Booksellers may want to prepare for the arrival of customers waving iPhones, eager to show off their new IndieBound stickers.

The stickers are virtual, part of the new GetGlue iPhone application [6] created by AdaptiveBlue. IndieBound is one of AdaptiveBlue's partner brands, which also include Random House, PBS, and Warner Brothers. A video on AdaptiveBlue's website [7] offers a demonstration of the app. “We're a social entertainment network that connects people around the objects they love,” said Ami Greko, AdaptiveBlue's director of business development.

The GetGlue mobile app allows users to “check in” to the books, television shows, movies, and video games they consume, share reviews and reactions, and see what other users are up to. Users earn the IndieBound sticker, for instance, by checking in to two of the titles on the current Indie Next List [8].

Some AdaptiveBlue partners offer giveaways, discounts, and other promotions to GetGlue users, and Greko sees opportunities for independent bookstores to offer real-world benefits to accompany the virtual rewards – all the customer would have to do is show the sticker on the iPhone screen.

Greko also believes that the app offers stores a new channel for reaching potential customers. “The cross-vertical nature of the app and of GetGlue.com means that you're expanding your reach to groups that might not normally find themselves in an indie bookstore – cinephiles, TV geeks, gamers. I believe these are all potential readers – but the challenge has always been connecting with them,” she said. “Signing up as an individual or a store and connecting directly with customers would be a great way to do outreach.”