Indies First Sweepstakes Launches November 15

In celebration of Indies First on Small Business Saturday, beginning today, shoppers at indie bookstores can enter the American Booksellers Association’s new #shopindiesfirstsweepstakes for a chance to win $1,000 worth of books from Penguin Random House.

Between Wednesday, November 15, and Sunday, November 26, customers can enter the sweepstakes by posting a message on Twitter or Instagram and using the hashtag #shopindiesfirstsweepstakes along with the location tag, the social media handle, or the name, city, and state of a U.S. independent bookstore.

A random drawing will be held on Friday, December 15, to select five lucky grand prize winners, who will win $1,000 worth of books. Each bookstore with a winning customer will also win $1,000 worth of books to donate to a local nonprofit of their choice. A total of $10,000 in prizes will be awarded; see the complete sweepstakes rules here.

The Indies First DIY on BookWeb has a number of resources to help booksellers promote this generous offer to customers, including social media images and bag stuffers. The official Indies First hashtag is #indiesfirst.

As preparation for this year’s celebration of Indies First continues, booksellers should remember to add their Indies First event details to the Store Indies First Activity Registry so they can be publicized on the national Indies First map on IndieBound.org.

Booksellers can also check out the range of special offers from publishers and university presses available for Indies First. Stores can plan their orders and track their savings by using ABA’s new and easy-to-use Backlist Buying Calculator. A BookWeb username and password are required to access the special offers and the calculator; e-mail [email protected] for login details.

Visit the Indies First page on BookWeb to learn more about this annual event.