FAQs for Authors

In a nutshell, Canadian Authors for Indies Day (Saturday, April 30, 2016) 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 2015 to say how much fun they had. Many hung around the store past their shifts and refused to leave.

Yes! Last year, AFI Day generated an average bump in book sales of 18.5%! We 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. Let your friends, family, and colleagues know what Authors for Indies Day is all about.

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

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.

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 with day jobs. 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.

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

How's this for incentive: if you don't sign up, you won't go in the database. If you're not in the database, your name won't show up on any lists, even the Booksellers List that tells people which store you'll be at. It's not just between you and the bookseller. Publishers want to know which of their authors are participating and where to plan better marketing support. So sign up.

If you want to participate in Authors for Indies, sign up ASAP. The sooner you team up with a bookstore, the sooner the store knows who's on their roster of authors, and the easier it will be for them and for publishers to plan their logistics -- such as stocking copies of your books and making marketing and promo plans.

This year we're asking stores and authors to team up by March 1st. This is not a 'drop dead' date where we cut you off from signing up or teaming up. It is a date that provides decent lead time for those who are organizing stuff to know what and who they have to work with. In-store events, media and PR, supporting activities and marketing materials. You stand a better chance of being included in those materials and promotions if you make that date.

Register your interest in volunteering by signing up. Please note that while we will ask for your email address, it will remain private; booksellers can contact you via private messaging (PM) but will not see your email address.

When you have your login, we'll add your name to the list of registered authors. Booksellers will be able to contact you and vice versa. Remember to inform your publisher and publicist.

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,please have them contact us and we will add them in. The system is set up to only indicate one publisher per author. We suggest you use your most recent publisher. The purpose of the publisher affiliation is to 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 publishers.

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.

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. Some stores will organize specific activities, so talk to “your” store about what they are planning to do on the big day.

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.

We all are. Everyone who participates. Oh, you meant logistically. Well, in that case, here’s a list of this year’s volunteers:

• Susannah Ames (ECW Press): PR, media, and publisher outreach
• Janie Chang (Author): organizer, webmaster, content editor, AFI Day founder
• Kate Earnshaw (HarperCollins Canada): marketing materials support
• Lesley Fletcher (Retail Council of Canada): bookstore outreach, social media community manager
• Kate Hilton (Author): organizer, content editor, guest blog organizer, video production organizer (Toronto)
• 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 30!

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 #AFI2016
• As April 30 approaches, promote the event on every form of social media that you use

And finally, on April 30, get to a local indie bookstore! Send your friends and family to an indie bookstore! Have a great time!