About Authors for Indies

Authors for Indies Day (Saturday, April 29, 2017) is a day when authors show their appreciation for Canadian independent bookstores (indies). We do this by volunteering as guest booksellers for the day. When you visit an indie bookstore on AFI Day, you'll have the opportunity to meet local authors, chat with us booklover to booklover, and get book recommendations from us. Perhaps share your recommendations with us. You may buy a book or two, or just get to know your local bookstore better.

Authors are doing this to raise awareness of indie bookstores and how important they are to our communities, our reading lives, and our cultural well-being. It's a day to give some love to your local neighbourhood bookstore.

So save the date on your calendar. Tell your friends, family, and colleagues about Authors for Indies Day on April 29, 2017.

We'll be hanging out, chatting with customers, giving readings, singing karaoke - just kidding. Although one year author Charles de Lint did play guitar and sing at Backbeat Books. Our main agenda is to chat with customers and recommend books they might enjoy. Because authors like nothing better than to share a good title or three. Be warned! It is hard to leave AFI empty-handed.

Some stores will organize specific activities, or team up with other local businesses, or have door prizes. It's all up to the individual bookstore because they know better than anyone else what would appeal to their customers. Call ahead and talk to your local indie about what they have planned. Or just drop in to a participating store on April 29 and be surprised.

Under the FIND A STORE link above, you can select your province. You'll see a list of the bookstores and authors who are participating in Authors for Indies. By the way, the list gets updated every day as stores and authors team up, so in January you may not see much going on in your province. By March, things should be hopping, so check in closer to the date!

Yes! Last year, AFI generated a bump in book sales of 18.5% and in 2016 22%! We've had over 120 indie bookstores and nearly 700 authors participating coast to coast. And we were one of the CBC’s 10 Biggest Book Stories of 2015.

What’s not to love? You get to visit your local indie bookstore, meet incredible Canadian writers (if we do say so ourselves), and find out what books they can’t live without. Authors have the BEST book recommendations. Many stores host several authors so in one day you could meet authors who write: kids books, mysteries and thrillers, romance, literary fiction, poetry, SF/fantasy ... you get the idea. As someone said last year, "the line-up of authors at some of these stores would put a literary festival to shame."

And you get to support your local indie bookstore while you shop and chat. It’s a fabulous way to spend a Saturday. Unless you prefer vacuuming.

Canadian authors love our indie bookstores. Indie booksellers read our books, promote them, celebrate them, put them on Staff Picks shelves and on bookcases proudly labeled "Canadian Authors". They invite us for readings and recommend us to their book clubs. They support us and this is our way of giving back.

We were inspired by the Indies First Campaign in the USA, started by author Sherman Alexie. In Canada, Authors for Indies Day is a grassroots movement organized by a small team of volunteers. This year we are:

• Janie Chang (Author): organizer, webmaster, content & newsletter editor, AFI Day founder
• Kate Hilton (Author): guest blogger wrangler
• Robin Rivers (Journalist, Digital Entrepreneur): PR, media outreach
• Candie Tanaka (Intern): social media
• Kitty Widjaja (Intern): graphics
• Mary-Ann Yazedijian (Bookseller): bookseller communications (Vancouver)

It is ridiculously fun, if you are the sort of person who likes books and bookstores. But happily you are, because you are on our website. Join us on April 29. Drop in to an indie bookstore!