For any of you who follow on me on Twitter, you’ve seen my recent soap-box sermons on shopping at independent bookstores. Now that Borders is closing for good, now is the time to really embrace your local independent bookstore!
I’ve been trying to think of a way to get more people inspired to shop locally. What’s the best way to get the word across? Social media, of course!
Author Ryan Jacobson suggested a fantastic idea; creating a twitter event, one day a week, in which book lovers tweet about what book they bought at an indie that week. Fantastic idea, yes? Thinking of all the various events on Twitter (Follow Friday, Friday Reads, Writer Wednesday, etc.) I had to pick a day of the week not already taken. And so…#indieThursday was born!
Each Thursday, tweet about the book you recently purchased at your local independent bookstore. Be sure to mention the name of the store and use the hashtag #indieThursday! Even better, take a picture of yourself with the book at your independent bookstore! Ebooks count as well, as long as you purchased it through and independent bookstore!
Then, the following day, don’t forget to tweet what you are reading, using the #Fridayreads hashtag!
You don’t need to have read the book yet in order to tweet about it! If this event becomes popular enough, I’ll even contemplate giving away prizes, i.e. giftcards to independent bookstores, indiebound gear, etc.
Need to find a local indie in your area? Check out indiebound.org, which lists independent bookstores based on address or zip code! Don’t have a indie bookstore close to you? Several independent bookstores have online stores!
So, go forth & shop indie!
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