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Dear Friends and Colleagues,
It’s Winter Catalog time! This year I’m excited to announce that the 2026 Winter Catalogs will be rolling out a special new look! This re-design is the result of many brainstorming sessions amongst the participating Regional Executive Directors, conversations had by a steering committee featuring publishers and booksellers, and YOUR feedback.
The new catalog layout features room for editorial content that will allow personalization opportunities for each region. It also provides space for a handful of gift items to assist with the important up-sell moment. Finally, it allows for more flexibility with the headers and call-outs. All these changes we hope will lead to a more unique and interesting product. You can find an example of the new look on the RAMP website.
There are still more ways that you can help curate CALIBA’s catalog:
- Vote on the cover image. All four regional catalogs will feature the winning cover. It’s a great opportunity for the winning author and publisher.
- Recommend titles. Suzanne Shoger (RAMP Director of Marketing & Promotion) will do everything possible to get the books into our catalog. This is also a great way to let publishers know you’re excited for their book and want to celebrate it!
It’s also important that I mention, yet again, that the Catalogs are CALIBA’s biggest source of income. By ordering and using our catalogs to sell books you are helping to keep your organization running strong. CALIBA’s income does not come from your catalog orders, but from the ads placed in the catalogs by publishers, so your participation is the best way for us to show the publishers how important their participation is to us and keep them participating year after year.
Finally, here are some important deadlines and information:
- Saturation Mailing (direct to mailboxes) initiation deadline is June 1st. Paired with customization, like your logo, address, and/or a special coupon, this is a great opportunity to get your brand out into neighborhoods! RAMP will work with you to pick and choose the best option for you.
- Catalog Orders and Payments due June 15th.
- Newspaper insertions are still available. It is your responsibility to contact your newspaper and get all of the shipping information before you place an order.
- CALIBA will reimburse up to $200 for all stores that use Saturation Mailing or Newspaper Insertions.
- All CALIBA stores get a $50 discount on Customization. You’ll see the price difference at check out!
The CALIBA staff is really hoping to increase store participation another 10% this year. If you’re a new store or new to the catalog, please reach out to me. I’d be happy to talk to you about ways you can successfully use your catalogs or even walk you through the ordering process (though RAMP has a great team-small and mighty like us- that can help you through the ordering process as well). Over the years we’ve collected ways your fellow CALIBA members have successfully utilized their catalogs here. If you’ve ordered before, it should be a fairly quick process. Don’t wait, get it off your to-do list today: Order here.
If you have any questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I hope you are as excited about the re-design as the CALIBA staff is!
Best Wishes,
Hannah Walcher
Executive Director
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