Basic Bookselling Independent Study
Take a class or take the course!
Our Basic Bookselling Course opens the door to the world of Indie bookstores and bookselling! Here you'll learn about the industry and about the skills necessary to be a great Frontline Bookseller - customer service, handselling, building displays that sell, and writing shelftalkers no one can ignore.
Entire Course
Basic Bookselling for Certification
Access to all class recordings, training videos, and handouts, a Discord server for questions and discussion, and working with a PBS instructor to do the homework assignments and final project to become certified. You'll have access for four months. ($125)
Basic Bookselling for Self-Study
Access to all class recordings, training videos, and handouts for three months ($100)
Basic Bookselling Store Subscription
With the subscription, your entire staff can access the classes for an entire year, to be used to train new hires or for professional development ($350)
Please note: the certification and store subscription options are available only for employees of established stores that are members of the ABA and their regional trade association. The self-study options are available to other industry employees and to prospective bookstore owners/booksellers.
Individual Classes/Topics
Classes are $65, with access granted for 30 days.
Bookseller Tools and Resources - This class will introduce you to the major companies and organizations, introduce you to industry vocabulary, and help you see the world through booksellers' eyes.
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! This class from Basic Bookselling is taught by Heather Hebert, second-generation bookstore owner from Children's Book World in Haverford, PA.
Introduction to Inventory and Curation - This class introduces the concepts of inventory and curation and discusses key concepts including: how inventory is the brand/personality of the store; how and why frontline booksellers work with sales reps and buyers; and how bookstores curate their collections.
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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.