S&S Authors Celebrate Indie Bookstores in New Video

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version

To help spread the Shop Local message this holiday season, Simon & Schuster has created a video featuring well-known authors promoting the pleasures, and importance, of shopping at independent bookstores.

“We were impressed by the ABA’s great success with last year’s Shop Local campaign and really wanted to provide our own extra support to this year’s efforts,” said Liz Perl, Simon & Schuster’s senior vice president and director of marketing.

To that end, the publishing company worked with several authors and indie bookstores to create an exclusive video encouraging consumers to support local businesses. Among the authors appearing in the video are Jeannette Walls, Jonathan Alter, Neal Shusterman, Mary Higgins Clark, and Colleen Hoover, who discuss the pleasures of shopping at independent bookstores, the role these businesses play in their communities, and what it means to them to have booksellers advocating their titles.

“Our authors were willing and eager to participate and support their retail partners, and the video gives voice to the deep gratitude they feel for local booksellers,” added Perl.

Simon & Schuster has created a page specifically for independent bookstores. Booksellers can embed the video on their websites and in social media postings, or download the banner ads to direct consumers to the video on YouTube.

Independent bookstores featured in the video include Mystic’s Bank Square Books, San Francisco’s Green Apple Books, Salt Lake City’s The King’s English Bookshop, Durango’s Maria’s Bookshop, Redondo Beach’s Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, Kansas City’s Rainy Day Books, Oxford’s Square Books, Denver’s Tattered Cover Book Store, and Wichita’s Watermark Books.

“On behalf of independent booksellers, we thank and congratulate our friends at Simon & Schuster for this creative tool for showcasing and promoting the value of independent bookstores,” said ABA CEO Oren Teicher.