Celebrating Independent Bookstores

‘These stores need our love right now’

By Helen Thorpe

For the GPHN

Most of the writers I love to read have had viable writing careers thanks to local independently owned bookstores. These stores also create a wonderful sense of community for both authors and readers. I have found hours of inspiration inside local bookstores, and when I’ve published books these stores have supported my career, and have similarly boosted the careers of thousands of other authors who write literary fiction and narrative nonfiction. These stores need our love right now.

The best way to support indie bookstores is to buy books directly from them through their brick and mortar stores or their web sites. You can also buy ebooks in ways that benefit local indies by setting up an account with Kobo after following a link from a bookstore, if the store uses that platform. Or you can subscribe to audiobook distributor Libro.fm and choose which indies to support with your audiobook purchases, if the store is a member of Libro’s partnership program.

In the weeks and months to come, I hope we can all rally around local indies such as BookBar, the Bookies, the Hermitage Bookshop, the Park Hill Community Bookstore, Shop at Matter, Tattered Cover, and West Side Books by buying books at their physical locations or from their websites. Let’s be sure to support these stores now so they can stay in business and be bustling again once it’s safe for all of us to gather in larger numbers.