Around Indies

Books & Books Westhampton Beach to Sell at Summer Event Series

Books & Books Westhampton Beach has been tapped to all handle onsite sales for Simon & Schuster’s 2014 Hamptons Summer Series, which will celebrate the power, perseverance, and resilience of women through a variety of author events.

The series, to be held at the 425-seat capacity Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, will feature authors Amanda Lindhout, Susannah Cahalan, Zhena Muzyka, and Helen Thorpe. Events will be held on June 26, July 14, July 21, and August 18.

“We are immensely grateful to Simon & Schuster and The Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center for the opportunity to work with them on this summer’s speaker program,” said Books & Books Westhampton Beach owner Jack McKeown. “This is a fine example of how a leading publisher, a distinguished arts venue, and an independent bookseller can join forces to help build and inspire an entire community.”

Vermont Bookshop Welcomes Jenny Lyons

Jenny Lyons, the former marketing manager at The King’s English Bookshop in Salt Lake City, Utah, and a former bookseller at Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center, Vermont, will join The Vermont Book Shop as the sales and marketing manager on July 1.

Lyons, a Vermont native, is looking forward to helping the The Vermont Book Shop continue as a thriving and integral part of the greater Middlebury community.

“Jenny is an experienced and enthusiastic book person,” said Vermont Book Shop owner Becky Dayton. “Her desire to contribute to the ongoing revival of a great local establishment and to settle her family in our community makes her uniquely qualified to join our team. I look forward to having her as a partner in taking VBS to the next level.”

Page & Palette Educates Community About Buying Local

Karin Wilson, owner of Page & Palette in Fairhope, Alabama, was profiled by AL.com for her work in creating a new marketing campaign to educate Fairhope store owners and residents about buying local and to highlight the unique independent businesses in the city. “We really have to make money from our locals,” she explained. “Tourism should be the icing on the cake.”

Wilson told AL.com that she tried to get the campaign off the ground in recent years but has not found success, though this time around she has had about 50 people express interest as well as the local chamber of commerce.

As part of the campaign, a June 23 workshop, to be held by the American Independent Business Alliance, will show attendees the role of independent stores in communities and will facilitate a community conversation on the topic.

Oblong Books Keeps it Local

Independent We Stand featured father-daughter bookselling team Dick Hermans and Suzanna Hermans of Oblong Books & Music in Millerton and Rhinebeck, New York, in a “Real Indie Story” piece that praised the nearly 40-year-old store for its rich history and its work with the local community, calling it “a model of the modern independent bookstore.”

Dick opened the store in 1975 and “slowly built the store into a respected local institution with a loyal customer base.” Suzanna, who was raised in the bookstore business and began working in the store at age eight, joined the store full time after graduating college in 2007. She is now on the board of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and is president of the New England Independent Booksellers Association.

“Keeping it local and independent is what makes Oblong unique,” wrote Independent We Stand. “Each of their stores has its own character and thrives because of Oblong’s dedication to meeting the needs of everyone who walks in the door or visits their web site. Oblong has also made a priority of developing strong relationships with nearby libraries and schools to help encourage a love of reading among young people.”