Profitability Course
Help your store increase profits, decrease expenses, and widen margins
Registration Opens Monday, November 16
The next project at the Professional Booksellers School is an 8-session course on Profitability, led by Erin Matthews of The Last Word in Mt. Airy, MD. Booksellers will learn new strategies for increasing income, decreasing expenses, and improving margin. This course is a hands-on workshop model; each class will include actionable weekly steps designed to be implemented and measured over the eight weeks of the course. Students will be working on changes within their stores, then returning to reflect and discuss with peers and instructors.
Each meeting is 90 minutes and contains a mix of instruction and independent work time (aka study hall) to allow students to put what they learn to immediate action. The cost will be $425 with discount codes available from most Regionals.
The 2027 Profitability Course starts on Monday, January 4 at 3:30 pm ET / 2:30 pm CT/ 1:30 pm MT / 12:30 pm PT
The course has 11 sessions and runs through March 29
Download 2027 Syllabus
2027 Course Instructors
Dean Erin Matthews, The Last Word, Mt. Airy, MD
Cynthia Compton, MacArthur Books, Carmel, IN
Dave Lucey, Page 158 Books, Wake Forest, NC
Tim Smith, Schuler Books, Grand Rapids, MI
P.K. Sindwani, American Booksellers Association (retired)
Class dates are:
January 4
January 11
January 25
February 1
February 8
February 22
March 1
March 8
March 15
March 22
March 29
Donate to Support PBS
In her own words: Erin Chervenock of Village Books & Paper Dreams in Bellingham, WA discusses the power of PBS
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.