Fellow authors, I love you, and I know it feels like we don’t have a choice, but B&N and Am*zon both scheduled sales this week to preempt Independent Bookstore Day, a hugely vital source of income for indie bookstores. Please don’t promote their sales; please promote your local indie this week.
When is Independent Bookstore Day?
April 26
This is an excellent reminder. I've started actually buying a little bit through B&N presale to support authors & to make sure B&N remains a competitor to Zon . However, all my other sale ebook I'm now doing through Bookshop. I'll definitely make sure to do more indy purchasing this week.
With respect, this is one in a series of shitty things B&N has been doing to target indies—including opening 60+ new stores almost exclusively in towns with indies, to try to hone in on an established market. It’s clear they don’t see Am*zon as the competition but, rather small, local stores.
I know you are right. That's the part I don't see being in a suburban area and mostly buying ebooks these days & I was so excited about Bookshop, because I can now buy electronic books through independent stores.
But too many of my library patrons only have Kindle Paperwhites, and are wedded to Amazon/Kindle devices. It's a real problem sometimes even getting them library options like Libby. Hoopla is unusable for them.
I love Libby with the power of a thousand suns!
It's really a fabulous resource. We were talking about a completely different topic, but when we put your books on the Staff Picks shelf, they always go quickly! Thank you for your words and congratulations on your success!
Wow, and I heard it said that the current B&N CEO was almost an actual human being than his predecessor. Guess I was misinformed.
A new BN just opened in my hometown… it needed because we have a great local bookstore! doylestownbookshop.com/store/1
Typo alert….’it is not needed’….to be fair it was prior to finishing my first cup of coffee!
Same! If I had to choose a corporation to purchase from I’d rather buy form B&N. #boycottamazon
B&N owns some of the "independent" bookstores like Tattered Cover in Denver, so do a little bit of research first.
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This week and every week!
I feel bad for the hundreds of thousands of authors who will never get published or end up in indie book stores or have their books available/distributed internationally but only in your local store. How about those authors? Most really don’t literally have a choice.
Apt name
I prefer interjecting bits of sarcasm & metaphor rather than just relying on concrete, black & white thinking which I find restrictive.
It’s a cute bit.
Must be different in the US. No Am*zon book sale in the UK.
When is independent bookstore day?
Last Saturday in April, according to google. 2 days from now
Ok thank you
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Actually going on an Independent Bookstore crawl tomorrow...
My indie bookstore will sell my books on consignment and B&N won't, so they can take their sale and pound sand. Here are my local gems. oldfirehousebooks.com downtownfortcollins.com/go/bookstore...
Thank you for this.. our indie store salutes you.
Indie Book Map is helpful. However, the number of shops listed in the directory for San Diego county seems shockingly low. www.indiebound.org/independent-...
If you are in San Diego County, please be sure to look up my friends at @caminobks.bsky.social. Tell John and Alison I sent you.
Take part in the San Diego book crawl this weekend linktr.ee/sdbookcrawl?...
If you are selling your novel through Amazon YOU are the product. That is their business model. A billion titles selling 4 copies each at 99¢ makes Bezos a very rich man... And no one else...
And the best way to not promote Am*zon and B&N is to NOT SELL YOUR WORKS THROUGH THEM.
💯💯💯
Thank you for letting me know. I'll have to find an indie in this town, if there is one any more, alas ... :(
Bookshop.org was created to help independent bookstores! You can find a store to support, and they’ll get a portion of proceeds.
Thank you.
I forgot it was Independent Bookstore Day this weekend, so they got my money today instead. Jane Austen’s Bookshelf and the new Anne Hillerman as a gift for my dad. 📚
I haven’t shopped at Amazon since the insanity all started. I live in a small community though so are there any Canadian online bookstores that I can support?
What province or territory are you in?
Northwestern Ontario.
Try this link! www.indiebookstores.ca/bookstores/
Thank you Karen I will have to check these out the next time I am there. They are both about a four hour drive so we don’t get to either place very often.
B&N must be doing better because no one has attacked them for selling books for about a decade now. I'm glad they turned it around. Not everyone has an indie bookstore nearby. And B&N is opening some pretty stores.
yes, not everyone has an indie bookstore nearby, that’s why she shared the dang link to bookshop.org
I like to go to bookstores. Buying online doesn't give you discovery. Barnes & Noble has opened 2 new bookstores in Chicago and I have gladly gone to them. There is no indie bookstore in my neighborhood, unfortunately.
Lauren, thank you for posting this. I support independent bookstores with all my heart! People can follow 150 indie bookstores on Bluesky with one click by subscribing to my Starter Pack: go.bsky.app/AHQhv2z
Thanks for this!
Welcome! I created a second Starter Pack because I filled the first one; this one has room for me to add a lot more marvelous indie bookstores. go.bsky.app/DYmY7tU If they're on or new to bluesky, please let me know. We love bookstores so much we have one in our house. Almost (see alt text).
Whoa, you're a regular Belle. I’ll see who I can add. Enjoy your 📚!
Hey have you see @tombolobooks.bsky.social in st Pete?
I do now! Just added @tombolobooks.bsky.social, and thank you!
Hey! Thanks for adding us to your starter pack (part 2)!
THANK YOU CAROLINE!!
bsky.app/profile/phid...
I think this an American thing but always happy to support my local bookshop because they're amazing!
They’re trying to siphon the little margin we get. But indies put 67% of every dollar back into their local economies. Am*zon puts 4% back. Barnes and Noble returns 45%. What they are doing is calculated expressly to hurt small independent bookstores.
We’re an indie desert. Barnes and Noble is our indie book store.
Try bookshop.org
Independent bookstores can also preorder your books! They won’t do sneaky things to try to undercut far less-powerful competitors! It may cost a little more, but your money is going into your community and not to people who are already rich.
It’s worth mentioning that Bookshop.org was specifically created to help indies—you can buy online, choose an indie to support, and the store gets a huge percentage of the sale. Even if you don’t have an indie in your area, Bookshop supports bookstores!
Consider choosing Octavia’s Bookshelf which recently converted its bookstore to a donation site for basics to support ppl whose homes were lost to the firestorm in Altadena, CA. It’s a small independently owned bookstore that supports its local community through thick & thin.
bookshop.org/shop/Octavia.... Yes!
This is so great! My local bookstore is often out of popular titles so this will be a great 2nd option.
📌 bookshop.org
i was about to say “i hope they have e books” AND THEY DO!!
The employees actually know about books/authors and can help you spend wisely by steering you toward books you will likely enjoy based on your reading history. I see supporting the indies as a patriotic act now and will NEVER buy another book from Amazon. @powells.bsky.social gets my money!
I called over 100 indie bookstores and none of them will carry my book because it's considered a "textbook" (academic publisher). It's very frustrating.
Speaking as a indie bookstore owner (and once also a Routledge author!) it is indeed very frustrating, but it is difficult for us to stock such books because they are usually offered to us at such a small discount (compared to trade books) that we would basically lose money to sell them.
A warehouse or shipping facility isn't going to have the same spending as a store that stocks inventory so the difference in percentage here doesn't seem "wrong" per se. What even does putting it back entail? Paying workers that buy local?
This stuff genuinely confuses me because I agree with the core sentiment but the information around it feels misleading if not outright wrong.
When I buy a book, I buy it in person at my local bookstore. If they don’t have a book in stock, they’ll order it. I don’t buy anything from Amazon.
I missed the promo they had, I like the selection Bookshop chose for National Volunteer Week 🙂 bookshop.org/info/nationa...
At least B&N's sale was for B&N members only. I don't think advertising a sale to that group is taking significant business away from independent booksellers. And I say that as someone who ALWAYS plugs indies.
Happy Independent Bookstore Day 4/26/2025 !!! Support your favorite indie bookstores. bookshop.org/beta-search?...
This week and every week!
been using nothing but bookshop.org to buy books. it's terrific. I get to pick a local indie bookstore that gets a cut from every purchase. I still read ebooks on kindle. I use the Silk browser. requires an internet connection to read. they're a great alternative to Amazon.
Monopolistic actions used to be illegal. They probably still are if you aren't a monopoly
TFW my only published work is through B&N, but I'm otherwise entirely indie
Haven’t bought *anything* from Amazon since January 20th.
This is VITAAL. They have so much still do not let the indie book store thive. It is possible that they want to control the narrative, since Am * n will shadow ban books it does not want to see circulated because of control of the narrative. so no indie allowed
Thank you for the reminder. I’ll be going to Tropes & Trifles, a local romance bookstore.
What's that quote from Ray Kroc? Oh yes, "If any of my competitors were drowning, I’d stick a hose in their mouth." Shame on Amazon + B&N for this. Good business my ass.
I haven't bought anything from amazon in months.
Ugh. Same. Wish we could edit these posts.
Samr
Heading to Page One Books in Albuquerque this Saturday
Got some good books!
100%
If anyone's looking for a fun, #fantasy children's book, order The Nasties of Nastgant Swamp from your local #bookstore!
I’m going shopping on Saturday at my local Independent Bookstore!
Matrix is amazing.
Maui basically only has Barnes and Nobles now but they have a whole display of banned books to buy basically all I look to get now besides manga
Better yet, buy your books at indie bookshops, direct from the publisher, or at indie-supportive sites like Bookshop—all the time. Publishers have told me they really appreciate direct orders; my local indie bookshop can order any book I want. So give up a soupçon of convenience to shop your values.
Boycott all large corps.
the reason the sale is happening this week for BN and Amazon is also because today is World Book Day.
It's also not a big B&N sale--it's their typical preorder sale, which happens every three or four months. It's kind of a big deal that they're doing preorder sales because preorders make a big difference to authors but are generally never on sale, which means it's harder to sell.
Wouldn’t it be pretty to think so.
i mean it’s just the truth
For audiobook readers, libro.fm supports indie bookshops and is having a huge sale right now!
Oh?? Brb
I went to my local indie specifically to order some books I did NOT want to order through either of those sellers - Blue Print for Revolution by Popovic and Black Earth by Snyder. They were completely unavailable for them to order from any of their distributors.
Do itch sales count
You can also help independent book shops by ordering from Bookshop.org, you can choice a benefiting book shop w/ your order.
Damn...I did not notice that. I have $300+ books in my shopping cart Bookshop.org that I was planning to purchase, will do that on April 26th. My local book shop of choice will benefit #80.72! Thank you for the reminder! Will share also.
It cost thousands of dollars to have a book set up to be sold at physical book stores. I will never make $1,000 off of my book, therefore it will never be in a physical independent bookstore. Fix that or deal with the problems it creates because I cannot.
yes I saw Amazon offered me FREE SHIPPING on my next order in 48 hrs...I ignored it📢📢
Oooh, good to know. I didn’t realize this. Deleting my post now about the discount on my forthcoming title. Thx for the heads up.
I love indie bookstores. For all of my book purchases.
Thank you much for the info. Indies, considering the competition they’re up against, do incredible things with the resources they have, and help from the great people that support them📖📚
BOYCOTT!!!!!
Dastardly.
I didn't realize it was independent bookstore day this week, and bought a book at a local independent bookstore!
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nobody with any political sense should be using Amazon any longer.