Greetings,

Summer is officially here! The sunshine is doing wonders for us, how about you?

We have some great content in store for you this month, including an update on our summer contest, our partnership with NetGalley, and new resources.

Settle in with something refreshing and scroll down!

Summer Contest Update

We recently launched our new #BookstoreTourist contest on Instagram!

The contest encourages readers to add indies to their summer travel (or staycation) plans. Readers will use IndieBookstores.ca to plan their itineraries and post photos of their indie bookstore visits on Instagram, tagging @indiebookstoresCA and using #BookstoreTourist to enter. Every unique in-feed post or reel will count for one entry and there is no entry limit.

To keep momentum up, we are giving away 3-audiobook credit bundles every Friday, thanks to Libro.fm. Our first winner was Monique Pilon Fraschetti who posted about River Bookshop in Amherstburg, ON. 

In early September, we will randomly select one winner from the pool of entries to win the grand prize: a $500 prepaid credit card and a bundle of travel books courtesy of Lonely Planet and Raincoast Books.

The contest runs until Friday, September 6. Full rules can be found here.

Special thanks to our contest partners for making this possible.

NetGalley Partnership

CIBA recently announced a new partnership with NetGalley! Our Bookseller Members can now add their CIBA member ID to their NetGalley Profile, which allows publishers to easily identify and approve their requests.

To add your CIBA member ID to NetGalley:

1. Sign into NetGalley.com and navigate to your Profile  
2. Scroll to the section where you see "Bookseller" listed, and click "EDIT"
3. Enter your CIBA member/user ID and click "SAVE"

As a reminder, your member/user ID can be found on a recent invoice or on your profile in the Member Portal (example here). We encourage you to ensure your staff are signed up for a free NetGalley account so they can also take advantage of these benefits using your member/user ID. You can share this handy flyer with them! 

If you have any questions about the partnership or need technical help, please contact Laura Carter or the NetGalley support team.

Register Now for Upcoming Events

CIBA Coffee Break: Connect with the CIBA Board and ED
Tuesday, August 1
9am PT, 10am MT, 11am CT, 12pm ET, 1pm AT, 1:30pm Newfoundland

Grab a coffee and join us for a chat! Please bring your questions and comments and let us know where you need CIBA's support. These informal sessions provide an opportunity for CIBA Bookseller Members to speak directly with CIBA board and team.

Ask Us ANYTHING! – CIBA Summer Mentor Series
Tuesday, August 13
12pm PT, 1pm MT, 2pm CT, 3pm ET, 4pm AT, 4:30pm Newfoundland 

Do you have a burning question you’d like to ask Chandler Jolliffe, owner of Cedar Canoe Books (Huntsville, ON)? Here’s your chance. Join Chandler for the final session in our special summer program. There will be no formal presentation at the event—simply log on and ask away!

CIBA Publisher Picks – Fall Edition
Thursday, August 22 with Multinational Publishers
Tuesday, August 27 with Canadian Independent Publishers
3:30pm PT, 4:30pm MT, 5:30pm CT, 6:30pm ET, 7:30pm AT, 8:00pm Newfoundland 

CIBA's Publisher Picks series is back with its fall 2024 edition! We will bring you to the heart of publisher marketing discussions to discover the season's best bets­—the books you might not know you need to stock but will be glad you have on hand. Watch these events live or view the recording within two weeks for a chance to win publisher prizes.

Event Recording: Become an Inventory Wizard

Stock turns are one of the crucial metrics for handling both your investment and your customer service. But what is a stock turn? How many should you aim for in a year? How can you leverage it to take your business to the next level?

In our latest recording—Become an Inventory Wizard: Understanding Stock Turn—Tim Middleton, BookNet Canada’s Product Manager, helps booksellers take their first step to becoming an inventory wizard.

Not a CIBA member? Join now to access a range of benefits, including access to live events, recordings, and other business resources. 

2024 Summer Reads

Is there anything better than a summer afternoon spent reading? Not in our books! We’ve put together a list of recent and upcoming titles that readers can seek out at their local indie bookstores this summer.

Explore our picks now on IndieBookstores.ca.

Stay tuned—we’ll share these lists on our social channels this week!

Bookselling Guide: New Content Added

CIBA’s latest resource, The Guide to Bookselling in Canada, was launched in May. The guide consists of curated content, CIBA-developed resources, and case-study interviews with Bookseller Members. It has been designed to address the needs of prospective, new, and experienced booksellers. The guide is a living document that will be updated as resources allow.

We are pleased to announce several enhancements to existing pages within Chapter 9: Marketing and Communications. In addition to these updates, we have published new pages focused on moderating social media comments and setting up a Meta Business Suite.

Happy reading and stay tuned for more updates in the near future!

Disclaimer: This guide is intended for member use only and users do not have permission to share this content with the general public. If you are not a CIBA member but would like access to the guide please join today.

New in the Member Portal

Have you visited the Member Portal lately? It is your go-to place for new resources, forum discussions, and industry updates between newsletters.

Some recent additions:

• The Supplier Relations Committee was recently made aware of some changes to the Canadian cut-off dates with Ingram. Booksellers: check out the new cut-off dates/times in the portal.
• We recently began providing advertising opportunities through CIBA and IndieBookstores.ca! Learn more via the Bulletin Board.
• Chelsea from Raven’s End Books (Winnipeg, MB) recently tabled a question about website sales conversions. Bookseller members can share their own experience and insights in the Bookseller Forum.

To help you navigate the portal more easily, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide that includes information about subscribing to forums and more. Click here to access the Member Portal guide.

Industry News: Subscribe to Book Bites

Want a sneak-peek at exciting new Canadian indie-published books? Then make sure you’re signed for Book Bites, the Literary Press Group of Canada's seasonal newsletter for booksellers.

Featuring new releases, themed lists, film/TV adaptation news, award winners, and much more, this handy digest has everything you need to discover indie-published gems from across the country. 

Click here to subscribe and catch up on the summer edition here. 

Booksellers in the News

We love when Canadian independent bookstores are featured in the media. Here are some highlights from the past few months: 

Nearly a third of B.C.'s independent bookstores are on Vancouver Island (CBC News, June 2024)

Words Worth Books marks 40 years (CTV News Waterloo, May 2024)

Investigating the tale of Winnipeg's long-running mystery bookstore (CTV News Winnipeg, May 2024)

Local bookstores provide an experience the competition can't match, says retailer (CBC News, April 2024)

Canadian Independent Bookstore Day celebrates ‘pillars of the community (CityNews, April 2024)

An ode to independent Canadian bookstores (The Globe and Mail, April 2024)

CIBA launches new online directory of indies ahead of indie bookstore day (Quill & Quire, April 2024)

A novel experience: Why small bookstores are thriving in Canada (Toronto Observer, April 2024)

McNally Robinson is an indie bookstore that figured it out: Focus on books (The Globe and Mail, April 2024)

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