Welcome our brand new vendor, the Literary Supply Co.!

We're very excited to welcome our newest vendor – the Literary Supply Company!

Their first season's offering includes tote bags, zipper pouches, boxes of pencils, and boxes of buttons, all with a bookish theme. 

You can download their catalog from our site here, and a handy order form here!

If you have any questions, check in with your Abraham Associates sales rep.

They were featured in Shelf Awareness today:

“Dan and Megan Moench have founded Literary Supply Co., a book-related apparel and accessories company in Kaysville, Utah, that is, they say, “all about books, reading and literature.” Products include tote bags, zipper pouches, buttons and boxed pencil sets that feature such titles as Alice in Wonderland and Pride & Prejudice and quotations from Shakespeare, Roald Dahl, Maya Angelou and Henry David Thoreau.

The Moenchs, who have held positions in traditional and educational publishing, said they founded Literary Supply Co. as “a response to the ever-growing demand for smart, fun, book-related products.” They noted that the American Booksellers Association has said that the most profitable indie bookstores generate nearly 20% of revenue from nonbook products and services. “Our goal is to help serve the needs of the most self-supporting industry we’ve ever had the pleasure to do business with—the book trade.””

— http://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3108#m38203

We're very happy to be able to present Literary Supply Co. to you and to your customers!

Congratulations to Roy Schonfeld, the Voice of the Heartland 2017!

Here's some more news we've been waiting to share! We could not be more proud of Roy!

The Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association and Midwest Independent Booksellers Associations have jointly announced, ahead of the Heartland Fall Forum next month:

“We grant the Voice of the Heartland award to outstanding individuals who uphold the value of independent bookselling and who have made a significant contribution to bookselling in the Midwest. This year's Voice of the Heartland award goes to Roy Schonfeld.

“Roy Schonfeld began his life in books after a stint in the Peace Corps and graduate school at Ohio State. After some years as a bookseller and a book buyer, Roy was one of Stu Abraham's first hires when he started Abraham & Associates in 1992. 

“Covering a huge swath of the Midwest representing over 20 publishers, Roy was named Publishers Weekly Rep of the Year in 2008. He has served multiple terms on the board of the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association and continues to contribute to the education program of the Heartland Fall Forum. 

“Cary Loren of The Book Beat in Oak Park, MI, a longtime customer and friend, says "Roy is that rare creature in the book rep world able to endorse what he believes in, take orders without padding them, and leave an appointment before rush-hour traffic. We will miss Roy and remember dearly all those multiple trips to his car lugging hundreds of catalogs and samples from the bottomless list of publishers he represents."

“Thank you deeply to Roy for his years of service to booksellers all across the Midwest.”

We couldn't have said it better ourselves. Congratulations and thank you to our friend and colleague, Roy.

Say hello to our new sales rep, Sandra Law!

Here's some news that we've been breathlessly waiting to share!

We are proud to announce that Sandra Law will be joining Abraham Associates, beginning October 11, as our new sales rep for Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and some Chicago stores. 

Sandra will be taking over for Roy Schonfeld as he retires at the end of 2017.

For the last three years, Sandra has been the store manager at Anderson’s Bookshop in La Grange IL. Before that she was a store manager at H&M, and a manager and bookseller at Mitchell Books in Fort Wayne IN, and B&N.

We are thrilled to be able to draw on Sandra’s experience, insight, and passion as a bookseller, buyer, and store manager as she begins working with our publishers and booksellers.

(After Roy retires at the end of the year, as part of this territory reorganization, John will take over selling to stores in Kentucky.)

If you've got questions, email us at info [at] abrahamassociatesinc.com.

Abraham Associates is hiring a new sales rep!

We are hiring a metro Chicago based, full time, commission sales rep to represent our publishers to bookstores, museums, and wholesalers here in the midwest. If you have at least 2 years of bookstore or publishing experience, we'd like to talk with you about joining our group. 

Please see our job description for all the details and job requirements. You can download it here.

Please send your resume and cover letter to John Mesjak at john@abrahamassociatesinc.com, by Friday August 18, 2017.

Ideal Bookshelf is here! Enamel pins, mugs, notecards, prints and more!

We are very proud to announce that Abraham Associates are the midwest representatives for Ideal Bookshelf! 

Beginning with prints of artist Jane Mount's paintings of her clients' favorite books' spines, Ideal Bookshelf has become one of the coolest new gift companies out there. We've never seen sidelines more perfectly suited for bookstores! (In fact, you might have sold her book from Little Brown, My Ideal Bookshelf, in 2012!)

From those original art prints (now available for purchase in 8x10 sizes through us), Ideal Bookshelf also offers boxed and single notecards, postcards, wrapping paper, and ceramic mugs, all featuring Jane's paintings of bookshelves of beloved books!

The latest addition to the Ideal Bookshelf line are enamel pins of favorite books – we describe them as fan-art tributes to beloved classics. Enamel pins as a bookstore sideline was just described in Shelf Awareness as one of the hottest new trends, taking off in the last six months.

You can check out the full range of Ideal Bookshelf's offerings in their downloadable Fall 2017 catalog, or click through to their site. When you're ready to place an order, get in touch with your Abraham Associates sales rep!