Welcome to Independent Study with the Professional Booksellers School

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Independent Study Courses 

Each of our courses are being adapted for an Independent Study (IS) option. Students will have the choice of purchasing each course for either Certification by successfully completing and submitting the assignments and presentations to the Dean, or, for a reduced fee, self-guided study without the Dean or option of certification.

For the certification-track option, students will be working with Kit Little, Dean of Independent Study to establish a schedule for turning in homework assignments and making presentations. IS certification-track students will join Discord, the school's communication platform, where they'll meet with the Dean for office hours, presentations, and upload their assignments.

For the self-guided study option, the recordings of classes and materials for the course will be made available when the course is purchased. Students will watch the recordings and study on their own, setting their own schedule.

All IS students will have one to five months of access to their classes and materials, depending on the course or class purchased.

All videos and written materials are the property of The Professional Booksellers School and may not be shared, copied, or distributed without our explicit written consent. Purchase is for single-person time-limited viewing rights only unless otherwise noted in product description.

Note: You must be a member of PBS to purchase these IS products. Membership is free - click "Join" in the blue bar at the top and set up a record for yourself. Once you are signed in you'll be able to purchase our IS classes, come to our events, and register for live courses.

Basic Bookselling Course Options

Basic Bookselling for Self-Guided Study for One Person

Basic Bookselling is a nine-session course designed for new bookstore staff and new bookstore owners. It introduces students to the world of independent bookselling, with emphasis on understanding the industry and learning frontline bookselling skills including handselling, customer service, creating shelftalkers, and building displays that sell.

While most PBS classes and courses are intended only for Indie bookstore owners and employers, Basic Bookselling for Self-Study is available for anyone to purchase access to watch.

Cost is $100 for a 3 month viewing window

Purchase Basic Bookselling for Self-Guided Study

Basic Bookselling for Certification for One Person

Basic Bookselling is a nine-session course designed for new bookstore staff and new bookstore owners. It introduces students to the world of independent bookselling, with emphasis on understanding the industry and learning frontline bookselling skills including handselling, customer service, creating shelftalkers, and building displays that sell.

With the certification option, an employee at an Independent Bookstore can work with our Independent Study Dean to earn the PBS certification. This requires viewing the videos, doing the homework assignments, and presenting a final project. When you purchase this product, the Dean will contact you to establish a schedule, and provide instructions to join the PBS Discord server, which is free.

Cost is $125 for a 4 month window to view the classes and complete the assignments.

Purchase Basic Bookselling for Certification

Basic Bookselling Store Subscription for All Staff

PBS knows store owners and managers need great training material, so we've created this affordable package to use for training your staff. The package allows access to all 9 sessions of the Basic Bookselling Course for unlimited staff members from one store for an entire year. 

After purchase, a PBS staff member will help you set up access for current and future staff members. Each staffer who signs in to view will need to become a member of PBS, which is free. You'll have access for one full year from the date of purchase.

PBS courses are supported by the Indie bookstore industry, and are intended only for owners and staff members at Independent Bookstores that are members of their regional trade associations and/or of the American Booksellers Association.

Cost is $350 for a 12 month window for unlimited staffers from a single store.

Purchase Basic Bookselling Store Subscription

Independent Study Classes & Bundles

In addition to our full courses, we also offer a selection of our classes that teach proven practices for many topics in bookselling. These are for self-guided study only. The classes in bundles can come from one course or several different courses, and are built to help owners, managers, buyers, event staff, and booksellers learn new skills and increase proficiency. When you purchase a class or bundle, you'll have access to classes and materials for 30 - 60 days.

PBS courses are supported by the Indie bookstore industry, and are intended only for owners and staff members at Independent Bookstores that are members of their regional trade associations and/or of the American Booksellers Association.

Purchase of access to view a class/bundle and related materials is for one person only per purchase. 

The Power of Ingram

Quantity: 1 class

This class from our Inventory Management Course shows book buyers all the ins-and-outs of ordering through Ingram. You'll learn Ingram terminology, Ingram Publisher Services, how to choose primary and secondary warehouses, and strategies to meet the minimum requirement for reduced shipping. 

Cost is $65 for a 30 day viewing window

Purchase The Power of Ingram

Frontlist Buying through Edelweiss

Quantity: 1 Class

This class from our Inventory Management Course helps book buyers learn to improve discounts and margins by shifting frontlist buying directly to publishers. This class models how to do this using Edelweiss in conjunction with a publisher rep. It includes Edelweiss terminology, using markup catalogs, and how to create Edelweiss export rules.

Cost is $65 for a 30 day viewing window. 

Purchase Frontlist Buying Through Edelweiss

Budgeting for Buying

Quantity: 1 Class

This seminar from Bookstore Finances Dean Candice Huber presents practical and actionable steps for budgeting for buying. It has hints and guidelines for both new and experienced buyers, and includes examples from a variety of bookstore business models.

Cost is $65 for a 30 day viewing window. 

Purchase Budgeting for Buying

Bookseller Tools & Resources

Quantity: 1 Class

Entering the world of independent bookselling is exciting, and can also be disorienting - so many new terms, buzz words, acronyms, and industry groups to get to know. This class from our Basic Bookselling Course will introduce you to the major companies and organizations, introduce you to industry vocabulary, and help you see the world through booksellers' eyes. This class is open to prospective booksellers who don't yet work in a store.

Cost is $65 for a 30 day viewing window

Purchase Bookseller Tools & Resources

Handselling Children's Books

Quantity: 1 Class

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. 

Cost is $65 for a 30 day viewing window

Purchase Handselling Children's Books

Restocking, Events, & Pubeasy

Quantity: 1 Class

This class from our Inventory Management Course helps book buyers consider how and when to order backstock, keep event orders up to date, and use Pubeasy.

Cost is $65 for a 30 day viewing window. 

Purchase Restocking, Events, & Pubeasy

Buying to Constraints

Quantity: 1 Class

Buying books is of course fundamental to running a bookstore, so having a plan to keep purchases within your budget goals is vital. This class from our Inventory Management Course will show you strategies from successful buyers, as well as tips and tools for considering time and other non-monetary concerns. 

Cost is $65 for a 30 day viewing window. 

Purchase Buying to Constraints

Virtual Events

Quantity: 1 Class

This class from Event Management 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. 

Cost is $65 for a 30 day viewing window.

Purchase Virtual Events

Sidelines

Quantity: 1 Class

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 from the Inventory Management Course discussing ordering and pricing strategies for all of these necessary sideline items.

Cost is $65 for a 30 day viewing window

Purchase Sidelines

Store Systems

Quantity: 1 class

This class from the Store and Operations Management course is all about helping you get daily/weekly/monthly tasks organized so they can run smoothly and you can free up time for bigger projects. You'll learn how to: Identify maintenance tasks and set up a system to track them; create a master calendar; create clear step-by-step instructions to capture your processes for customer book orders, web orders, and shipping; create templates emails for handling website orders; add all of this information to a store handbook to help employees stay on task and on time

Cost is $65 for a 30 day viewing window

Purchase Store Systems

Staff Handbook

Quantity: 1 class

Having a staff handbook is vital for training new staff members and for equitably enforcing store guidelines - yet many stores put off tackling this task. This class from the Store & Operations Management Course will show you models, discuss the most important information to include, and get you started building your own!

Cost is $65 for a 30 day viewing window

Purchase Staff Handbook

Special Orders Bundle

Quantity: 2 classes

Taking, ordering, receiving, and selling special orders is vital to a healthy, thriving bookstore! These two classes will you build a solid system for processing special orders and getting the books your customers want into their hands as quickly as possible.

The bundle includes:

Store & Operations Management Class 2: Store Systems

Inventory Management Class 4: Special order, Pre-orders, and Website Fulfillment

Cost is $100 for a 60 day viewing window

Purchase Special Orders Bundle

Store Fundamentals: Vital Documents Bundle

Quantity: 3 classes

These 3 classes from our Store & Operations Management Course will help you consider and build vital documents to support your store. Classes include:

• Staff Handbook
• Defining Your Store
• Emergency Preparedness

Cost is $150 for a 60 day viewing window

Purchase Store Fundamentals / Vital Documents Bundle

Store Fundamentals: Inventory, Curation, & Layout Bundle

Quantity: 5 classes

This bundle of 5 classes pulls from 3 different PBS courses to help consider and reconsider inventory and merchandising in your store. Included classes:

• Store Operations & Management, class 3: Inventory Decisions & Store Layout
• Basic Bookselling, class 7:  Inventory & Curation
• Inventory Management, class 5: Buying Criteria
• Inventory Management, class 9: Sidelines
• Inventory Management, class 12: Buying to Constraints

Cost is $250 for a 60 day viewing window

Purchase Store Fundamentals / Inventory, Curation, & Layout Bundle

Store Fundamentals: Tools & Services Bundle

Quantity: 5 classes

This bundle pulls together classes that cover the most fundamental bookseller tools from our Basic Bookselling, Inventory Management, and Store & Operations Management courses. You'll be introduced to industry tools and resources, using Ingram and Edelweiss for ordering, the basics of bookstore finances, and using Batch to simplify payments to publishers.

The bundle includes:

Basic Bookselling: Bookseller Tools & Resources

Inventory Management: The Power of Ingram

Inventory Management: Restocking, Events, and PubEasy

Inventory Management: Frontlist Buying Through Edelweiss

Store & Operations Management: Basics of Bookstore Finance Plus Batch!

Cost is $250 for a 60 day viewing window

Purchase Store Fundamentals / Tools & Services Bundle

Publicity Kit & Pitch

Quantity: 1 class

This class from our Event Management Course will teach staff how to build a publicity kit for your store and how to use that tool to pitch for events and to reach out to community partners and media. A publicity kit is a two page document with all the vital information about: store, location, event capabilities, special programs, outreach, reporting, partnerships, and more. NAIBA and SIBA stores use these kits to pitch their stores to publicists via Publicity Speed Dating.

Cost is $65 for a 30 day viewing window

Purchase Publicity Kit & Pitch

Emergency Preparedness

Quantity: 1 class

Sometimes emergencies happen - a broken water pipe, severe weather, streets closed for city work, parades, or demonstrations, or an accident or family emergency. This class from our Store & Operations Management course will help you create an Emergency Plan for your bookstore, including a plan to ensure all staff are trained and ready for potential emergencies.

Cost is $50 for a 30 day viewing window

Purchase Emergency Preparedness

Bookstore Financial Literacy

Quantity: 1 class of 3 mini-lessons

These 3 lessons were chosen by Bookstore Finances Dean Candice Huber as the best way to begin to understand your store's finances and how to manage them. The classes are:

• Cost of Goods Sold
• Managing Cash Flow
• Understanding Profit & Loss

Cost is $150 for a 60 day viewing window

Purchase Bookstore Financial Literacy