Celebrate National Bookstore Day on Nov. 7

by Cate Masters

Bookstores have an atmosphere like no other place. Novels lining shelves feel like old friends, and I could wander through the stacks all day.

On Nov. 7, the inaugural National Bookstore Day will celebrate bookstores and increase their public visibility through local and national media coverage.

If you have a favorite bookstore, encourage its managers to participate. They can find information from Publishers Weekly on ways to make the experience rich for customers and their store. Encourage them to share their information with Publishers Weekly, who will include it in their online list. PW created logos, bookmarks, signs and other useful materials to let consumers know of their participation, and to encourage them to “Read Locally” and “Get Your Read On.”

We authors can help by proposing events to local bookstores. For instance, if stores want to hold contests or raffles, we could provide copies of our books as prizes. What reader wouldn't love a gift basket filled with writings of The Susquehanna Writers? If your story's only available electronically, then include a gift certificate good for one copy via email. That’s just one example. There are lots more options out there, and opportunities. Time to put our heads together! Let’s hear some of your ideas.

Cate Masters’ novels, novellas, short stories and flash fiction appear at epublishers The Wild Rose Press, Eternal Press, Wild Child Publishing/ Freya’s Bower and Shadowfire Press. Her flash and short stories appear at such web zines as Cezanne’s Carrot, The Battered Suitcase, A Long Story Short, Dark Sky Magazine, and The Harrow. Visit her online at www.catemasters.com, www.catemasters.blogspot.com or follow her on Facebook or on Twitter.