You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
The Booksellers Association launches new toolkit and funding to help booksellers run events
The Booksellers Association (BA) has launched a toolkit for running bookshop events, and a grant-giving project for booksellers.
Announced last week at the London Book Fair (LBF), held from 11th to 13th March at Olympia London, the funding will enable booksellers to secure grants from £250 to £500 for event equipment, starting from 1st April. Meanwhile, the BA Guide to Running Bookshop Events will offer practical support for booksellers who are new to hosting events, as well as those who need a confidence boost in this area.
The project has been co-ordinated by former Dulwich Books owner and current BA Learning project manager Sheila O’Reilly, with editorial support from Kate Gunning, head of membership development. Through BA Learning, booksellers can access various courses, videos, podcasts and training modules that are based on feedback from BA members.
The BA Guide to Running Bookshop Events – available through the BA Skills Hub – was created in response to recent challenges within the bookshop events space, according to the BA, including the "disruption of the book events ecosystem by new entrants into this space". The guidelines also respond to the uncertainty around pitching for events, and concerns about bestselling authors moving to new partners for large-scale events, as well as the shift in events funding.
Contributors include booksellers and BA representatives such as Sheryl Shurville, BA council member and owner of Chorleywood Bookshop in Rickmansworth, and Fleur Sinclair, BA president and owner of Sevenoaks Bookshop. Event publicists Alison Barrow, PR director at Transworld, and Anna Frame, communications director at Canongate, have also contributed to the guide.
Continues…
Read More
"Having witnessed first-hand – and had affirmed by funded research – the impressive and diverse range of events that experienced bookshops host across the UK and Ireland, and that both support the national book trade ecosystem and extend the reach of creative industries into local communities, the BA wanted to educate, support and guide newer booksellers on how they too can get involved," said Meryl Halls, the BA’s managing director.
O’Reilly added: "More than ever, events are an invaluable tool for bookshops to build community engagement, book trade awareness and revenue streams. Booksellers, particularly those new to the trade, are often left feeling in equal parts excited, daunted and unsure of where to start. Feelings I myself experienced when I first started doing events in my shop.
"I was delighted to work with a group of highly experienced book trade figures who brought invaluable insights to what we hope will be the definitive guide to bookshop events."
Frame said: "From pitching to promoting, the BA guide is packed full of helpful suggestions and ideas from both experienced booksellers and publicists on ensuring things run smoothly."
