Episode 71: #YouAndYourBookstore
...in which Jess and KJ chat with Mary Laura Philpott about the advantages of cultivating a relationship with your local bookseller, before you even have a book!
(#AmWriting with Jess & KJ is available on iTunes and AudioBoom and you should subscribe. Really.)
The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed, Jess Lahey
#YouAndYourBookstore
Musing, the online magazine I edit for Parnassus Books: https://parnassusmusing.net/
Parnassus Books main bookstore site: http://www.parnassusbooks.net/
A Word on Words, the literary interview show I co-host: http://awordonwords.org/
More bio stuff about me, links to my nonfiction writing, etc.: https://marylauraphilpott.com/
My last book, Penguins with People Problems: https://marylauraphilpott.com/penguins-with-people-problems/
And I have a tinyletter where I send out a note each week recommending a great new book! http://tinyletter.com/blinkletter
Here's IndieBound.org -- https://www.indiebound.org/ -- the searchable site of the American Booksellers Association, which will not only show you any book you're looking for, but will also show you the nearest bookstore where you can go get it in person OR order it right away online! (Many, if not most, indie stores ship nationwide and happily process orders from anywhere.) It's the easy way to shop, link, and communicate about books in a way that helps keep bookstores open -- which is GOOD for authors!
Here's an example of how a blogger, editor, or social-media-using book-lover could link to Jess's book on IndieBound:
https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062299253
... or on the website of their favorite local store: http://www.parnassusbooks.net/book/9780062299253
I'm on Twitter (https://twitter.com/MaryLauraPh), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/MaryLauraPhilpottAuthor), and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/marylauraphilpott/)!
And so is Parnassus: https://twitter.com/parnassusbooks1, https://www.facebook.com/parnassusbooks1/, and https://www.instagram.com/parnassusbooks/
You can always link to a book on its publisher's website, as well, where at least there are options including shopping indie: https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062299253/the-gift-of-failure
Following Atticus, Tom Ryan
Will's Red Coat, Tom Ryan
I mentioned book festivals, which are a wonderful way to not only meet other writers and booksellers but to get in front of LOTS of interested readers at once. Often, local booksellers are part of the board of people choosing which authors to invite to a festival. Here's the Southern Festival of Books, for example, which is coming up in October: http://humanitiestennessee.org/programs/southern-festival-books-celebration-written-word
There's even a way to enjoy audiobooks while supporting indie stores! Libro.fm is a super-user-friendly app (think Audible, but not owned by Amazon) anyone, anywhere can use. Here's the Parnassus Libro.fm store:
https://libro.fm/parnassusbooks
A quick note I forgot to mention: sometimes new authors think that books sold in bookstores don't count toward the New York Times bestseller list. (And new authors always seem to be concerned about getting on the NYT list.) Most established bookstores are NYT-reporting stores, which means those sales count just like any other. So if an author wants to route readers to a particular store for all orders -- or for a pre-order campaign -- they or their publicist can just ask the store beforehand, "Are you a New York Times-reporting store?" and they'll confirm. Here's a sample page showing how bestselling author Victoria Schwab sends readers to Parnassus as the official purchase point for autographed books: http://www.parnassusbooks.net/theschwabwashere And here's an example of a pre-order campaign: http://www.parnassusbooks.net/LooseLipsSinkShips
#AmReading
The Heart's Invisible Furies, John Boyne
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, John Boyne
Stay With Me, Ayobami Adebayo
Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward
Beloved, Toni Morrison
The Secrets She Keeps, Michael Robotham
The Jane Austen Project: A Novel, Kathleen A. Flynn
Possession, Helen Hardt