Beyond just sales: Connecting to customers and communities through events
Wednesday, 10 July 2019
Sarah Farquharson speaks to two independent bookshops about how they make connections with customers and their communities through events. The owners of BooksPlus, in the NSW town of Bathurst, and...
Your store: Non-book item of the month
Tuesday, 30 October 2018
Codenames is the bestselling game at Perth’s Rabble Books & Games. Players must guess their team’s secret codenames and avoid guessing their opponent’s codenames during the fast-paced 15 minute game....
Your store: Small space, big ideas
Tuesday, 30 October 2018
Just because Melbourne’s tiny and beloved Paperback Bookshop is small, it doesn’t mean it can’t hold events. Owner Rosy Morton and bookseller Anna McDonald had been discussing the idea of...
Your store: Key takeaways of the booksellers’ training day
Tuesday, 30 October 2018
The first ABA booksellers’ training day was held at Avid Reader Bookshop in Brisbane on 21 August. Hosted by Fiona Stager, owner of Avid Reader and children’s bookshop Where the...
Your store: Talk among your shelves
Thursday, 30 August 2018
Shelf Talkers is a staff-run podcast operating out of Dymocks Adelaide, hosted by the store’s booksellers Tori D’Cruz and Alex Andrews. While the flagship Dymocks podcast is based out of its Sydney head office—and focuses...
Your store: Training wheels
Thursday, 30 August 2018
Brisbane bookshop Avid Reader and the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) have launched an all-day booksellers’ training program that will include sessions on using Nielsen BookScan; the financial realities of running...
Your store: Non-book item of the month
Thursday, 30 August 2018
While many publishers and booksellers have their own branded tote bags, Melbourne independent bookseller Readings decided in 2016 to expand its offerings. The bookseller now produces an entire range of...
Your store: a round-up of retailing news, tips and titbits
Tuesday, 3 July 2018
Bespoke book displays Brisbane’s Avid Reader won the annual Best Business Idea Award at the Leading Edge Books conference in March for the second year in a row. This year’s...
Your store: A round-up of retailing news, tips and titbits
Thursday, 19 April 2018
A complete transformation With nostalgic older fans and new fans alike still excited about all things Harry Potter, the Mad Hatters Bookshop in Manly, Queensland, tapped into the boy wizard’s...
Your store: A round-up of retailing news, tips and titbits
Monday, 23 October 2017
Analogue marketing At the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) conference in June, The Constant Reader’s Jay Lansdowne hosted a panel on analogue (ie in-store) marketing with Fiona Stager (Avid Reader), Jane...
Your store: A round-up of retailing news, tips and titbits
Monday, 17 July 2017
National Bookshop Day rebranded The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) has rebranded its annual National Bookshop Day as Love Your Bookshop Day (LYBD). This year, on 12 August, Australian booksellers are...
Your store: A round-up of retailing news, tips and titbits
Tuesday, 9 May 2017
Love match How can booksellers better compete with florists and confectioners on Valentine’s Day? This was the challenge that led to Avid Reader’s Secret Admirer campaign, which won the Best...
Your store: A round-up of retailing news, tips and titbits
Tuesday, 14 March 2017
Booksellers, publishers collaborate at Indies Forum Around 90 guests gathered in Melbourne in February for the first Indies Forum, hosted by the Australian Publishers Association (APA) and Australian Booksellers Association...
Your Store: Non-book item of the month
Tuesday, 28 February 2017
We all know rainy days are best spent curled up inside with a book, but if you must venture out you might as well let your favourite Penguin classic keep...
Your store: Blog brainstorming
Thursday, 6 October 2016
Companies that blog 15-plus times a month get five times more traffic on their websites, according to social media expert Yvonne Adele. This is because each new blog post offers...
Your store: #loveOzYA in action
Thursday, 6 October 2016
The #LoveOzYA movement has been gaining traction in local bookstores, with a number of booksellers creating dedicated shelves and promotions for Australian YA. One of those booksellers is Dymocks, which...
Your store: A round-up of retailing news, tips and titbits
Friday, 8 July 2016
On display: Hardie Grant Publishing sales rep Mandy Wildsmith shares some of her favourite bookshop displays from the past year In 1865 a visionary named Edward William Cole established a...
Your store: Non-book item of the month
Tuesday, 10 May 2016
This pack of three acrylic coffee templates from DOIY Design helps spruce up your morning coffee whether you’ve got a barista’s skills or not. Each come with three shapes—a love...
Your store: Strictly business
Tuesday, 10 May 2016
To sell business books successfully you need to invest time in selection, says Boffins Books co-owner Bill Liddelow. ‘Don’t fall into the trap of just having some “Dummies” or “Idiot’s...
Your store: Strong foundations
Tuesday, 10 May 2016
Melbourne bookseller Readings was named the inaugural Bookstore of the Year at the London Book Fair International Excellence Awards in April. The judges highlighted Readings’ events program and its two...
Your store: Shelf support
Monday, 21 March 2016
If you look closely at the shelves of several WA bookstores you might notice some distinctive new signage. Over the past few months Fremantle Press has been fitting out local...
Your store: Non-book item of the month
Monday, 21 March 2016
While book-lovers are unlikely to be lost for conversation topics, these TableTopics conversation cards could liven up a retro dinner party or an awkward internet date. Each TableTopics cube has...
Your store: Chris Currie’s guide to social media success
Monday, 21 March 2016
So you’ve set up your Facebook business page, Twitter and Instagram accounts and found someone willing to post on behalf of your business. So how do you get people to...