- Categories:
Indies First Spokesperson Jason Reynolds Launches #LocalStacks Campaign
Printer-friendly versionAuthor Jason Reynolds has announced that during his term as Indies First spokesperson, he will tweet an elevator pitch for each indie bookstore he visits, using the dedicated hashtag #localstacks alongside #indiesfirst.
“The reasoning behind this is because many people live by bookstores, but don’t always know they’re there,” Reynolds said over a series of tweets. “Also, if you’re traveling, you may want to find a bookstore nearby and might not be in a major city…. Small towns need love just like big cities. The stores with huge staffs are no more valuable than the store run by a mom and son. And we...WE need to know they are there.”
“So, the hashtag along with #indiesfirst will be #localstacks. It’s a fresh tag for us to own. This is about SUPPORTING indie booksellers. No negativity,” Reynolds wrote.
On August 18, Reynolds tweeted his first pitch, for Barrington Books, which has locations in Cranston and Barrington, Rhode Island.
A subsequent tweet on August 22 featured Books on the Square in Providence.
Reynolds said he hopes the hashtag will continue once his term as Indies First spokesperson is up.
The American Booksellers Association announced on August 2 that Jason Reynolds would serve as the 2017 Indies First spokesperson. Indies First, the national campaign of activities and events in support of independent bookstores, takes place this year on November 25. It was created by author Sherman Alexie in 2013; other authors who have led the campaign include Kate DiCamillo, Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer, Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket), Cheryl Strayed, and Lena Dunham.
This fall, Caitlyn Dlouhy Books/Atheneum Books for Young Readers (an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing) will publish Reynolds’ Patina, the next installment in his Track series, and young adult novel Long Way Down. Miles Morales: Spider-Man, a young adult comic book, was published by Marvel on August 1.
Reynolds is the author of the critically acclaimed and award-winning novels When I Was the Greatest and Boy in the Black Suit and co-author of the New York Times-bestselling All American Boys. As Brave as You was a Time Book of the Year, and Ghost, the premier book in his middle-grade Track series, was a National Book Award finalist. Reynolds is also a Kirkus Award winner, a Walter Dean Myers Award winner, a NAACP Image Award winner, and the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honors.