A Learners' Guide to PBS Independent Study

If you're thinking about opening

a bookstore, try:

Basic Bookselling Course

A 9 session introduction to the world of bookstores. Learn industry businesses and terms, how to create shelftalkers and displays, handselling, children's books, customer service, bookstore finances, and more. We have two options:

Self-Guided - move through the recorded classes at your own pace. $100

Certification - work with an Independent Study Dean or Instructor, do the homework, and gain PBS certification. $125

Basic Bookselling Tools & Services - learn all about the companies, organizations, and lingo of the world of Independent Bookselling. $65

Bookstore Financial Literacy - a three-part class from Bookstore Finances Dean Candice Huber to help you understand how finances work in bookstores. $150

Introduction to Inventory and Curation - this class from Basic Bookselling introduces the the concepts of how stores are defined by their inventory and layout. $65

If you've recently opened a bookstore and want to save yourself time, money, and struggle by learning from the best, try these:

The Power of Ingram - learn to navigate Ingram's ordering system to increase how quickly the books arrive while decreasing shipping costs. $65

Frontlist Buying Through Edelweiss - learn to improve discounts and margins by shifting frontlist buying directly to publishers.  $65

Basics of Bookstore Finances plus Batch - gain an overview of the basic financial tools necessary for understanding how your store is operating, learn how to create a Financial Dashboard, and learn about the the power of the Batch payment system. $65

Defining Your Store - No matter the model of your store - brick and mortar, pop-up, mobile, or online only - your business needs to know who it is is, what its values are, and who the customers will be. This class will discuss different models of stores, and how each can define itself to create a unique brand. $65

Inventory Decisions & Store Layout - Understand the connections between store layout, shrinkage, shelving, and merchandising and learn about taking inventory and handling returns.  $65.

Store Systems - let us help you you get daily/weekly/monthly tasks organized so they can run smoothly and you can free up time for bigger projects.  $65

Staff Handbook - create this vital document to share your store's guidelines and values with employees. $65

Special Orders, Pre-orders, and Website Fulfillment - this class from Inventory Management will help you build a solid system for processing special orders, pre-orders, and web orders in a way that is clear to staff and will get the books your customers want into their hands as quickly as possible. $65

If you're ready to improve your buying to save time and increase margins, try these:

The Power of Ingram - learn to navigate Ingram's ordering system to increase how quickly the books arrive while decreasing shipping costs. $65

Frontlist Buying Through Edelweiss - learn to improve discounts and margins by shifting frontlist buying directly to publishers.  $65

Budgeting for Buying - learn practical and actionable steps, for both new and experienced buyers. $65

Restocking, Events, and Pubeasy - You can’t perpetually carry every book you’ve ever stocked. How do you decide what to restock and what to let go? This class is full of advice from experienced buyers. $65

Buying Criteria - You can’t stock everything. How should your store’s mission and/or your community’s demographics inform your buying? How do you decide what to buy or not? Reduce decision fatigue, unconscious bias, etc. by creating buying criteria in advance and fine-tuning them over time. $65

Buying to Constraints - having a plan to keep purchases within your budget goals is vital to a store's bottom line. Learn strategies from successful buyers, as well as tips and tools for considering time and other non-monetary concerns. $65

Sidelines - No Indie Bookstore sells only trade books! To draw customers and to keep profit margins acceptable, stores sell many other products: gifts, cards, used books, reminder books, and sometimes even text books. This class discusses ordering and pricing strategies for all of these necessary sideline items.  $65

If your store has been open a few years and you finally have time and attention for planning ahead, try:

Publicity Kit & Pitch - learn to build a document that highlights your store's personality and strengths, and then use it to do outreach to publicists, press, and community partners to bring in the authors you want and build stronger relationships.  $65

School Author Visits and Book Fairs - learn the process of building relationships with schools, the many steps of bringing authors into schools, and the details, timelines, and buying strategies for successful in-school or in-store book fairs. $65

Emergency Preparedness - Broken pipes, horrible storms, internet down? Things go wrong, and this class will help you create an Emergency Plan for your bookstore, including a plan to ensure all staff are trained and ready for potential emergencies. $65

Virtual Events - this class from Event Management covers virtual events from small author talks for a local audience through huge events for a national audience, and includes tips on platform, building audience, and turn attendance into sales.  $65

If you'd looking for options for staff training, try:

Basic Bookselling Course Store Subscription - purchase access to our Basic Bookselling Course for unlimited staff members for one full year. Your staff members can view the entire course on their own, or you can choose a topic for staff training by watching the video together and then discussing what you've learned. $350.

Handselling Children's Books - Handselling children's books is a special skill, as you have to balance between young readers and their parents or grandparents. And there are so many formats - picture books, board books, bath books, emergent readers, early readers, chapter books, graphic novels, and more. This class from Basic Bookselling is taught by Heather Hebert, second-generation bookstore owner from Children's Book World in Haverford, PA.  $65