Authors and Booksellers Unite on Small Business Saturday
The initiative, called Indies First, is the invention of the American Booksellers Association, which has called upon authors to become booksellers for the day. The ABA worked with prominent authors, like Sherman Alexie, creator of Smoke Signals, to get the word out.
In early September, Alexie wrote to his fellow authors saying, "Now is the time to be a superhero for independent bookstores," and encouraged authors to join the grass roots movement. The procedure is simple: author reaches out to bookstore, bookstore and author agree on events for the day (book signings, special discounts, etc.), and author shows up to support an independent book store on what is typically their biggest sales day of the year.
- People:
- Sherman Alexie
Ellen Harvey is a freelance writer and editor who covers the latest technologies and strategies reshaping the publishing landscape. She previously served as the Senior Editor at Publishing Executive and Book Business.