Amazon is obsessed with creating its own consumer holidays. They piggyback on the standard ones, like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, of course, but their own creations are constantly multiplying: Prime Day, Prime Big Deal Days, the Big Spring Sale, Amazon Pet Day — I could go on. Last year, they introduced a new one: the Amazon Book Sale. It was held near the end of May with the stated mission of “[inspiring] customers to read more.” Well, hard to argue with that.
Then, Amazon did something curious. Its Book Sale is indeed back for 2025, but instead of running in the third week of May, the company moved it up to this week, from April 23 to 28. That change would be completely harmless if it were not for one little detail: this week also happens to mark Independent Bookstore Day.
There’s no chance this is a coincidence. Amazon started its life hoping to be “Earth’s biggest bookstore” when it began selling books online in 1995; as its grip on the market intensified, physical bookstores shuttered, with the Census Bureau tracking a 50% decline in the number of U.S. bookshops between 1998 and 2019. But then, independent bookstores began to fight back, rallying support through initiatives like Independent Bookstore Day, which began in California in 2014 and expanded nationwide the next year. According to the American Booksellers Association (ABA), which produces the event, this year’s 12th iteration, on Saturday, will be the biggest yet, with over 1,600 stores participating across all 50 states and territories.
In the face of a groundswell of support for indie bookstores in recent years, and additional competition from new online retailers supporting them, Amazon is apparently ready to take off the gloves. If the corporate Goliath’s fight for market share was previously pitched as a simple case of progress and consumer preference, it seems they’re now willing to directly pit themselves against your local brick-and-mortar shop. (Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.)
Amazon publicly announced the new dates for their Book Sale event on April 15, the same day the ABA sent out a press release about this year’s Independent Bookstore Day. The organizers of the latter were caught off guard, but ultimately the move wasn’t a total shock.
“Independent Bookstore Day is a reminder that no sale, no algorithm, and no tech giant can replicate what independent bookstores do,” Courtney Wallace, Independent Bookstore Day Program Director, told InsideHook. “Indie bookstores are where readers are made, where authors are supported, and where books are more than transactions.”
“When customers shop with indies, they are buying more than a book, they are investing in their community,” she added.
The Year the Tech Nerds Became the Bullies
There was a time when Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk were interested in innovation and high-minded ideals, but that pretense has been shed in favor of a new goal: powerThere are endless anecdotal ways that independent bookstores foster community. As a personal example, Magers & Quinn, one of my favorite shops in my home of Minneapolis, has helped organize events ranging from in-store poetry readings to conversations about living a creative life to a party at a distillery marking the 100th anniversary of The Great Gatsby — and that’s just this month alone. But there’s actual data to support Wallace’s point, too.
In 2022, a study from Civic Economics that was developed in partnership with the ABA found that “[29.3%] of all revenue at independent bookstores immediately recirculates in the local economy,” compared to just 14% from Barnes & Noble and 5.8% from Amazon. Even if you’re only concerned with the economics at play in this fight for your business — not the nebulous warm fuzzies that come from a flesh-and-blood bookseller recommending a novel that changes your entire outlook on life — that’s an unimpeachable argument for shopping local.
Look, I’m not interested in the cliché of all corporations being evil and all indie shops being their angelic counterparts. That’s not based in reality. But when Amazon blatantly tries to usurp the annual celebration of the local bookstores that have made our lives and our communities richer, it’s like they’re willingly playing the villain. There’s no need to paint them in a bad light — they’re doing it themselves.
Instead of using your phone to buy books on Amazon this week, books that will then be shipped to your doorstep without you needing to leave the house or interact with a human being, I suggest a different plan: find a local shop participating in Independent Bookstore Day (some festivities have already begun!), browse the stacks shoulder to shoulder with your neighbors, get a recommendation from a well-read employee, and then take a look at the store’s upcoming events and pick one to attend.
That’s a new book, new acquaintances and new gatherings to look forward to, all in one outing. Courtney Wallace wasn’t kidding when she promised indies can do what Amazon cannot.
More Like This
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
