Basic Bookselling
The next live course will begin on Tuesday March 10, 2026. The live course has 10 classes and will run through May 19, 2026. and the cost is $125.
Registration will open Monday, January 12 at 1 pm ET / 12 pm CT / 10 am PT. A live link will appear here when registration opens.
Registration will open Monday, January 12 at 1 pm ET / 12 pm CT / 10 am PT. A live link will appear here when registration opens.
View all of our Certified Frontline Booksellers
View our Basic Bookselling Independent Study options
Our Basic Bookselling Course is designed to welcome Independent Bookstore staff into a career in bookselling. It is intended as a primer for frontline booksellers with a year or less experience. The course introduces the world of bookselling and the specific job of a frontline bookseller. We teach the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in bookselling, including: merchandising, hand selling, creating shelf talkers and other reviews, customer service, and creating displays that sell. The course uses a combination of lectures, in-class discussions, and hands-on work to support beginning booksellers as they learn how to help their stores succeed. Students will learn the vocabulary of bookselling, how bookstore finances work, how inventory/curation decisions are made, job roles in stores, and the range of resources available to support bookselling such as BINC, Netgalley, Bookshop.org, ABA and regional trade associations. They will also learn how to use Edelweiss to get information and to post reviews.
2026 Basic Bookselling Course Syllabus
2026 Course Instructors
Dean Susan Kehoe, Owner, Browseabout Books, Rehobeth Beach, DE
Dean Heather Hebert, Owner, Children's Book World, Haverford, PA
Gabriel Moushabeck, Owner, Booklink Booksellers, Northampton, MA
Membership
Being an active member of the bookselling industry is a critical step in growing a bookstore and shows commitment to your chosen profession. Stores with students in all Professional Booksellers School courses are required to be current members of their regional trade association and/or the American Booksellers Association. To enroll, students must also create a PBS account, which is free.
Course Components & Cost
This course consists of live classes via Zoom and live presentations of a final project. Homework is assigned for each class. Discord is used for course communication, office hours, and to upload homework. Students are expected to attend the live classes and finish and pass all homework to be certified.
The course is $125, with discounts available for most Regional Trade Associations. To take advantage of these discounts, ask your Regional for the code before registration opens. Some regional trade associations provide full or partial refunds for tuition; find out more here.
Course Content Overview
We will introduce booksellers to:
- The Independent Bookstore industry, including the ABA, Regional Trade Associations, BINC, Edelweiss, Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, and more
- Daily life in bookstores, including different jobs and roles
- Why and how stores choose the books that they stock, and how these connect to a store's mission statement and/or customer base
- The traits, skills, and practices that make a frontline bookseller successful, including understanding where to find information on books, customer service skills, and how effective hand-selling works
- How a store's layout, inventory displays can drive and increase sales
- How bookstores operate financially, including margins, COGS, turns and sidelines
Coursework Overview
- One shelf-talker per week
- One class-content skill per week such as practicing handselling
- A final project on building an effective display, created as a script and slide deck and presented live in a small group of peers and an instructor
Class Schedule
03/10 Class 01: Welcome & Introduction to Bookselling
03/17 Class 02: Tools of the Trade
03/24 Class 03: Bookstore Finances
03/31 Class 04: A Day in the Life of a Bookseller
04/07 Class 05: Inventory and Curation
04/14 Class 06: The Shape of Your Store
04/21 Class 07: Handselling is a Skill
04/28 Class 08: Handselling Children's Books
05/05 Class 09: Out-of-the-Box Bookselling
05/12 Office Hour
05/19 Class 10: Live presentations of final projects
Learning Outcomes
After the course, students will:
- Know how to write effective shelf-talkers
- Understand effective and confident hand-selling techniques.
- Be familiar with the bookstore industry, including ABA, Regional Trade Associations, and BINC.
- Know how to use Edelweiss to find book information and post reviews.
- Understand the traits, skills, and practices that make a bookseller successful.
- Have an overview of different jobs and roles inside the bookstore, and how frontline booksellers can support book buyers, merchandisers, and event staff.
- Understand how to build and sell from effective displays
- Have “back pocket” lists of recommended books for effective handselling
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Booksellers Say:
Audrey Beatty
River Bend Bookshop
The Basic Bookselling Certification Course is truly anything but "basic!" The material covered is comprehensive and the instructors were invaluable fountains of knowledge and experience. I've been a bookseller and shop manager for over three years--I both wished this course was available to me when I started AND I felt like I gained so much from the coursework even though I'm no longer brand new to the business! I couldn't recommend it more highly to anyone that is a frontline bookseller, regardless of the number of years under your belt.
Amani Jackson
The Ivy Bookshop
The Inventory Management class I took through PBS made me confident enough to take on a managerial role at my bookstore and introduced me to career booksellers from across the country. I hope more and more booksellers have the opportunity to take classes and open their minds to what a career in books can look like.