Resources, statistics, opportunities, and inspiration for independent booksellers

The "Top of Mind" List for February 22-28, 2021

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• Saturday, February 27th is the deadline to sign up to participate in #MarginsBookstoresMonth, a program celebrating BIPOC, LGBTQ+, Disabled, and Neurodiverse-owned/managed bookstores. The event, organized by The Word: A Storytelling Sanctuary and Chronicle Books, will take place in Fall of 2021. Read more here.
  
  
• Penguin Random House has begun sharing consumer insights generated by its market research team, with the goal of improving indie bookstores' ability to prepare for and capitalize on trends in the marketplace. This information is not meant to be shared with their competitors, only indie booksellers, so links aren't publicly available. Speak to your PRH rep if you'd like to sign up for the newsletter (you do). On Wednesday, February 10 from 11am-noon, the team will present on the trends they see coming for spring 2021​
  
  
• The Institute for Local Self Reliance and the ABA hosted a webinar with Rep. David Cicilline, chair of the House Antitrust Subcommittee, called "Reining in Monopoly Power: Small Businesses and the Push to Strengthen Antitrust Laws." Use the form below to receive important news, updates, and actions to help protect small businesses:

About The Independent Bookseller

​I founded The Independent Bookseller™ in 2018 as a way to make some of the resources I'd built for myself available to booksellers all over the country.To be clear, I am not "The Independent Bookseller" -- that would be you, for whom this site is dedicated. This is a website for and about booksellers.

The resources, content, and opinions found on The Independent Bookseller™'s website, social media pages, and weekly newsletter are intended to be purely supplemental and complementary to the work of all book industry associations, publications, and service providers, without which nothing on this site or in this industry would be possible. If you have any questions about the methodology behind anything on this site, please contact me.

Robert Martin

Founder/Director

​​Robert Martin is the executive director of the Independent Booksellers Consortium. He has worked as the director of operations for the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association and managing editor for Rain Taxi Review of Books. Before working in the book industry he was the senior editor for Masterplans, a business consulting firm that guides entrepreneurs through the startup process. He is a writer, musician, backpacker, and father.

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