Nonprofit small press distributor SPD is teaming with the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses, to organize the Indie Bookseller Council, a newly formed group of independent booksellers focused on boosting the support and sales of small press literary works.
The initial group of 14 booksellers includes Jarrod Annis of Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn, Jared Levine of City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, Veronica Liu of WordUp bookstores in New York City, and Lee Francis of Red Planet Books & Comics in Albuquerque, NM.
Initiated by a conversation between Annis and former CLMP executive director Jeffrey Lependorf, the IBC will work in collaboration with SPD and CLMP to bring together booksellers focused on selling small press poetry, literary fiction and works in translation. The group will focus on building community among indie booksellers, share bookselling tips, solicit bookseller-generated book reviews and aggregate top title lists. The IBC will connect its members via a listserv and virtual ad hoc Zoom meetings, as well as meeting during the next Winter Institute in January.
“By coordinating through multiple booksellers sharing their passion for particular titles with one another, the Council believes that indie booksellers—who can thrive through careful curation of hand-selected titles beyond just those on traditional bestseller lists—can generate more attention and sales for these special books,” Lependorf said.
