There is an article in the New York Times about people who are self-publishing books and then having small local community book stores print copies of their books for sale.
I like this idea. The fact that anyone can self-publish a book and then make it available to their local community through a community bookstore is exciting to me. Maybe this could help revitalize local book stores, which would be great, as I have been getting nervous that book stores were a dying breed.
I wonder if this type of publishing could equalize access to information. Maybe political and social justice movements could use this new technology as a tool to spread their messages to mobilize local communities.
What do you think? I know many of my readers have self published books and I would love for you to share links to your books here, if applicable. Have any of you thought of partnering with a local book store to use this new tool? How could you see this being used? Do you think this could help spread information or is this less relevant now with the rise of the internet and social media? What do you see as the future for local independent book stores?
I would love to hear your thoughts! Thank you so much for reading!
newsofthetimes 
What a fantastic idea! I am currently working on a book and I presume I will be self-publishing initially, but I hadn’t considered partnering with local bookstores or even other local shops. Thank you for sharing this!
Absolutely. I thought it was interesting as well. I have no expertise in this area, but thought lots of bloggers might be interested in this new way to promote their work. Thanks for the comment!
I am in favor of books in any form and if we can get control of what is printed away from the large companies who only care about sales, all the better! Now, how do we get our kids to read!!??
We need to find a way to make reading “cool” for teenagers, I guess. And parents need to have more time to spend with their kids to read to them when they are little.
According to my guru, Jane Healy, reading to kids is essential to their mental development…..and it can be great fun. It also instills a love of books and reading that can last a lifetime.
No question. And there a real disparities among which parents have time to do this and which don’t. And over access to books! A subject for another post! You keep my mind busy! 😉
That’s my vocation!
Sounds like a good idea, that I hadn’t really thought of. Our local library is also having a book fair this fall for local authors. Working with local libraries is another possible way for self publishers to become known.
Oooh – I LOVE that idea! Libraries are the best and it is fun to see how some are really getting creative! Thanks for your comment.
I love the idea of encouraging local publishing and reading, but I worry that there isn’t enough of a mechanism to allow us to find the books we’ll love. How will I know if the self-published book is worth my time and money to try? As corporate as it is, the current system with Amazon ratings, nwespaper reviews, and preference matching provides a pretty good way to find the books I’ll like, and I worry that, from a consumer’s perspective there is not a good enough mechanism to diffuse the best self-published books.
Perhaps online forums will develop to help with this too, and perhaps the ability of many to publish (as with the ability of many to blog) will over time improve the quality of writing…
Another good point. I am hoping that local bookstores will have more locally relevant books. I am sure they will have to weed some out somehow. And I love the idea of online forums or something like that – like Yelp for self-published books! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Our local bookstore has one of those machines that will print a book in-store in about 5 minutes! It’s a fantastic device and only costs the author a little over a hundred dollars to have it formatted for the machine – way less than most self-publishing options! It’s also fun to see your book being printed right in front of you, as the machine has clear-glass sides. You can even see the book cover being printed and the two folded and glued before it pops out the side. Absolutely amazing technology!
The bookseller does take a portion of the proceeds for printing costs, but I think it works out to be more for the writer than normal royalties. The store is also willing to help promote your book and launch it in their store, which includes a restaurant. No, it’s not a Chapters bookstore. It is a Canadian chain called McNally Robinson Booksellers. If I was to self-publish one of my books, I think this is the way to go. 🙂
I love this concept. Thanks for reading and for sharing your on the ground experience with it! It sound fun – might just make me take the plunge to write a book! 🙂 Thanks again!