California Bookstore Day

Get this on your calendars now if you live in California.  If you don’t, there’s time to plan to get this started in your state and celebrate with your own local independent bookstore!

Contact: Samantha Schoech, Producer
schoech70@mac.com
Twitter: @BookstoreDay
Facebook: /BookstoreDay

The first California Bookstore Day will take place on on Saturday May 3, 2014. CBD will harness the creative power of authors, publishers, and booksellers to celebrate the reading community and drive readers to brick and mortar bookstores.

For one day, and one day only, a number of very limited, unique, word-based items and books will be available in more than 150 independent stores across the state. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill signed first editions—these are literature-based art projects, unique books, and collector’s items created for this event only.  You can’t get them before. You can’t get them after. And you can’t get them online.

CBD is a collaboration between The Northern and Southern California Independent Booksellers Associations, representing more than 300 bookstores. Pete Mulvihill, co-owner of Green Apple Books in San Francisco, spearheaded the event after noting the success of Record Store Day.

Large and small publishers from New York to California have agreed to work with their authors and designers to create books and items specifically for California Bookstore Day. “We love the creativity and energy of the California bookstore community, and this has the potential to be a terrifically effective way to showcase great stores, and celebrate the fantastic West Coast reading culture,” said Ruth Liebmann of Random House. “It’s too early in the process to discuss specifics, but we plan to participate, which should be a lot of fun for everyone involved.”

CBD is currently raising $30,000 in a crowdsourcing campaign through Indiegogo in order to launch the event. http://igg.me/at/bookstoreday/x/302290