We know what you’re going through. You’re stuck at home and you’re bored and you just want to enjoy some damn BOOKS. But how? Brick and mortar stores are shut down and Amazon is, to put it lightly, f*cking evil. So what are you going to do? Well, hope is here. You can support your local, independent bookstores (and stick it to Jeff Bezos) by buying your books from Bookshop.
Bookshop is a relatively new site that launched right before the coronavirus shutdown hit, and thank goodness it did, because it’s giving a lifeline to many local, small booksellers. The biggest advantage that Amazon has over small, local sook store is an online, easy-to-use platform and streamlined service.
According to Bookshop’s CEO and founder Andy Hunter, when speaking with Inside Hook: “There are almost 2,000 bookstores in the country, and only about 150 of them have good online shopping platforms. That leaves a lot of stores that haven’t adapted, and Amazon’s kind of eating their lunch.”
Which is where Bookshop comes in. It allows you to easily order books from indie stores. Bookstores sign up to sell through Bookshop and 30% of the profits got to them. That’s not as much as the 40% to 45% they get selling themselves but it’s better than nothing, especially if a shop doesn’t have a robust online presence.
While Amazon is using their energy smearing labor organizer in their warehouses, many indie bookstores are struggling to scrape buy after being forced to close. Powell’s Books in Portland, the countries largest and most famous indie bookstore, laid off nearly all of their staff when Oregon non-essential business was ordered to shut down. They then hired 100 back to fill a flood of online orders. This shows how important online sales will be for the store during this time.
So, if you’re looking to buy some books, check out Bookshop and support local, non-evil bookstores as much as you can!
(via: Inside Hook, image: Disney)
Here are some other interesting things we saw today:
- People in the UK are burning 5G tower and it’s as good a time as any to remind you the 5g DOESN’T CAUSE CORONAVIRUS! (via Vice)
- For your Joe Exotic casting consideration: Rob Lowe. (via Daily Mail)
- The creators, cast, and songwriter of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend remember Adam Schlesinger. (via Vulture)
- Happy 25th Birthday to Paul Rudd again.
Paul Rudd at 28 vs Paul Rudd at 51. Does this man age? TBD. HBD! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/w2llCgVdUj
— InStyle (@InStyle) April 6, 2020
- Speaking of Rudd. The next Ant-Man movie has found its writer with Rick and Morty’s Jeff Loveness. (via Nerdist)
- Cats all over are testing positive for Coronavirus, but it’s not jumping from them to humans. (via Vanity Fair)
- Soon.
Hopelessly horny. The new season of #ShadowsFX premieres Wednesday, 4/15 on FX. Next day #FXonHulu. pic.twitter.com/L2wL26rs0H
— What We Do In The Shadows (@theshadowsfx) April 5, 2020
- Worst. President. Ever. (via Washington Post)
Anything we missed out there today, Mary Suevians?
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