IndieBound or Bust
by Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 5/30/2008 11:10:00 AM
At the annual Celebration of Bookselling last evening, the American Booksellers Association unveiled a new initiative that will replace the nearly decade-old Book Sense. IndieBound, seen by ABA as more comprehensive than the Book Sense marketing program, is aimed at taking advantage of growing consumer interest in supporting locally owned business as well as businesses that incorporate sustainable business practices, explained ABA COO Oren Teicher in an interview just prior to the launch of the initiative. “Consumers are realizing that bigger isn’t always better,” Teicher said.
IndieBound will retain many of Book Sense’s most popular features, such as bestseller lists and monthly selections, although both will receive new names. The bestseller list is being rebranded as simply the “Indie Bestseller List,” while Book Sense Picks will be known as “The Indie Next List.” Teicher acknowledged that “some parts of Book Sense worked and some didn’t,” and the weakest link was the one to the consumer. “You ask 10 customers about Book Sense and nine will have never heard of it,” observed one publisher. By branding IndieBound, the ABA hopes to overcome that problem by emphasizing to consumers the value of independent businesses. Posters, decals, shopping bags, t-shirts and book marks will incorporate different IndieBound slogans. “We want to create a program that can be adaptable by each store,” Teicher said. Other materials will explain to booksellers how they can involve other local businesses in developing a buy local program. “We hope booksellers can form and lead these local movements,” Teicher said.
“Literary Liberation Boxes” with information on how booksellers can participate in IndieBound will be sent to all ABA members in June. “We want to supply booksellers with all the information they need to celebrate independence and localism,” says ABA chief marketing officer Meg Smith. To reinforce the IndieBound message among consumers, ABA is establishing the Web site IndieBound.org, which will allow the public to locate indie booksellers and look at the Bestseller and Next lists, and give information about how they can join the independent movement. According to Teicher, ABA hopes the new site will provide a sense of community among local retailers and consumers. The existing BookSense.com site will be used in only for e-commerce.
Publishers support the overall concept behind the move to IndieBound. “There is something in the air out there when Walmart ads talk about shopping at your local Walmart,” says Wendy Shanin, senior marketing director of Simon & Schuster. Macmillan director of field sales Ken Holland calls the program “fabulous.” ABA “needed to come up with something that had a more relevant connection to consumers and the community at large,” he says. He was also impressed by ABA’s sense of urgency in rolling out the program. “IndieBound needs to be put in play immediately” if it’s to take advantage of current customer attitudes, Holland says. Teicher agrees; acknowledging that it has been a tough 15 years for independent booksellers, he says some trends are finally turning in independents’ favor and that “the moment to promote the independent, local movement is now. We want to be in the first part of the wave.”
