FAQs for Authors

In a nutshell, Canadian Authors for Indies Day is a day when authors volunteer at independent bookstores (indies) and work as guest booksellers. Or do whatever the bookstore needs us to do – readings, signings, bagging books, or karaoke.

What makes author participation on AFI Day different from other events is that we are there to promote indie bookstores, not ourselves.

Why? Because indie bookstores support Canadian authors. They carry our books and put us on their Staff Picks and Proudly Canadian shelves. They organize readings and signings. They hand sell our books. It’s a day for us to show our appreciation for Canada’s independent bookstores. It’s a tough business but every day of the week booksellers do their job because they love books. We need to give back.

Customers who visit indie bookstores on AFI Day will get to meet local authors and chat with us, booknerd to booknerd, about the books we love. We recommend books they would enjoy reading – anyone’s books, not just ours.

We just loved being in bookstores. We met other local authors and made new friends. We caught up with authors we hadn’t seen in a while. We invited friends and family to drop in and introduced them to a wonderful store. We built a better relationship with our local bookstores.

Many, many authors wrote to us after AFI Day to say how much fun they had. Many hung around the store past their shifts and refused to leave.

Yes! In 2015 AFI Day generated an average bump in book sales of 18.5%! In 2016 it was 22%. We've had over 120 indie bookstores and nearly 700 authors participating. And we were one of the CBC’s 10 Biggest Book Stories of 2015.

First, sign up! Then, be proactive! Contact a participating bookstore to volunteer.

Once you’re confirmed with a store, help promote the event. At the very least, let your friends, family, and colleagues know what Authors for Indies Day is all about.

If you blog, write about it. If you're on social media, let your fans and followers know about it. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, share and retweet.

If you have contacts in local newspapers, radio, or TV, use them on behalf of AFI Day and ‘your’ store.

[NOTE: Sign ups are temporarily closed during website enhancements. Sign ups will open again on Feb. 1, 2017]

This is a grassroots movement. While we AFI organizers are doing our best to get more support from publishers, media, and sponsors, we're just a small team of volunteers.

We have two volunteers dedicated to PR/media - but remember that like all of us, they're doing this in-between day jobs, taking care of family, and their own writing projects.

While we believe that last year’s success has earned AFI tons of credibility and visibility which will make PR and media easier this year, at the end of the day, we're just a small team of volunteers with day jobs. So we need your help. The best thing you can do is promote your local bookstore and AFI in general. This could be through your own social media, emails to friends and family, or if you connections in newspapers and magazines, get in touch with them.

We do our best and you do yours. Thank you.

It's not just between you and the bookseller. When you sign up, we have you "on file". Publishers need to see their authors' names on the list so they know which of their authors are participating and where to plan for marketing support. Bookstores need to order copies of your books in advance, and need to see at a glance which publisher to deal with. Last but not least, when you sign up it automates a bunch of admin tasks for us. Stuff you don't see but which is a lot of work behind the scenes when we have to make manual tweaks to accomodate authors who do not sign up. So please sign up.

It was easier last year, you say. Yes, it was. Last year we didn't have any sign up requirement because the website was cheap and nasty, we did everything manually and it was a LOT of work. Given that we're all volunteers and a very small team, it wasn't sustainable. This year we moved to a database-driven list format. It requires Authors & Bookstores to sign up for accounts and enter a bit more info, but it helps us stay out of therapy. There are hundreds of you and a few of us, so we really rely on participants' cooperation. Thank you.

Register to volunteer by signing up. When your sign up has been approved, you'll get an email in your Inbox and your name will be on the list of registered authors.Booksellers will be able to see that you're willing to participate.

Remember to inform your publisher or publicist that you've signed up.

This question is being answered by Kate Hilton, who has been both self-published and traditionally published.

There is nothing to stop you from signing up, and here's the reality: if there is a store that already carries your books, you stand a much better chance of being hosted. And even then, I'd check with the store first before signing up.

When we asked booksellers about hosting self-published authors, the responses ranged from ‘No’ to ‘Yes/Maybe, if we already carry their books’ to ‘Maybe, if they come in to the store first and I can see the quality of their books’.

As an event, Authors for Indies is not an effective avenue for self-published authors to get their books into retail stores. Unless you have already built a relationship with a bookstore, they will be very hesitant about hosting you.

If your publisher isn't on our list, let us know or have your publisher contact us. We will add your publisher to the list. There is a Contact form under the ABOUT tab.

The system is set up to only indicate one publisher affiliation per author. We suggest you use your most recent publisher. The purpose of the publisher affiliation is (a) to make it easier for your publisher to track how many of their authors are participating and (b) let booksellers know how to order your books should they host you. That's just a starting point, because any bookstore who hosts you will have a discussion with you first. During that discussion, via email or phone, you can let them know about all your other publishers.

We pre-loaded the list with as many publishing houses as we could find, but obviously we can't predict which authors will sign up or who their publishers are. So in this first year, we are relying on authors and/or their publishers to let us know if a publisher isn't on the list. It's a one-time effort on your part and we appreciate your help.

The reason 'Other' is not on the list is because (a) it doesn't help bookstores to know which publishers/distributors to deal with and (b) we are trying to build up our database of publisher names.

No way. We’re control freaks but we’re not masochists. This website facilitates the matchmaking process by listing stores and authors who want to take part. It's up to bookstores and authors to contact each other.

Some authors will end up at the bookstore of their choice, some bookstores will end up with the authors of their choice. Or not.

Some stores will organize specific activities, so talk to “your” store about what they are planning to do on the big day. The goal is to bring in store traffic and make it a great retail day for the store. We are there to help sell books. The point is not to sell our own books – although that tends to happen organically – but to recommend books by other writers that we love.

That's between bookstores and authors. Last year, some authors travelled to several stores over the course of the day, while others spent an entire day in one store, while still others volunteered for one shift at one store because that's all they could fit in to their day.

Here’s a list of the 2017 volunteers as of December 2016:

• 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, video production assistant (Vancouver)

You can reach us by emailing [email protected]. We’ll make sure your email is forwarded to the member of our team best suited to respond. But seriously, it’s a grassroots thing. The success of the day hinges on the enthusiasm of all of you writers and booksellers telling your friends, family, fans and followers to get out to a participating bookstore on April 30th.

1) Tell all of your friends, family, fans, followers, and fellow writers about AFI and that they should visit an indie bookstore on April 29, 2017!

2) Stay connected to Authors for Indies

• Check our blog every so often for announcements
• Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AuthorsforIndies
• Follow us on Twitter @authors4indies.
• Tweet about the event #AFI2017
• As April 29 approaches, promote the event on every form of social media that you use

And finally, on April 29, get to a local indie bookstore! Send your friends and family to an indie bookstore! Have a great time!