Greetings,

April has arrived, bringing with it a season of renewal and anticipation. We’re pleased to share that, as of mid-April, books remain exempt from both U.S. and Canadian tariffs. 

Thank you to all of you who supported our advocacy efforts, which emphasized the cultural and educational importance of keeping books tariff-free.​ As always, further updates will be shared via email or through the Bookseller Forum, accessible to members only.

We've got a busy month ahead with CIBD just around the corner on April 26 and this newsletter is packed with important reminders, details on upcoming events, and more. Read on to stay informed and engaged!

Counting Down to #CIBD2025

Canadian Independent Bookstore Day is almost here! We can’t wait to celebrate indie bookstores across the country on Saturday, April 26, 2025. Thank you to everyone who is helping to promote the campaign and spotlight our incredible community.

This year’s CIBD 2025 initiatives have been designed to ensure that all indie bookstores are celebrated. Our Contest for Book Lovers is back with exciting updates to help drive sales, and our advertising and PR campaigns will raise awareness across Canada. Reader-facing promotions continue to champion our message that indie bookstores are integral to Canadian culture.

Below are a few reminders as we ramp up campaign promotion:

• Check out the Member Toolkit. It contains digital assets, sample social media messages, and other tools to help you engage your community. Members can log in to access the toolkit here.​
• Brush up on our 2025 contest. Contest rules and entry instructions can be found here. This year, customers will have until May 2 to enter. Books by Canadian authors and illustrators will earn double entries, and five winners will receive gift cards to the CIBA member bookstore of their choice—including a grand prize of $1,000! We've also created an FAQ to help you field customer questions.
• Tell us what you’re planning! We love spotlighting unique bookseller activities throughout the week. Tag @indiebookstoresCA in your Facebook and Instagram posts so we can amplify your celebrations.
• Use the #CIBD2025 campaign hashtag. This helps us track engagement and share bookstore and customer content. It’s a small action that makes a big difference.
• Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. We’ll be sharing contest updates, campaign news, and heartfelt messages from authors and readers. On April 26, we’ll go live on social to share the love and respond to any contest-related questions.

Let’s make this the biggest CIBD yet!

Upcoming Events

Ask Us ANYTHING! CIBA Mentor Event

Tuesday, April 22

12pm PT, 1pm MT, 2pm CT, 3pm ET, 4pm AT, 4:30pm Newfoundland

Are you looking for new ways to improve your business? Here’s your chance to ask an experienced bookseller anything! 

Mentor: Anjula Gogia, Manager and Events Team at Another Story Bookshop (ON)

The Booksellers’ List – Publisher & Bookseller Information Sessions

Each session will take place at 12pm PT, 1pm MT, 2pm CT, 3pm ET, 4pm AT, 4:30pm Newfoundland

Join CIBA to learn about the upcoming launch of “The Booksellers’ List” – an exciting new marketing initiative.

• For Publishers: Wednesday, April 30
• For Booksellers: Thursday, May 1

Discussion Group for Shopify Users: Helpful Apps for Bookstores

Tuesday, May 6

12pm PT, 1pm MT, 2pm CT, 3pm ET, 4pm AT, 4:30pm Newfoundland

Join us for a presentation from two bookstores who will share apps they use in conjunction with Shopify to help their business run more efficiently. A group discussion will follow.

Inside the Audiobook Boom: Q&A with Libro.fm's Mark Pearson

Tuesday, May 13

10am PT, 11am MT, 12pm CT, 1pm ET, 2pm AT, 2:30pm Newfoundland

Join Mark Pearson, CEO of Libro.fm to learn proven techniques to increase your audiobook sales and engage your customers in this rapidly expanding market.

Event Recording

Event Recording: Engaging Online in 2025 and Beyond

Attention booksellers and publishers! It's a new era for online marketing, and now is the perfect time to re-envision what online community engagement can look like. In this recording of our recent event, Ariel Hudnall, Managing Director at Serif (previously known as Zg Stories) talks about Meta, Bluesky, Discord, and decentralized social media, in addition to newsletters, local collaborations, and micro advertising to support a vibrant, engaged online community.

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

Engage Young Readers This Summer

CIBA is excited to collaborate with Scholastic Canada on their Summer Reading Campaign, designed to encourage children to choose their own books and foster a love for reading. Booksellers can participate by selecting a minimum of 36 titles from Scholastic's curated Summer Reading List.

Eligible orders will receive a comprehensive promotional kit, including signage, reader tracking cards, activity booklets, and customer giveaways like stickers and erasers. Returnable accounts are eligible for an additional 3% discount, while non-returnable accounts can request extended payment terms. Promotional kits will ship in late May, with in-store activities running from June 1 to August 31.

To request additional items from the promo order form, to place your orders or for additional information, please contact your Scholastic sales representative.

"Your Summer is Booked" Campaign

Don’t miss your chance to participate in “Your Summer Is Booked”, a national marketing campaign from CIBA/IndieBookstores.ca & Penguin Random House Canada. This initiative promotes paperbacks as ideal summer reads and encourages customers to visit indie bookstores.

The campaign includes a special contest where customers can win a year’s worth of paperbacks from PRHC. The sales period runs from March 1 to June 15, with the campaign active from July 1 to August 31. To participate, use promo code RHP044 and reason code EE1 when ordering eligible titles. For more details and to place your orders, contact your PRHC representative.

Resource: Canva Tips & Tricks

Members: a reminder that many resources are waiting for you in the CIBA Member Portal including our primer on using Canva, our favourite online graphic design tool.

Canva has become a major part of operations for small and independent businesses. We use Canva for almost all of our graphic design and create campaign resources with this platform in mind. It’s a powerful, intuitive, and free tool that should be in every store’s toolbox. 

This information guide is for those who are new to Canva, although it contains a few tips and tricks and links to additional resources that may be helpful for all users.

Members can access the guide here.

CIBD Author Love Notes

Independent bookstores have long been the heart of Canadian literary culture, offering readers personalized recommendations and fostering connections between authors and communities. To celebrate this special relationship, CIBA invites authors to share their "Love Notes to Indie Bookstores."​

We're honoured to have Emma Donoghue, acclaimed author of The Paris Express, as one of our featured authors:

“Like many Canadian authors, my career has depended on indie bookstores. But more than that: I love them as a reader. Indie bookstores are havens of taste, flavour, intelligence, and warmth. There is no force in the world better at getting the right book into the hands of a reader that is going to love it than a personal recommendation from a passionate bookseller. Thank you all.”

— Emma Donoghue​

Thank you to Emma and all Canadian authors who continue to champion indie bookstores. You can read all of the Author Love Notes here.

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