concentrate on what matters most deeply to you and your business.

Speaker

• Bonnie Wan, author of The Life Brief: A Playbook for No-Regrets Living (Simon Element)

Files & Links

• Video Recording
• Slide Deck

Recorded February 14, 2024 at Winter Institute 2024 in Cincinnati, OH

Additional bookstore education resources can be found at www.bookweb.org.

Theme song by Constant Companion

Free Expression Friday is an interview series from ABA's American Booksellers for Free Expression celebrating the amazing work of booksellers, organizers, and book people in general fighting for the right to read.

In this episode, ABA's Advocacy Associate Manager, Philomena Polefrone talks with Annastasia Williams, Bookstore Director at The Bottom Bookshop in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Follow the American Booksellers for Free Expression on Instagram at @ABFEFreeExpression to keep up with ABFE's advocacy efforts and tune into their Free Expression Friday series. Additional bookstore education resources can be found at www.bookweb.org.

Theme by Constant Companion

ABA's Lightning Talk series features booksellers presenting 5-10 minute talks on tech tools, organizational strategies, communication methods, or innovations they've made in their stores. On June 6, 2024, Kira Wizner of Merritt Bookstore (Millbrook, NY) discussed filling out ABACUS, ABA's free annual industry benchmarking report.

Files & Links

• Video Recording
• Slide Deck

Additional bookstore education resources can be found at www.bookweb.org.

Theme by Constant Companion

How can we survive—and even thrive—in this age of conflict? Negotiation expert William Ury, coauthor of the best-selling Getting to YES, introduces a transformative mindset in his new book, Possible: How We Survive (and Thrive) in an Age of Conflict. Drawing on 45 years of experience, Ury presents an actionable framework, a "Path to Possible", for navigating conflicts of any scale—from boardroom battles to large-scale international conflict —by sharing a range of personal stories intermixed with practical takeaways. Whether you're facing a family feud, a workplace dispute, or a political crisis, Possible will help you turn any challenge into an opportunity. Equal parts memoir, manual, and manifesto, Possible empowers us all to be "Possibilists": those who believe in the human potential to transform today's toughest conflicts creatively and constructively.

Speakers

• William Ury

Files & Links

• Video Recording
• Slide Deck
• Live Captioning

Recorded February 12, 2024 at Winter Institute 2024 in Cincinnati, OH

Additional bookstore education resources can be found at www.bookweb.org.

Theme song by Constant Companion

ABA's Indies Introduce interview series spotlights debut authors handpicked by booksellers from around the country. In each episode, a bookseller from the Indies Introduce panel interviews an author featured in the program to celebrate the release of their book.

In this episode, Arden Harris of A Seat at the Table Books (Elk Grove, CA) interviews Suzi Ehtesham-Zadeh, author of The Stars Too Fondly (Harper Voyager/HarperCollins), available June 11 at your local independent bookstore.

Theme by Constant Companion

ABA's Indies Introduce interview series spotlights debut authors handpicked by booksellers from around the country. In each episode, a bookseller from the Indies Introduce panel interviews an author featured in the program to celebrate the release of their book.

In this episode, Kristin Saner of Fables Books (Goshen, IN) interviews Suzi Ehtesham-Zadeh, author of Zan: Stories (Dzanc Books), available June 11 at your local independent bookstore.

Theme by Constant Companion

ABA's Indies Introduce interview series spotlights debut authors handpicked by booksellers from around the country. In each episode, a bookseller from the Indies Introduce panel interviews an author featured in the program to celebrate the release of their book.

In this episode, Katie Pionk of McLean & Eakin Booksellers (Petoskey, MI) interviews Daisy Garrison, author of Six More Months of June (Flatiron Books/Macmillan Publishers), available June 11 at your local independent bookstore.

Theme by Constant Companion

According to the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC), "Worker cooperatives are values-driven businesses that put worker and community benefit at the core of their purpose. Worker members…participate in the profits, oversight, and often management of the enterprise using democratic practices." If you are interested in opening a worker-owned co-op bookstore or transitioning to one, this conversation is for you. In this session, a representative from USFWC will talk about the benefits of a worker-owned model as well as the drawbacks. They will review legalities of incorporation, decision making, financial operations, and more. Leave this session with the knowledge you need to evaluate if this shift is the right fit for you.

Speakers

• Cullen Nawalkowsky, Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse - Baltimore, MD
• Talia Whyte, Rozzie Bound Books - Boston, MA
• Ellen Vera, Co-op Cincy - Cincinnati, OH

Files & Links

• Video Recording
• Slide Deck

Recorded February 13, 2024 at Winter Institute 2024 in Cincinnati, OH

Additional bookstore education resources can be found at www.bookweb.org.

Theme song by Constant Companion