If you love the allure of indie bookstores as much as we do, then Indie Bookstore Day on April 25 is for you.
Now in its 13th year, Indie Bookstore Day is a celebration of community and culture that continues to grow year after year. In fact, according to the American Booksellers Association, this year’s event promises to be the largest ever, with over 2,000 indie bookstores participating in the day’s activities. Participating stores usually put their own unique spin on the day’s events, and book lovers can expect to find exclusive offers, author signings, games, scavenger hunts, refreshments, book crawls, and other fun activities.
While primarily a U.S.-based event, authors everywhere can still take part in the excitement. And why not? According to bookstores who participated in last year’s event, foot traffic and sales for the day rivaled the type of liveliness typically seen during the holidays.
Draft2Digital + Bookshop.org: Your Indie Bookstore Connection
Thanks to our partnership with Bookshop.org, announced in February, your ebooks can be ordered from more than 3,400 indie bookstores throughout the U.S. and United Kingdom. Bookshop.org’s sleek new ebook app makes it easy for your readers to purchase an ebook while still benefitting the indie bookstore community.
As you may have read in our Bookshop.org partnership announcement, readers can select their favorite indie bookstore to support from a list of local bookstores at Bookshop.org. When a reader purchases a book, their preferred store receives 100% of the profit. If no store is selected, the sale supports a shared profit pool for all partner stores.
If you've published a print-on-demand paperback (POD) through D2D Print, your POD book is also available at Bookshop.org. That means while readers are browsing their favorite shop during Indie Bookstore Day, if they can’t find your book on the shelves, they can ask the store to order the POD version.
Indie Authors for Indie Bookstores!
In our partnership announcement with Bookshop.org, we stated that distribution of free indie ebooks to Bookshop.org was expected in the second quarter of 2026. We also stated that the D2D and Bookshop.org promotions teams were putting their heads together to figure out some really cool joint merchandising features.
We’re happy to report that both checklist items have come to fruition. If you want to distribute your free ebooks to Bookshop.org, now you can do so. On the merchandising front, Bookshop.org is currently showcasing 19 D2D authors in their “Indie Authors for Indie Bookstores” promotion at Bookshop.org/ebooks and on the Home and Explore pages in the app. The feature, which is intended to draw reader attention to indie authors during Indie Bookstore Day, will be moved to a more prominent location for the Indie Bookstore Day weekend.
Here's what Bookshop.org's promo page looks like…
How to Celebrate Indie Bookstore Day
1. Right click on the following social media image and save it to your desktop. Upload the image into your preferred graphic design platform (e.g. Canva, BookBrush, etc.) and add your book’s cover image. Adding a drop shadow, like on the covers in our bestsellers section below, helps your cover image “pop” a bit more.
2. Download Bookshop.org’s free ebook app for Android and iOS, find the book(s) you want to promote to your readers, and use the app’s nifty share feature in your newsletter, website, messaging and social media outreach.
3. Provide direct hyperlinks to your book's purchase page at Bookshop.org. This creates a frictionless shopping experience for your readers and eliminates their need to search for your book while browsing.
4. If you’re in the U.S., try to visit an indie bookstore in your hometown and encourage your readers to do the same. Click here for a map of participating stores and bookstore crawls.
5. Create a hyperlink to your print book or ebook at Bookshop.org by using your free universal book link tool at Books2Read.com.
Remember, if you want your books to be considered for future promotions at Bookshop.org, or any other retail or library platform, be sure to fill out the D2D Promotions Form so we can keep you up to date. Our promo team works hard behind the scenes to help your books get more visibility.