06.19.25 Bookseller News & Information

June 19, 2025

in Bookseller Newsletter,

Ad featuring new children's nature books from Albatros Media's spring 2025 catalog. Click to learn more and order now.

IN THIS ISSUE

*DUE TUESDAY* 2024 ABACUS Survey

CALIBA Programs:

Tri-West Summer School

*ON THURSDAYS* Office Hours with Hannah

*SAVE THE DATE* 2025 Fall Fest, September 17-18th

CALIBA Committees:

*JOIN NOW* BIPOC Bookseller Committee

Political Advocacy Committee Poll

CALIBA Bookstore Map

Marketing Assets:

2025 Winter Catalog

2025 Summer Reading Guide

*JUNE ASSETS AVAILABLE* CALIBA Marketing Assets

Celebrate Audiobook Month with Libro.fm

Bookseller & Industry News:

Happy 50th Birthday, Book Soup!

Bookstore Engagement: Godmothers Books

Bookseller Moment: Rakestraw Books

Image of the Day: Green Apple Hosts Ocean Vuong

Pride Month Display: {pages} a bookstore

Professional Booksellers School:

Read to Lead: From To-Do to Done

Grants & Scholarships:

SCBWI Impact and Legacy Fund Independent Bookstore Grant

ABA Announcements:

ABA 2025 Fall Show Special

*MAP IS AVAILABLE* Find Waldo Local

Partnership Opportunities:

Word for Word: "Annunciation" with Lauren Groff

Dates and Deadlines

Bestseller Lists

Classifieds

CALIBA Currently Reading

Bookseller Resources

NEW MEMBER CORNER

Welcome to CALIBA, Singularities!

Owner Name: Katie Moran

Established: July 2024 (online)

Location: Irvine

About Our New Member: I'm Katie, and I'm working on opening a small children's bookstore in Irvine! For now, I sell online and I do events at book fairs and schools. I especially like selling books that introduce math concepts and problem solving, as well as books from around the world (that are hard to bump into on Amazon).

CALIBA STAFF

Hannah Walcher

Executive Director

hannah@caliballiance.org

Valentina Moberg

Operations Manager

valentina@caliballiance.org

Alecia Reddick

Supporting Staff

alecia@caliballiance.org

JOIN CALIBA'S DISCORD!

Email Valentina to join.

Current CALIBA bookseller membership required.

HOUSEKEEPING

We're working hard to make your life easier with membership tips & tricks.

How to set up auto-pay for dues.

ABACUS SURVEY DUE TUESDAY

WHY SHOULD I COMPLETE ABACUS? A Q&A WITH ABA CFO PK SINDWANI

Every summer, booksellers sit down to complete the ABACUS survey, a detailed questionnaire about their businesses. Then, each fall, ABA releases the ABACUS report, a summary of the trends and other points of interests derived from indie booksellers' combined answers. Stores that submitted their survey also receive a detailed breakdown of how their store's performance compares to others with similar demographics.

The 2024 ABACUS survey is currently live, and the deadline to complete it is has been extended to Tuesday, June 24th. Read the full blog post.

If you would like assistance, or are participating for the first time, this ABACUS workshop recording offers step-by-step instructions for the ABACUS questionnaire. Click here for more information.

VIEW LAST YEAR'S REPORT

CALIBA PROGRAMS

TRI-WEST SUMMER SCHOOL

These FREE, virtual summertime sessions offer professional development and networking opportunities for every bookseller, no travel required! Co-produced by CALIBA, MPIBA, and PNBA.

Love, Lore , and the Unknown: The Expanding Universe of Genre Fiction

Wednesday, June 25th at 12:00pm PDT

From romantasy to cozy horror, today’s genre fiction is reshaping the bookstore shelves—and readers are loving it. We’ll explore how authors are weaving together elements of romance, mystery, horror, science fiction, and fantasy to create fresh, emotionally rich, and commercially magnetic stories—and how booksellers can meet reader demand across genres and age groups. Expect lively discussion, title recommendations from Sourcebooks imprints such as Bloom Books, Poisoned Pen Press, and Sourcebooks Casablanca, and practical tools to help you:

Curate genre and hybrid genre sections with confidence
Handsell genre and cross-genre books to every type of reader
Build community through events and displays that highlight genre (and other types of!) diversity

If you’ve ever wondered how to shelve a fantasy romance with thriller pacing and a ghost in the attic—this session is for you!

Click here to register for the session.

Missed a session? Click here to access the recordings.

VIEW THE FULL COURSE SCHEDULE

OFFICE HOURS WITH HANNAH

Join our office hours to co-work with Hannah! Need help planning your catalog strategy? Have a question, idea, or comment about a CALIBA program? Office hours are a great chance for you to check in directly with your Executive Director. Office hours will take place Thursdays, 9-10am and 2-3pm; from May 15th to July 31st.

Thursday Mornings (9-10am) - Registration Link

Thursday Afternoons (2-3pm) - Registration Link

2025 FALL FEST, SEPTEMBER 17-18TH: SAVE THE DATE

Please join us for two full days of education, authors and connection with booksellers throughout the state of California. Bookseller registration opens in July!

South San Francisco Conference Center

255 South Airport Boulevard

South San Francisco, CA 94080-6703

Where to Stay:

For our group rate, book a room at the DoubleTree by Hilton San Francisco South Airport Blvd via this link by August 25th.

Click here for more information.

CALIBA COMMITTEES

BIPOC BOOKSELLERS COMMITTEE

The BIPOC Booksellers committee welcomes BIPOC store owners and booksellers to gather for community building, knowledge sharing, and education development with the goal of uplifting BIPOC storytelling and creating sustainable communities of BIPOC readers.

Interested in joining the BIPOC Bookseller committee? Click here to fill out the form.

Learn more abour our committees.

POLITICAL ADVOCACY COMMITTEE

Our Political Advocacy Committee would like to provide more targeted assistance to our members. Please answer the poll below so they can begin providing resources and information for your highest priorities.

WHICH ISSUE IS IMPACTING YOU THE MOST?

A. Soft Book Bannings in Store

B. Soft Book Bannings in Partnering Schools

C. Tariffs

D. Neighborhood Political Climate

E. Isolationism

F. Other

If you answered "F. Other," please reach out to info@caliballiance.org.

CALIBA BOOKSTORE MAP

This map shows our current bookstore members.

Don't see your store on the map? Make sure your information on our website is correct, then contact Alecia to update the map.

MARKETING ASSETS

2025 WINTER CATALOG: ORDERS ARE CLOSED & WE MET OUR GOAL!

-Imprint proofs to stores - July 5-19 (continuous)

-Digital Catalog pages to stores - September 12

-Catalogs Shipped to stores and Newspapers - October 1

-Catalogs Mailed to Consumers - November 1

Prep for your buys and handselling by going over the catalog titles ahead of time. Click here for the Edelweiss list.

Have any questions? Contact Alecia, alecia@caliballiance.org.

Summer Reading Guide Arriving in the Mail

2025 SUMMER READING GUIDE

Looking for ways to share the Summer catalogs within your community? Click here to view the usage guidelines and our 12-week Su mmer Challenge.

Use the digital catalog and marketing assets to promote the Summer Reading Guide:

Share your display and marketing ideas with us on Discord, tag us on social, or add us to your newsletter list (info@caliballiance.org).

CALIBA MARKETING ASSETS: JUNE ASSETS AVAILABLE

We've created assets that you can share with your customers to give you time back for other projects.

June themes:

Upcoming themes: Disability Pride Month, International Self-Care Day, National Avocado Day, Back to School Month, International Cat Day, National Dog Day, National Beach Day.

Visit our Marketing Assets webpage.

Have more marketing ideas or special events members would find useful? Send in your ideas here.

CELEBRATE AUDIOBOOK MONTH WITH LIBRO.FM

Members-only BOGO Sale June 12-June 22
Kids Sale (tons of audiobooks for kids priced between $0.99-$5.00) through June 30
Audiobook Walk Event Kit
Display Contest in honor of the web player and Audiobook Month

BOOKSELLER & INDUSTRY NEWS

PROFESSIONAL BOOKSELLERS SCHOOL

CALIBA is a supporting sponsor of PBS, making it possible for our members to access professional development for independent booksellers at all levels. CALIBA discount codes and more details.

READ TO LEAD: FROM TO-DO TO DONE - PBS BOOK CLUB LAUNCH

READ TO LEAD: FROM TO-DO TO DONE: BOOK CLUB LAUNCH

PBS has a new 3-session book club with attention management/productivity expert Maura Thomas. Sourcebooks is generously providing all registrants with 3 of Maura's books:

-Attention Management: How to Create Success and Gain Productivity - Every Day

-From To-Do to Done: How to Go from Busy to Productive by Mastering Your To-Do List

-The Happy Inbox: How to Have a Stress-Free Relationship with Your Email and Overcome Your Communication Clutter

The group will meet for three sessions on June 6, June 13, and June 20 at 12 pm PDT.

Click here to learn more.

GRANTS & SCHOLARSHIPS

*DUE BY JULY 15TH* SCBWI Impact and Legacy Fund Independent Bookstore Grant: three independent bookstores will be awarded a $1,000 grant to host a public program or bookstore event featuring a children's book author or illustrator. Apply here.

ABA ANNOUNCEMENTS

FIND WALDO LOCAL: MAP IS AVAILABLE

The 2025 Find Waldo Local map is now live! Viewers can search the map by state or shop name to find participating stores.

Participating stores can now access the Find Waldo Local Toolkit on BookWeb. This toolkit has everything you’ll need as you prepare for Find Waldo Local, including guidelines, sample social media posts and press releases, printables, and more.

The 13th annual Find Waldo Local is offered in partnership with Candlewick. This event will run throughout the month of July.

PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

WORD FOR WORD: "ANNUNCIATION" WITH LAUREN GROFF

Word for Word, the San Francisco theatre company (based at Z Space), will be producing Lauren Groff's short story "Annunciation" from June 18 - July 13. On July 9, Lauren Groff herself will be joining them for a post-show conversation. Click here for more info and to download event poster for your store.

Would you like to attend the event at a discounted rate? Contact JoAnne Winter, jwinter@zspace.org, (415) 659-8133 for discounted tickets.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

June: Pride Month / Audiobook Appreciation Month

June 19: Juneteenth

June 24: ABACUS, ABA’s free annual financial benchmarking survey due

June 25: Tri-West Summer School - Love, Lore and the Unknown: The Expanding Universe of Genre Fiction

July: Disability Pride Month

July 9: Tri-West Summer School - Panel: Creating Successful Bookstore Crawls and Passport Programs

July 15: SCBWI Impact and Legacy Fund Independent Bookstore Grant Applications Close

July 16: Tri-West Summer School - Roundtable: Tips & Tricks for Recognizing and Battling "Soft" Book Bans

July 23: Tri-West Summer School - Holiday Prep Starts Now: Create Your Checklist

August 6: Tri-West Summer School - Edelweiss: What Is It? Why Do You Need It? And How to Get Started!

August 13: Tri-West Summer School - Round Table: Marketing Audiobooks and E-Books as Part of Your Brand to Capture Non-traditional Reading Customers.

August 20: Tri-West Summer School - Understanding & Improving Cost of Good Sold

August 25: Fall Fest Hotel Group Rate Ends - Book Now!

September 17-18: Fall Fest @ South San Francisco Conference Center

October 5-11: Banned Books Week

Now More Than Ever, I Stand with Bookstores is a fundraising campaign to engage all book lovers to join some of their favorite authors/creators and stand with their community stores during this time of uncertainty. They can help stores by making an in-store purchase and/or making a donation to Binc. Your support is appreciated and optional. The Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation is our safety net. Whether you are facing a life-altering medical situation or the effects of a climate related disaster, Binc is the place you can call for help. Donations will be matched dollar for dollar, doubling your impact, up to a total of $50,000.

1 - Banter Bookshop, in Fremont, 2 - Chaucer’s Books, in Santa Barbara, 3 - Pegasus Books, in Berkeley, 4 - Postalworks, in Los Angeles, 5 - Bel Canto Books, in Long Beach, 6 - Casita Bookstore, in Long Beach, 7 - Ruby’s Books, in Folsom, 8 - Readers’ Books, in Sonoma, 9 - On Waverly, in San Francisco, 10 - Bookish Modesto

1 - Banter Bookshop, in Fremont, is celebrating their 3rd birthday on Saturday 🥳

2 - Chaucer’s Books, in Santa Barbara, has been able to donate $26k from the 23 (!) book fairs they’ve held in the last year. 🙌

3 - Pegasus Books, in Berkeley, has a wide variety of books for their “Gay Books” display 🌈

4 - Postalworks, in Los Angeles, has a vibrant Pride display for readers of all ages ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

5 - Bel Canto Books, in Long Beach, provided supplies for the community last Saturday 🪧

6 - Casita Bookstore, in Long Beach, will be donating their profits on Saturday to put towards their goal of $1k for CHIRLA. 💗

7 - Ruby’s Books, in Folsom, is calling on readers to send in their Summer Reading Reviews on postcards that they’ll decorate the store with 🥰

8 - Readers’ Books, in Sonoma, has some great cookbooks to inspire you to get out and grill 🍔

9 - On Waverly, in San Francisco, has a fun community event coming up in July to learn and play Mahjong! 🀄

10 - Bookish Modesto is partnering with their local bakeshop in a scavenger hunt for Find Waldo starting July 1st. 👀

Don't forget to follow and tag CALIBA (@caliba_20 ) to be featured! CALIBA resources has

info about being featured by Shelf Awareness, USA Today, and Bay City News.

BESTSELLER LISTS

Click here for the Los Angeles Times & Southern California Independent Bookstore Bestseller List

Click here for the San Francisco Chronicle & Northern California Independent Bookstore Bestseller List

CLASSIFIEDS

Part-Time Administrative Assistant - The Collective Book Studio, San Francisco Bay Area
National Accounts Manager - Chronicle Books, San Francisco
Social Media Assistant - Chronicle Books, San Francisco
Contracts Manager - Chronicle Books, San Francisco
Experienced Bookseller Wanted - Camino Books, Del Mar

Visit our classifieds for more listings

CALIBA CURRENTLY READING:

Alecia

Supporting Staff

Black Sun

Rebecca Roanhorse

9781534437685

Hannah

Executive Director

Rogue Protocol:

The Murderbot Diaries

Martha Wells

9781250191786

Valentina

Operations Manager

Magnolia Parks:

Into the Dark

Jessa Hastings

9780593474945

CALIBA RESOURCES

2025 LA Fires Resources Page

Find a S ubstitute Bookseller Here (Login Required) Sign-Up to be a Substitute Bookseller

Bookseller Mentorship Program | Mentee Sign-Up Form Here (Login Required) Mentor Sign-Up Form Here ((Login Required)

Golden Poppy Awards 2024 Resources Edelweiss List of Titles (Note: 2% Ingram Discount)

Summer Catalog Resource Page Edelweiss List of Titles (Note: 2% Ingram Discount)

Indie-to-Indie Playlists

Join the CALIBA Edelweiss Community - Email Valentina

The Brown Bookshelf

Anti-Censorship Resources

Panorama Picks - Books in Demand at US Libraries

Workplace Violence Prevention Plans Required for California Employers by July 2024 - Are you compliant?

Bookseller Summer School is Out - Access the Videos

Shelf Awareness features bookstore news daily. To submit bookstore news email news@shelf-awareness.com.

The USA Today Books Page spotlights an independent bookstore each week. ABA member bookstores can pitch their b ookstore to USA Today. Good Luck!

Bay City News is partnering with booksellers, librarians, and authors. Share your events, ideas and contributions with the newsroom to get into their newsletter. Feel free to send them your newsletters!

Become a participating bookstore with Little Free Library. Email Lexie Neeley to get involved!

Click here for a complete list.

Support CALIBA

Publishers support CALIBA when bookstores participate.

Bookstore Participation = Publisher Sponsorship = CALIBA = Bookstore Education, Advocacy, Networking +++

Hannah Walcher, Executive Director

Livermore CA 94550

Membership Tips & Tricks: Setting Up Auto-Pay for DuesJune 18, 2025 06.19.25 Publisher News & InformationJune 19, 2025