I love indie bookstore day.
It’s an amazing day to celebrate all the great things indies are.
They’re not just places where you can buy books.
They’re places that support your community and KNOW your community.
They keep jobs and tax dollars in your community.
And they are a great place to meet up with other readers in your community.
You know another place where lots of readers meet up and chat?
Online. I’m there a lot too.
I love visiting #indiebookstoreday and after Indie Bookstore Day,
and this year there was a campaign with a publisher
to promote not only #indiebookstoreday, but also #saveindiebookstores.
There may have been more campaign,
but I mainly noticed one among the people I follow.
Of course that’s exciting to me!
What a great idea to team up with people who are sharing books online
and have big, engaged audiences
to share with their followers about Indie Bookstore Day
and the campaign to save indie bookstores.
As I was clicking through the hashtag, I saw lots of great posts, some part of the campaign, some not (some people said they were partnering with the publisher, while some tagged them, which is how I deduced they must be part of the campaign).
I was excited because I love following people who support indie bookstores.
So if I saw a particularly eloquent post, I’d click over to their profile.
And the first place I’d look would be their link in profile.
Why would I do that?
Because I’m interested in people who walk the walk.
And I found lots of people who did that: they linked to libro.fm.
They had a bookshop shop.
They had a lists of their favorite indie bookstores and how to shop from them
(that’s above and beyond and truly awesome!).
They had a blog where they discussed books and didn’t link to those books anywhere,
or linked them to indiebound, the publisher, or bookshop.
But some posts that I found that talked so eloquently about indie bookstores?
Ones that asked their followers to support indies, said how important they are,
and asked them to support saveindiebookstores?
They only had a link to an Amazon shop.
Or their “books” highlight linked to stories that all had an Amazon swipe up link.
Or I headed over to their blog, optimistic, to find all the books linked up to Amazon too.
Okay, okay.
I get it.
Amazon has an affiliate program.
And maybe people sharing their Amazon lists are making a living off of it.
Or hopefully big amounts of money.
Maybe they depend on that income.
Or maybe they’re linking to Amazon
because that’s what they see all the big accounts do.
That’s what they think they should do.
Maybe they can’t wait until they hit 10K so they can link that swipe up to Amazon.
Someone I used to follow actually expressed something like this:
“I’m so close to 10K and can’t wait until I get there because then I can finally have the swipe up.
And then maybe I’ll finally make more than 10 dollars a year in Amazon affiliate money.”
Here’s the thing.
Bookshop.org has an affiliate program too, with a better commission rate.
Affiliates can create book lists and even link to some stuff that isn’t books.
Yes, it takes time to make lists. I know, I’m making some right now.
It also takes time to go back and switch links over, or add in other places to shop.
I know.
And yes, maybe people won’t buy from bookshop even if people link there.
As of the time of writing this, 1.4 million dollars have been raised for indie bookstores
through bookshop, so there are some people shopping there.
I’ve had around 2000 views of the lists on my bookshop shop, and not one purchase yet.
Would people have purchased if I had linked to Amazon? Probably.
Am I upset that I’m missing out on that money?
Absolutely not, because I won’t compromise my values for their money.
I know people that share kids books online have the best of intentions.
They love kidlit.
They want to make sure you know about lots of books,
and by looking at their feeds, I can see they are intentional about what books they share.
They know the power of their recommendations, their influence, and they’re using that for good to highlight a wide variety of books. They’re making sure they’re not only sharing books that reflect one culture or one story. They’re trying to help you create an inclusive bookshelf.
And that’s AMAZING. I’m glad they’re being so intentional.
So I have to assume they’re being intentional as to where they’re linking too.
I’m not here to say they can’t link exclusively to Amazon.
People can do whatever they want.
But I am here saying book influencers should be intentional
and aware of what message they’re sending when they DO link only to Amazon.
They’re saying: here’s the place you should get books, followers. Amazon. The prices are low! I just HAVE to tell you about this deal on Amazon! This is where I get books, followers. Amazon. Other book influencers who are just starting out and looking to me to see how I do it, here’s where you should link. Amazon. Here’s a great book that’s coming out soon. Pre-order from Amazon! I’m an Amazon affiliate so I can get some money. You can be an Amazon affiliate too!
They are also saying this: I love and value sharing with you books by all sorts of creators, and I want to help you build a diverse bookshelf. But I will not support those same values when I’m shopping or linking. It’s just Amazon over here, baby!
I know some book influencers share multiple ways to get books.
Or have bookshop lists and an Amazon affiliate program.
I know there’s some nuance to it.
But what do they link to first?
What they talk about the most?
What do they direct people to the most?
That shows what they value.
Again, if book influencers want to link to Amazon exclusively, that’s fine.
Typing that sentence physically hurt me, but I can’t make the choice for them.
What I do have a problem with
Is a book influencer supporting Amazon all day everyday
(or typically every day but two days out of the year;
bookstores usually get a shout out on Small Business Saturday too)
but partnering with a campaign ONE day out of the year
to give some lip service to indiebookstores.
Because honestly?
If someone is linking to Amazon, encouraging their followers to swipe up to Amazon,
sharing great deals on Amazon all year long
and then on indie bookstore day throwing out some words?
That’s just what it is.
Lip service.
If we want to see what someone really values,
we should look at what they do, not what they say.
So if I see someone saying one day a year to shop indie and support indie,
but all their links are to Amazon,
well, let’s just say I don’t think that’s a good use of a campaign.
And honestly that makes me doubt the person’s integrity.
We all know how important social media marketing is,
especially now that we shouldn’t be going outside.
If social media marketing wasn’t important,
Bookstores wouldn’t be on social media.
Publishers wouldn’t be sending out books to influencers to showcase and review.
I said people can link to Amazon all you want.
I still stand by that.
It’s their choice.
But as someone who is an indie bookseller, works for an indie bookstore association, and shares books often on social media, I have some insight I’d love to share with you. (Please note I do not speak for the bookstore I work for or the bookseller association I work for; I am simply noting I have that experience).
If you are a book influencer, I want to speak directly to you here:
What you say about books matters.
You know this.
I know this.
I’ve shared video book reviews that have been viewed over a million times.
I’ve received hundreds of comments saying, “I bought this book because you share it.”
We know people do that.
You can link to Amazon. I bet you make a bit of money there.
But if you are being intentional with what books you share,
I urge you to keep the same values and be just as intentional
when you are sharing where to get those books.
If you truly value diversity and inclusion, and sharing books that may not be huge/well known but you believe in, translate those values over to where you link to.
Indie bookstores can champion books in ways that a big site cannot and does not. Indies know their communities and can tailor their shops to them. Indies keep tax dollars in your community.
Imagine something with me, will you?
Imagine all the big book influencer accounts,
and even the smaller ones that have super engaged audiences, linked to bookshop.org.
That would say this:
Here’s the place you should get books, followers. Bookshop.org and support indie bookstores! The prices may not be low, but shopping here supports the values I have and maybe you have. I just HAVE to tell you about this great program at my indie bookstore, or an indie bookstore I love. This is where I get books, followers. Indie bookstores. Other book influencers who are just starting out and looking to me to see how I do it, here’s where you should link. Bookshop.org or indie bookstores.. Here’s a great book that’s coming out soon. Pre-order from your local indie bookstore and keep money in your community! I’m a Bookshop affiliate so I can get some money. You can be an Bookshop.org affiliate too!
That would also say this: I love and value sharing with you books by all sorts of creators, and I want to help you build an inclusive bookshelf. And I WILL support those same values when I’m shopping or linking. It’s just Bookshop.org, Libro.fm and indie bookstores over here, baby!
Imagine some of your 1, 2,3, 4, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100K followers following those links.
Imagine the sales indie bookstores would get.
Imagine the people you could inspire to head to their own indie bookstore.
Imagine the shift we could all make together.
Imagine new up and coming book sharers who automatically link to bookshop.org instead of Amazon because that’s what they see you doing.
And then imagine when you do your post about indie bookstore day.
Imagine you saying,” support your indie bookstore, let’s save them, it’s important”
And imagine your followers.
All year long, they’ve seen you talk about indies, link to indies.
They KNOW how important it is to you.
Maybe it’s one of the reasons they’re following you.
They know this isn’t just lip service.
They know it’s important to you.
So I bet they do donate.
I bet they DO check out their local indie.
Because they respect you and the actions they’ve seen you do.
This year we’re in a unique situation: Indie Bookstore Day was mostly virtual in April because of the state of the world. Hopefully we will be able to celebrate in four months.
What’s my hope?
I hope some publishers do another campaign for the August indie bookstore day.
I hope they look closely at who to partner with and choose people
who support indies all year long.
I hope book influencers keep being intentional with what they share
and how they share where to get books.
And honestly I hope that in these four months some bigger influencers who exclusively link to Amazon decide to either talk to their followers about why they choose to do that, or change and link to bookshop and talk to their followers about that. Or do a hybrid of both.
Or I hope big accounts that do link exclusively to Amazon look at a chance to partner with a publisher on an Indie Bookstore Day campaign and think: you know what? If I do this, it’s just lip service, which is not genuine. Better someone else has the chance to do it.
I understand the need to want to get paid for your expertise, and I know some people feel that way with affiliate links. That could be an entire other 2000 word essay; remember, I’m a bookseller, have a ton of knowledge about books, and am nearly constantly frustrated that not only are books being devalued (and that site most book influencers link to? They’re the one doing the devaluing!), but the knowledge about them is being devalued too. So we’ll leave that for another time.
I’m going to leave you with this:
A simple list of things to check out if you share books online or talk about books online
and want to align your values with your links/what you share!
Link to bookshop.org.
You can start your own affiliate account or you can link to the indie bookstore you love.
You can create lists there too of your favorite books!
Educate your audience about bookshop too.
Check out Libro.fm.
They are the indie version of Audible.
I know they don’t have all the same books.
But I also know they support your indie bookstore.
So if you’re an audiobooks person, check it out!
See what your local indie has for an online site.
You can link to them and maybe even chat with them about promoting events you go to there
or things they have going on. I bet they would love that.
Continue to share with your followers why you believe in indie bookstores
and link to them.
This doesn’t have to be every other post, or nearly every post
(unless you’re me, and hey, I just love doing it!)
but it’s a great way to educate your audience while sharing great books.
Check out indiebound.org; they have great resources and shareable graphics.
Their twitter feed is full of them too. Get the word out about indies!
Be honest and transparent about where you get books.
I know people are doing this is they get books from the publisher,
but also hype up your indie bookstore purchases.
And if you do shop on Amazon, talk about that too.
Why did you decide to buy that book on Amazon?
Could you only get it there?
Was it truly such a great deal you couldn’t pass it up?
Followers love honesty!
See if your local indie sells e-books;
I know some of them do on Hummingbird.
Share posts you love from indie bookstores you love
and encourage your followers to share what they love about indies too!
Share what you love about your indie; kind of like a testimonial.
Again, your indie will love it!
If you have a hard time with people that link to Amazon but you still like their content,
you can gently nudge them about these things too.
Or if you just CANNOT with all the Amazon links, you an unfollow.
Finally, share this! I hope the info here is clear and helpful.
Thanks for reading along and shopping indie!
Happy reading!
Kathy Ellen
