02.13.25 CALIBA Bookseller News & Information

February 13, 2025

in Bookseller Newsletter,

2025 Indie Summer Reading Guide. Curated & Digital Catalogs. Order Now.

IN THIS ISSUE

CALIBA Events & Marketing:

Golden Poppy Awards Ceremony Hosted by Joanna Ho

The Golden Poppy Wildfire Fund for Binc: Help SoCal Booksellers Rebuild

*A FEW SPOTS OPEN* 2025 Golden Poppy Awards Committees

Carpool Forms Open for 2025 Spring Forums in Oakland and Del Mar

*ORDERS OPEN* CALIBA's Free Summer Reading Guide

Booksellers in the News

CALIBA Programs:

CALIBA Committee Spotlight: Political Advocacy

Bookseller Mentorship Program

Industry Announcements

Marketing Assets:

*DUE SATURDAY* Sign Up for Find Waldo Local

Countdown to Independent Bookstore Day

Dates and Deadlines

Bookseller Shoutouts

Bestseller Lists

Classifieds

CALIBA Currently Reading

Bookseller Resources

NEW MEMBER CORNER

Welcome to CALIBA, Gigglemugs!

Owner: Katherin Baban

Established: November 2023

About Our New Member: Gigglemugs is a family-owned bookstore in Burlingame that offers children’s books, candy, and lots of other stuff kids love. We’re so happy to have a welcoming place for kids and teens to feel good about books. We’re striving to keep reading a regular and enjoyable part of children’s lives.

LA WILDFIRES UPDATE

The fires are contained, but the work to rebuild continues. We will continue to update the LA Wildfires Mutual Aid Google document to share ways that you can support bookstores affected by the fires. You can find this document plus resources for booksellers affected by the fire on the CALIBA LA Fires Resource page.

CALIBA STAFF

Hannah Walcher

Executive Director

hannah@caliballiance.org

Valentina Moberg

Operations Manager

valentina@caliballiance.org

Alecia Reddick

Supporting Staff

alecia@caliballiance.org

JOIN CALIBA'S DISCORD!

Email Valentina to join.

Current CALIBA bookseller membership required.

CALIBA EVENTS & MARKETING

THE VOTES ARE IN. GOLDEN POPPY AWARDS CEREMONY HOSTED BY JOANNA HO

We are excited to announce that award-winning author Joanna Ho will be hosting the Golden Poppy Awards Ceremony. Tune in on Thursday, March 6th to watch the announcement and meet the winners. Register now!

Promote the Golden Poppy Awards in your store:

Host a watch party for your customers!
Share the link to register and the donation link to Help SoCal Booksellers Rebuild with your customers.
View the Golden Poppy Finalists here.
Order free Finalist stickers here.
Shop Golden Poppy merchandise here.
Download social media (to come), shelf talkers, and posters.

Planning a Golden Poppy watch party in your store? Email Hannah.

The Golden Poppy Wildfire Fundraiser for Binc: Help SoCal Booksellers Rebuild.

THE GOLDEN POPPY AWARDS WILDFIRE FUNDRAISER FOR BINC: HELP SOCAL BOOKSELLERS REBUILD

We've partnered with The BINC Foundation to help California booksellers affected by the fires rebuild, heal, and move forward. Click here to donate now.

2025 GOLDEN POPPY AWARDS COMMITTEES: A FEW SPOTS AVAILABLE!

The California Independent Booksellers Alliance presents the Golden Poppy Awards in recognition of the most distinguished books written and illustrated by creators who have made California their home. Committees for each category are made up of booksellers throughout the state tasked with developing a final ballot that will be voted upon by CALIBA's bookstore membership and their employees. Click here for more info.

Most categories are now full; CALIBA is seeking members for the following committees:

Mystery
Poetry
Martin Cruz Smith Award for Emerging, Diverse Voices

Interested in joining a Golden Poppy Committee? Email Valentina.

CALIBA Spring Forums: Oakland, April 1st and Del Mar, May 7th, 2025.

OAKLAND SPRING FORUM ON APRIL 1ST

Need a lift to Oakland Spring Forum '25? Sign up here and find a carpool.
Reserve your room.
Schedule and registration available March 1st

DEL MAR SPRING FORUM ON MAY 7TH

Need a lift to Del Mar Spring Forum '25? Click here to sign up and find a carpool.
Reserve your room.

Click here to learn about CALIBA's 2025 Spring Forums.

CALIBA 2025 Indie Summer Reading Guide front cover image

ORDERS OPEN CALIBA'S FREE SUMMER READING GUIDE

Our FREE 2025 Indie Summer Reading Guides (formerly Summer Catalogs) are back! Click here to order your FREE catalogs by March 15th. Your catalogs will arrive by May 8th.

MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR SUMMER READING GUIDE:

Prepare to hand-sell by reading the DRCs provided on the Edelweiss list.
Place in other retail outlets.
Stuff in bags, hand out at your events and other community events.
Bring it to local independent living communities and take orders.
Have staffers choose a title they think will do well and have a competition to see which title sells the most copies. And the winning bookseller gets a prize!
Build a store display. Carry this throughout the store with mini displays in different sections.
Add your personal review to the provided shelf-talkers.
Include it in book shipments.

This year's beautiful cover is from Zoé de Las Cases' Paris Colouring Book from Octopus Books/Hachette.

BOOKSELLERS IN THE NEWS

Bookstores in Pasadena, Monrovia, including Underdog Bookstore, Octavia’s Bookshelf and Black Cat Fables seen here, and across Southern California jumped in to help those affected by the Eaton and Palisades wildfires. (Photos by Erik Pedersen/SCNG + Courtesy of Victoria Bane)

HOW BOOKSTORES IN PASADENA AND MONROVIA BECAME LOCAL AID RESOURCES AFTER WILDFIRES VIA DAILY BREEZE

Underdog Books, Octavia’s Bookshelf, Black Cat Fables, dym books & boba, Vroman’s, Chevalier’s Books, Diesel: A Bookstore, Skylight Books and others have launched efforts that include completely transforming into distribution hubs to sponsoring book drives and more.

Click here to read the full article.

Bookstores in Pasadena, Monrovia, including Underdog Bookstore, Octavia’s Bookshelf and Black Cat Fables seen here, and across Southern California jumped in to help those affected by the Eaton and Palisades wildfires. (Photos by Erik Pedersen/SCNG + Courtesy of Victoria Bane)

CALIBA PROGRAMS

CALIBA COMMITTEE SPOTLIGHT: POLITICAL ADVOCACY

The Political Advocacy Committee was created to explore ways CALIBA can engage with local, state and federal agencies to advocate for issues and policies important to the success and well-being of California bookstores and booksellers. One current goal of this committee will be the creation and organization of resources for battling book bans. We are looking for passionate go-getters!

Click here to fill out the form.

BOOKSELLER MENTORSHIP PROGRAM

The CALIBA Office will be pairing booksellers interested in learning from each other to help their businesses thrive.

TO PARTICIPATE:

Fill out the mentee form or mentor form.
Based on your responses, CALIBA will connect you with a mentor/mentee that aligns with you.
Meet with your mentor/mentee in person, virtually, or over the phone!

INDUSTRY ANNOUNCEMENTS

BOOKS ACROSS BORDERS FALL 2025-SPRING 2026 FELLOW APPLICATIONS OPEN

Books Across Borders is accepting applications for the Fall 2025-Spring 2026 season. Booksellers interested in diverse and international literature and in fostering relationships with the international literary community are encouraged to apply. Click here to apply. Applications due by May 1st.

BATCH FOR BOOKS NEW PUBLISHING PARTNER

Batch for Books announced a new partnership with the Hachette Book Group that marks a significant milestone in Batch’s ongoing mission to provide bookstores and publishers with a simpler, more efficient way to manage invoices and payments.

Click here to read the full press release.

MARKETING ASSETS

*DUE SATURDAY* SIGN UP FOR FIND WALDO LOCAL

Find Waldo Local is a community-wide Shop Local scavenger hunt hosted by ABA member bookstores each July. Participating stores will receive a Find Waldo Local kit, downloadable resources, and special publisher offers.

Click here to sign up.

COUNTDOWN TO INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE DAY

This national one-day party celebrates independent bookstores across the country online and in-store. There's still time to be included on the IndieBound Indie Bookstore Day searchable map, if you sign up by March 31st.

Click here for additional details and use the planning guide as an additional resource.