Trade news
Welcome to the latest National Book Tokens news and updates for booksellers. Scroll down for news about our products, services and campaigns, or read our latest retailer newsletters.
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Our latest news:
We're driving footfall to your bookshop this January and February
As Christmas book token recipients start heading out to the shops, we're once again inviting them to spend their National Book Tokens with local bookshops for the chance to win a massive £500/€500 cash prize.
We've sent point of sale packs to independent bookshops across the UK and Ireland, and digital banners and downloadable posters are available, including dual-language banners in Irish, Welsh and Scottish Gaelic.
Share instore and on your social channels to encourage redemptions in your bookshop and drive footfall at a traditionally quiet time of year! Don't forget to tag us on social posts, and if you're a bookseller in the UK, it's the perfect moment to start introducing your customers to the National Year of Reading. Tag the Go All In campaign on Instagram at @Go_All_In_2026 and use the hashtags #GoAllIn2026 and #NationalYearofReading2026.
Introducing your new gift card range for 2025-26
Drumroll, please, for our sparkling new range of National Book Tokens gift card designs.
Say con-badger-lations to a young reader with our charming new gift card inspired by Irish illustrator Paddy Donnelly's Badger Books; celebrate the magic of manga with the epic Manga Heroes, created exclusively for us by British artist Sonia Leong; and, in response the major success of this year's World Book Day title, say wackadoo to our heart-warming new design featuring everyone's favourite blue heeler, Bluey!
Alongside these exciting new gift cards for children and teens, the luxurious, foiled Mint and Gold design presents a glamorous addition to our adult gift card range; perfect for the younger female market, Mother’s Day gifting and more.
Order all our new gift cards online along with the rest of our range and point of sale materials: there’s truly a gift for every reader and every occasion.
And with Christmas just three months away, now’s the time to make sure you’re ready for festive gifters – order your seasonal gift cards and point-of-sale online.
Plus: you can now download digital banners for your website and social channels to tell your customers that you sell and accept National Book Tokens. Banners are available in English, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh.
Your merchandising catalogue and Bookseller's Guide 2025-26
Discover our latest Bookseller's Guide, which includes all the details of our new gift card designs as well as everything else you need to sell and redeem National Book Tokens in your bookshop. Physical copies will be in the post in mid-September; if you don't receive one by the end of the month, please get in touch to let us know!
Don't forget, you can also browse our latest guides and order online straight away at our Bookseller Zone. Just scroll down to ‘Merchandising, resources and useful information’.
Visit the Bookseller Zone
Handy hints for Multi Factor Authentication
If you're using our online systems for National Book Tokens transactions, your account and password are kept secure with Multi Factor Authentication (MFA). This means that you will be asked (approx. every 60 days) for a 6-digit One-Time-PIN (OTP) when signing in to the gift card authorisations, admin and reports sites.
MFA was introduced in September 2023, and all account users are required to set it up in order to access our online systems. There are many authenticator options available, but if you followed our guidelines at the time, you are likely to have downloaded the FIS Desktop Authenticator App or the authenticator.cc browser extension.
Become a Jhalak Prize Bookshop Partner in 2026
The Jhalak Prize team are working on an exciting new initiative for their tenth anniversary year in 2026, and are inviting bookshops to become official partners of the Prize and all that it stands for.
A Jhalak Prize Bookshop Partner is a bookshop that shares the values of the Jhalak Prize: to connect writers and readers from all backgrounds, to be inclusive and expansive, to welcome those who may have previously felt un-welcome. To be a Bookshop Partner is to say that your bookshop is a welcoming space, and that you’re committed to making customers from all backgrounds feel like a part of your community.
As a Jhalak Prize Bookshop Partner:
- You'll receive a window sticker to signify that your bookshop is a welcoming space for all members of the local community.
- Your bookshop will be included on the list of official partners on the Jhalak Prize site, and benefit from the opportunity to work with the Jhalak Prize team on additional PR and content opportunities for your bookshop.
- You'll be invited to share the ways in which you make your space inclusive and welcoming, to inspire other bookshops and demonstrate to the wider book industry the real impact that bookshops make in their local communities.
- Jhalak Prize and National Book Tokens will amplify the work you're doing on our social media channels and websites, to a wide audience of book lovers, book buyers and people in the book industry.
As we have since 2021, we'll continue to distribute free display materials for longlisted, shortlisted and winning titles to all bookshops that wish to use them, regardless of whether or not you're a Jhalak Prize Bookshop Partner.
If you'd like to join the list to receive free point of sale, or would like to find out more about the new Jhalak Prize Bookshop Partners initiative, please get in touch!
Get in touch for more information
