At the final American Booksellers Association Spring Forum, held in Cambridge, Mass., on April 29, booksellers expressed their concerns about a range of issues, beginning with why Winter Institute is limited to only 500 places.
ABA CEO said that the association has plans to “grow it slightly,” adding that “the event works because it’s intimate.” Although Winter Institute 10 was held in a slightly smaller facility in Asheville, N.C., that won’t be the case in 2016 when the institute goes to Denver. Nor are there any plans to change the timing, at the end of January or early February, despite the difficulty of winter travel for some booksellers.
Now that Google search is factoring in how mobile-friendly a website is in ranking results, one bookseller asked what that means for ABA websites. Teicher responded that the changeover to Drupal 7 offered booksellers several mobile-friendly themes. “It is, frankly, a little naive in 2015 not having a mobile-friendly website,” he added.
Teicher also urged booksellers to figure out how to grow their online presence. “A small but significant number of you are now making money online,” he said. “All the data we’re seeing these days is pointing to a hybrid world where your customers shop online.”
Josh Cook at local show Porter Square Books, asked if the ABA would rebuild the search engine, since he’s found that customers drop off the store’s site after a search. Teicher reminded booksellers that the ABA is competing with a company that’s spending millions of dollars on its online search engine.
That said, the ABA’s board has commissioned a study of how it’s competing online, and has a task force of booksellers looking at independent bookstores’ online presence. The issue, said Teicher, is, “How do you reinvent yourself to be special and unique without just trying to be some poor copy of another online company?”
Others asked about the Kobo contract and selling e-books as well as the newest Kobo e-reader, which is currently available only online. “We share the frustration,” said Teicher, who noted that when the ABA entered into the partnership with Kobo, the company was planning to enter into the U.S. market in a big way. But Kobo has had to play catch up with Amazon and Apple in the States, which Teicher said has been “a challenge.”
Still, the ABA is committed to enabling booksellers to offer their customers the option to read digitally. “My contention is that it helps keep those print book customers,” said Teicher. “We have an arrangement with Kobo, and my expectation is that we will renegotiate that contract.” He noted that ABA continues to explore additional options. Currently about 20 indies around the country are selling a “decent amount” of digital content.
Another topic, which was raised at the Town Hall Forum at Winter Institute, concerns staff training, and whether it might make sense to offer a certificate program. The Booksellers’ Handbook and Bookselling for Dummies are both out-of-date, booksellers pointed out. Having a such a program would involve a national set of standards. Some worried that those who are certified would need to earn more money than their stores could afford. It’s clear that booksellers are searching for a way to encourage professionalism and to retain staff.
