Wanda Jewell Concludes Her Excellent Adventure

On Wednesday, December 20, Wanda Jewell, the executive director of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA), returned from her weeklong "Excellent Book Giving Back Adventure." Equipped with a camcorder and $1,000 in Book Sense gift cards, and traveling more than 800 miles one-way, Jewell bought books for customers at 10 independent bookstores in South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.

"Buying people books was lots of fun and has been good PR for the stores," said Jewell, who noted that many of the stores received coverage in their local newspapers. "When I bought someone a book, I would say, 'I'm so glad you're here. I want to thank you for shopping at an independent bookstore and buy you a free book.' I don't think that's forgettable."

Jewell was inspired to create her bookstore adventure by Oprah Winfrey, who recently gave her studio audience members $1,000 and a camcorder to do good works and record the results. Jewell and her husband used their own money and their family camcorder to create their book-giving adventure.

Jewell set out with a limit of $100 to be spent at each of her 10 stops. She selected customers at random, and the number of recipients at each store varied, depending on the price of the books they selected.

Recipients, who were given the choice to pick any book they would like, were all very appreciative, said Jewell. At Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse in Atlanta, one woman said she would like to donate her book back to the organization, and Jewell told the next beneficiary that her free book had been donated by another customer at Outwrite.

At Horton's Books & Gifts in Carrollton, Georgia, a customer who requested Dear John by Nicholas Sparks (Warner) said it was the "best Christmas present she had gotten so far." Other books selected included Momma's Boy, Preacher's Son (Kevin Jennings, Beacon Press) at Outwrite; Penumbra (Carolyn Haines, St. Martin's Minotaur) at Alabama Booksmith in Birmingham, Alabama; and Cry of the Eagle (Theun Mares, Lionheart) at Humpus Bumpus Books in Cumming, Georgia.

Additional stops on the tour included The Happy Bookseller in Columbia, South Carolina; Poor Richard's Booksellers in Easley, South Carolina; Eagle Eye Bookshop in Atlanta; Yawn's Books & More in Canton, Georgia; Little Professor Book Center in Homewood, Alabama; and Page & Palette in Fairhope, Alabama. To be included, stores had to be members of SIBA, and they had to participate in the Book Sense gift card program.

At the last stop, Page & Palette, Jewell spent several days on the sales floor as a bookseller during the busy Christmas shopping season. In return for her help, Page & Palette contributed $500 towards the book giveaway at the store, raising the total to $1,500.

Jewell, who last worked in a bookstore 16 years ago at Volume One in Columbia, South Carolina, said working the holiday rush was "not easy, but was exhilarating." The trip on the whole was so well received by both customers and participating booksellers, she plans on doing it again. "It's been so much fun that we'll do it the same time of year next year," she said. "When the bookstores are busy and I'm not."

To learn more about Jewell's tour, visit her blog and, soon to come, video streaming on SIBA's websites, www.sibaweb.com and www.authorsroundthesouth.com, and on YouTube.com. --Karen Schechner