Share the Love: Spotlight on Authors for Indies Day 2017
April 25th, 2017
By Shayanna Seymour, Special to the BookThug Blog
It’s that time of year again! The time to support, and show your love for, Canadian independently-owned bookstores on none other than Author for Indies Day (AFI). This year marks the 3rd annual AFI which will take place all across the country at 87 participating bookstores on Saturday, April 29th. All of us at BookThug HQ are super excited to give back to the many indie bookstores who support us and our authors every day of the year.
This year, I have the pleasure of being a volunteer for Authors for Indies Day, and I have partnered with Toronto indie Another Story Bookhop! Another Story, located in the Roncesvalles neighborhood, is coming up on their 150 year anniversary! The store is so much more than a bookstore; it is a cultural and social hub for teachers, librarians, and book lovers alike, to come together and discover their next favourite book. From the pleasant staff, to the accessibility of the adorable store, I am proud to share in Authors for Indies Day with them. I, along with two of my former classmates from Centennial College’s Publishing Program—Bronte (who is currently interning at Ampersand), and Manu (intern at House of Anansi Press)—are part of the marketing team tasked with helping to spread the word about the many guest authors Another Story will be hosting on AFI. We’re currently running a social media campaign entitled ‘What’s Your Story with Another Story?’ to learn more about why people love the store. We have quotes from staff, teachers, authors, librarians, and even High Park’s former MPP Cheri Dinovo! Check out Another Story’s Instagram page to learn more. Also, as we speak there is a ‘9 Days of Giveaways’ contest happening through Another Story’s Instagram, Twitter and Facebook accounts. To enter, simply guess the title of the featured Book of the Day, as chosen by one of the authors who will be visiting the store on AFI, and you could win a book-themed prize donated by one of our sponsors, including BookThug, Simon and Schuster, Penguin Random House Canada, Owlkids, and more.
Hundreds of Canadian authors will be volunteering as guest booksellers at indie bookstores across the country, including several BookThug authors!
- Moez Surani, author of Operations, and Jennifer LoveGrove, author of Beautiful Children with Pet Foxes, will both be at Book City, Danforth location, in Toronto. Meet Jennifer at 11 am and Moez at 1:00 pm.
- Black Bond Books will welcome Leanne Dunic, author of the fabulous of prose poetry book, To Love the Coming End, to their location in central Surrey, B.C at 11 am.
- Jacob Wren, author of Rich and Poor and Polyamorous Love Song, will perform a special DJ set at the beautiful Librairie Drawn and Quarterly in Montreal, QC from 3-6 pm. Plus, Jacob will be previewing his upcoming single, ‘Rich and Poor‘, from our new literary record label, Chaos and Star. More info to come on this soon!
- Ottawa’s Octopus Books will welcome Christine McNair to read from her new poetry collection, Charm, at 1:30 pm.
- People’s Co-op Bookstore in Vancouver will host Jennifer Zilm, author of Waiting Room, in their downtown store from 2-4 pm.
Independent bookstores truly are the backbone of our bookselling and reading communities. We can’t wait to show our appreciation and gratitude to them on AFI, and we encourage all of you to do the same. So, on April 29th, plan to visit your local neighbourhood bookstore and show them such much deserved love.
Credit: Catherine Mellinger
Lastly, here is one more reason to visit Another Story Bookshop: the store’s display window currently features the collaborative work of Marianne Apostolides, author of the stirring new memoir, Deep Salt Water, and artist Catherine Mellinger, who created a series of mixed media collages to accompany the text. The book features 8 of Catherine’s collages, and a couple of them are also included in the window display. The display will be featured until May the 4th, the day after the launch party for Deep Salt Water, which will take place nearby on Sorauren Avenue at Gallery 345. For more info,or to RSVP, visit the Facebook event page here. (PS: May 3rd is also Marianne’s birthday, so you can be sure to expect an extra special night of celebration! Hope to see you there.)
