According to the American Booksellers Association, nearly a quarter of independent booksellers’ annual profits come from holiday sales. With holiday book-buying dollars, consumers can make significant impact on independent bookstores, small publishers, and local authors—and this can be done conveniently online.
Some considerations:
What is Amazon’s impact? Both author and publisher make pennies on the dollar. Most authors don’t sell the tens of thousands of copies necessary to earn a decent wage for their efforts. Readers suffer when publishers have less income to fund future projects. Did you know that Amazon can actually afford to lose money on books just to get buyers on the site to add other profitable purchases? As a publisher, I’ve seen Amazon sell books below the printing cost! Who wins? Amazon. Who loses? Authors, publishers, and readers.
Why should I buy locally? In addition to fueling local economies, you’re supporting a small business ecosystem. In Hot Springs, visit bookstores like Black Ribbon Books and The Electric Strawberry, where owners work hard to curate unique experiences for shoppers who can hold books in their hands, read first pages, buy copies signed by authors, and attend engaging book events. Amazon can’t offer this. Amazon purchases kill this.
What if I still want to order online? Take an extra minute to check a book’s publisher (on Amazon!) and then visit the publisher’s site directly. Most offer signed books and special discounts through their websites. Online purchases through Bookshop.org have raised $35 million for indie bookstores since 2020. Make the holidays happy for everyone; shop locally!
Hot Springs native Erin Wood is a writer, editor, and publisher in Little Rock. She owns and runs etaliapress.com.
Wood is the author of “Women Make Arkansas: Conversations With 50 Creatives” (2019) and editor of and a contributor to “Scars: An Anthology” (2015).
