Share Your Photos of Indies First on Small Business Saturday

To date, more than 350 indie bookstores across all 50 states have signed up to date to celebrate Indies First on Small Business Saturday, November 26.

Throughout the day, booksellers should be sure to snap plenty of photos of their guest authors in action and the festive events taking place in their stores and to post those photos on social media using the hashtag #IndiesFirst.

Booksellers are also encouraged to share photos with the American Booksellers Association at [email protected]. Authors should be asked to sign this downloadable release form, giving permission for photos to be used by ABA for marketing and publicity purposes; stores planning to use the photos for their own marketing and publicity should include their names on the form.

Hundreds of stores are hosting authors or authorless events, as displayed on the Indies First map on IndieBound.org. Notable events include:

• One More Page Books in Arlington, Virginia, will be bringing back a favorite — bookseller karaoke — as part of a day of customer appreciation.
• Rediscovered Books in Boise, Idaho, will give customers a chance to spin the Wheel of Fortune and win prizes ranging from chocolates to gift cards.
• Texas Star Trading Co. in Abilene, Texas, will host two cookbook author signings, complete with gourmet tastings: Angelina LaRue, author of The Whole Enchilada (Pelican Publishing), and Tiffany Harelik, author of Terlingua Chili Cookbook (Spellbound Publishers).
• Norwich Bookstore in Norwich, Vermont, is hosting beloved author and illustrator Tomie dePaola for a book signing.
• Kona Stories in Kona, Hawaii, is celebrating its 10th anniversary with sangria, birthday cake, door prizes, and photos with the Grinch.

To help booksellers prepare for Indies First, which is just over a week away, ABA will be sending out daily Indies First countdown e-mails beginning November 16. Each e-mail will include a quick reminder about how to make the most of Small Business Saturday.

As plans come together, booksellers are encouraged to add new events and partnerships to the Indies First publicity map, allowing 24 hours for submissions to appear. Booksellers still looking for authors to visit their stores can contact any of the interested individuals on the Indies First Author & Illustrator Index.

Booksellers can find digital Indies First logos and poster designs for promoting the event, as well as the new Small Business Saturday marketing toolkit, in BookWeb’s Designs and Downloads. Additional Small Business Saturday marketing materials are available for download from American Express.

Stores can also take advantage of specials on a wide array of frontlist and backlist titles from publishers that are showing their support for Indies First. On BookWeb, booksellers can find promotional codes for special offers as well as a downloadable Excel spreadsheet listing the offers (a BookWeb username and password are required to log in).

Follow Indies First on Facebook and Twitter for up-to-the-minute news about the event, and share Indies First updates with customers using the hashtag #IndiesFirst. Questions about Indies First should be directed to [email protected].