Who Are Indie Authors? Part 2: Indie Bookstore Day 2025 (#311)
- RIck LeCouteur
- Apr 25
- 2 min read
Saturday April 26th 2025 is Indie Bookstore Day!
It’s a nationwide celebration of everything we love about independent bookstores. Their heart, their soul, and their vital role as cultural anchors in our communities.
Indie Bookstore Day was born in 2014, the brainchild of writer and former bookseller Samantha Schoech. She teamed up with the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association to bring the idea to life, inspired by the success of Record Store Day.
What began as a regional event became a national celebration in 2015 and it’s now held annually on the last Saturday in April.
Since then, Indie Bookstore Day has grown into a joyful literary holiday, featuring:
Special edition books and merch.
Author visits and signings.
Literary trivia and scavenger hunts.
Giveaways, kids’ events, and plenty of bookish community spirit.
It’s a day when readers show up, shop local, and say thank you to the stores that keep literature alive on the ground.
The Indie Resurgence
According to the American Booksellers Association (ABA), there are approximately 2,433 independent bookstores across the United States in 2024. A remarkable rebound from the pandemic low of around 1,700 in 2020.
This resurgence is more than just economic recovery. It’s a movement fueled by:
Passionate community support.
Resistance to book bans and censorship.
A demand for diverse and underrepresented voices.
A desire for real spaces to connect, browse, and belong.
New indie stores are opening every year, from romance-only shops to online-only indies run out of people’s homes. The ABA reports that around 190 new stores are expected to open over the next two years. And each one brings its own identity, mission, and magic.
Favorite Indie Spots
The Wee Bookshop, Dollar, Scotland.
In January 2021 with lockdown giving us time to ponder our options two veterinarians decided to take the plunge and purchase an empty shop in the beautiful small town of Dollar.
With a romantic idea of eventual retirement pottering in a bookshop, they would knock down a few walls, put up some shelves and realize the dream.
The Pleasant Pheasant Bookstore, Woodland, California.
The only independent bookstore in Woodland California that offers selection of 9,000 new books, board games, stationery, and gifts.
Owned by a local husband and wife, the bookshop’s inventory has been tailored to accommodate the local readership with a twist that reflects the owners’ love of nature, science fiction, fantasy and children’s books.
Four-Eyed Frog Books, Gualala, California.
The Frog, as it’s affectionately referred to, is owned by nearly two dozen community shareholders, who jointly purchased their beloved bookstore in 2016 when the original owner moved out of the area.
The bookstore is a cornerstone along the Mendonoma Coast.
It’s a place where friends meet and mingle, local authors read their works, and coffee, humor and hospitality are always complimentary.
Around the world, indie bookstores are popping up in the most unexpected places.
Converted barns, refurbished buses, mobile shops, and neighborhood nooks. Wherever they are, they remind us that stories belong everywhere.
Stay tuned for Part 3 of this series as we dive into the evolving relationship between indie authors and indie bookstores: the challenges, the opportunities, and the future we’re shaping together.
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