BEST SELLERS
Authors take a turn behind the counter to help ailing stores.
When acclaimed author Sherman Alexie offered to volunteer for a shift at his local Washington bookstore, he didn’t know he’d be spearheading an international grassroots movement. But Indies First, the campaign Alexie began in the autumn of 2013, took off in a big way. The idea was simple — in order to give some love back to independent bookstores, Alexie organized a day of special author programming in order to give back to the indies that have, over the years, supported his work.
For the first time, on May 2, Canadian bookstores are participating in the international, grassroots event that will see 600 authors volunteering for bookselling shifts in 120 independent stores across the country.
Similar to Record Store Day — the semi-annual event that has music-lovers lining up every spring and fall for special editions of their favourite albums, or small-run EPs and mix tapes from beloved bands — a special day devoted to independent bookselling is a sure boon for booksellers.
Serah-Marie McMahon, the community manager of the beloved Toronto indie store Type Books, says the store’s customers are getting excited for the limited-edition tote bags, gift packs and chapbooks so many local authors and publishers have produced for the event. Type will host 17 writers (including, I should say, me) over the course of the day.
“I didn’t have to call anyone,” McMahon says when asked about the writers who volunteered. “I just mentioned it to many of the authors who come into the store, as our regular customers.”
Having previously pestered many Type staff members to let me try my hand at bookselling, it came as no surprise to hear that Kyo Maclear, Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, Jacob Wren and Andrew Pyper, among other writers, jumped at the chance to do a short shift. “These people,“McMahon says, “all love talking about books, and I was just asking them to do something they already love doing.”
More than simply talking about books, Authors for Indies gives writers and publishers a chance to support independent brick and mortar stores. Independent bookstores, says author Janie Chang, are great for their ability to “support new authors, local authors, and they curate their selection based on books they feel that they’re customers will love, Not just bestsellers. They’ve become cultural hubs for the communities, beyond readings and signings.”
Chang, who first began coordinating Authors for Indies campaigns in Canada, is on to something. Independent bookstores have more clout than the average reader may give them credit for; consider the runaway bestselling success of Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See. Doerr’s publisher, Scribner, allotted the books’ publicity budget toward courting American independent booksellers, in lieu of digital or traditional media campaigning. Doerr was sent to indie bookseller conferences to chat with booksellers about his debut novel. The novel, an unlikely hit about a blind French girl during the Nazi occupation, had a slow but steady rise as booksellers fell in love with the story, passing that enthusiasm along to their customers. All the Light We Cannot See has since been awarded the Pulitzer Prize and gone into 25 printings.
A graduate of Simon Fraser University’s writing studio, Chang conceives of writing,
It’s not about the authors, it’s about the stores
reading and publishing as one ecosystem. Last year, inspired by Alexei’s American campaign to support independent bookstores, she reached out to several authors in her home province of B.C. to test the communities’ enthusiasm for a similar event. Word got around, and soon Chang was put in touch with a member of the Retail Council of Canada, hoping to take the event national. After setting up a directory of interested authors and bookstores, Chang found the event picking up steam.
“It’s not about the authors,” she says, “it’s about the stores.” For once, the spotlight is turned to your friendly neighbourhood bookseller, who, on Saturday, may or may not also be one of your friendly neighbourhood authors.