Award-winning author Jason Reynolds, who is serving his second term as the 2018 Indies First spokesperson, the American Booksellers Association and American Express, and Reynolds’ publisher, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, are working together to make available 20,000 special edition copies of Reynolds’s Ghost to young readers in underserved communities this holiday season. Through the initiative, participating independent booksellers will receive a free box of special “Indies First/ Small Business Saturday” paperback editions of Ghost, to distribute to children on or around Small Business Saturday®, which takes place on November 24.
Of his second term as Indies First spokesperson and of the #IndiesGiveBack campaign, Reynolds said, “Bookstores benefit their communities in a myriad of ways, and I’m thrilled that I get to sing their praises for another year. I’m grateful and honored that booksellers have this opportunity to share Ghost’s story with thousands of young people across the country who don’t have access to books they feel connected to.” Reynolds will support Small Business Saturday by participating in an event at an independent bookstore in Washington, DC.
Indies First, launched by the American Booksellers Association in 2013 and held each year on Small Business Saturday, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, brings together authors, readers, and publishers in support and celebration of independent bookstores. Visit the IndieBound.org store locator to find a local independent bookstore.
November 24 will be the ninth annual Small Business Saturday (#ShopSmall, #SmallBizSat). Dedicated to supporting the diverse range of local businesses that help to create jobs, boost the economy, and enhance neighborhoods around the country, Small Business Saturday was created by American Express in 2010 in response to small business owners’ most pressing need: getting more customers.
Pacific Northwest bookstores are celebrating Small Business Saturday in many ways: some with authors as celebrity booksellers, some with treats, some with discounts, some with fundraisers. Check in with your locals for specifics.
Seattle writer (and former bookseller) Paul Constant said it well at the Seattle Review of Books: “When you give the gift of books you bought at an independent bookstore, you’re really giving two gifts at once. You’re giving the book, of course, but you’re also investing in a local institution and improving the quality of life in the city you love.”