Here’s How to Keep Bookstores and Books Alive
Here’s LA’s “New” Way Anyone Can Support Books
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson, writer of fiction, poetry, and
the HowToDoItFrugally Series of How-To Books for Writers
This article comes to you along with a thanks to the LA Times for a wonderful article titled “Bookworms, this one is for you” that appeared at a time when there is so much bad news surrounding the publishing industry, journalism, and retailing in general. The article was about an “inaugural LA Book Crawl.”
Let’s pay attention to that word, inaugural. I mean, really? We who live in Los Angeles had to wait until 2026 for one of these fun ways to support books, publishing, and readers and for a book-friendly newspaper to cover it and pass along how it’s something any organization—indeed anyone—can do to help keep beloved bookstores and real paper books alive.
Yes, readers and writers alike! We need everyone and there is a way for anyone to borrow “Los Angeles’ new/old idea” of live bookcrawls.
Yep, we (again, anyone) can coordinate a book crawl and persuade bookstores to support our effort with something that is sure to introduce them to new customers, up their profit for the day and beyond, and, in the long run, make a difference in our community. Further they could be tailored to special interests of the reading and writing crowd…everything from specific genres to the kinds of bookstores like little free libraries sprouting up in communities throughout the country, stores that sell used books, to stores that specialize in children’s literature. And you can use the above point to convince retailers (bookstores?) to participate!
As long as we’re at it, let’s expand our efforts to support our city and college libraries. A “crawl” can include all library venues or all bookstore retailer venues or a combination of bookstores no matter what their specialty. You might come up with other categories to make you crawl a hit! Let’s volunteer! Here are some starter ideas:
§ LA’s bookcrawl included only retail bookstores but it was even more narrowly focused than that! It specialized in indie bookstores. And it helped make a point: LA is not lacking in erudite efforts beyond Hollywood. And they managed to do that looking squarely at the temporary closure of West Hollywood’s iconic Book Soup. And they used a successful crawl in San Diego (and sought advice from its planners) which has been celebrating book in this way for nine years now!
§ Their crawl included a “passport system;” it’s kin to loyalty programs where attendees got to include getting a stamp on the crawl passport for every $10 they spent on books. Those stamps were good for prizes featured at participating bookshops like merchandise from their gift departments or even audio books! (That’s a grand opportunity for a writer to be featured at celebrations like this along with the address of their websites like the one for this inaugural, LAIndieBookcrawl.com.) Jump on the volunteer bandwagon to get other ideas for your book cover image and link to be featured on all the promotional materials!
§ The owners of passports were entered in a raffle for a $325.00 gift card.
§ Extend your crawl to the length of time needed to accommodate exposure to widespread bookstores in large cities or even more rural regions.
§ Expand your crawl to a variety of activities to emphasize that bookstores are community jewels where people in all walks of life can be comfortable together sharing their own books as well as their favorites.
§ What about the aforementioned library crawl? Sure, why not, but there are other ways to support them Including.
a. Offer to read to children one afternoon a week or during summer vacation—and then make sure the library does their job by marketing it. They probably distribute a newsletter for their own library fans—paper or e-mail—anyway. Making a fuss over a crawl or a volunteer event will not be taxing for them! Ditto for fliers they distribute at their checkout desk for those who borrow books often. Both are usually free and the librarian-editor in charge of these things needs fresh news frequently.
b. If you have a creative urge, offer to do a display of books for them—using a title or titles you authored or any favorite you love recommending to the world.
c. If they have a display window, offer do it up with holiday themed books and decorations that you bring and set up for them; let your hometown newspaper know about that, too.
d. Authors can offer to spearhead a critique group for blossoming authors in the community. They work especially well in branches to keep travel time at a minimum for writers trying to carve out time to write. Do remember to urge the library to promote its existence.
e. Suggest a tour of the library for members of an organization you belong, too.
f. Suggest a panel of authors who can speak to an important subject like tolerance to your library’s events director. How could she/he resist! That list of three to five names will have done their work for them! It sure didn’t take any wheedling when I tested this idea for Glendale, CA. ‘s central Library.
WritersontheMove’s readers will want to put the new bookstore contacts they make in an Excel file to use for book signings for the release of their own new releases or other promotions they are doing. Remember to mention that you have a list of xxx former visitors to your events and that combining your list with theirs can easily raise their usual day’s sales figures by 10% (and be prepared to mention a few you’ve done or give them the contact information they can use for recommendations—you know, sorta like people do with résumés. )
Here is a bonus list of the Los Angeles indie bookstores who participated in its inaugural bookcrawl:
Richard Turner, owner of Diesel, Brentwood, CA. who organized the event with these indies in LA and surrounding suburb cities:
Chevalier’s in Larchmont, an LA neighborhood.
Vroman’s in Pasadena, CA,
Once Upon a Time, Montrose, CAChildren’s Book World, Cheviot Hills, CA
Ripped Bodice (specializing in romance books), Culver City, CA
Malik Books, Culver City, CA
Book Jewel, LA’s Westchester neighborhood, and Manhattan Beach, CA
And keep your fingers crossed that Book Soup will be back in Hollywood soon!
Triptych courtesy Amazon.com for their newly introduced
More About Your #WritersontheMove Contributor:
Carolyn Howard-Johnson is now the author of a Modern History Press Series that began in 2004 with The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't. It’s now published in its 3rd edition as a hardcover, paperback, and an e-book! One of the books in that series is even available as an Audio! Find them on Carolyn’s series page on Amazon’s new benefit created for series only at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTXQL27T. That Amazon feature is one of #TheFrugalBookPromoterTips she shares with writers so if (when?) they write a series, they’ll be aware that benefit is waiting for them to install at no cost through AmazonCentral.com
Carolyn has used most of the ideas featured in today’s column to promote her #HowToDoItFrugally Series as well as her fiction and poetry. Contrary to hearsay, many libraries have events directors who welcome help, ideas, and are grateful for community involvement. Ditto for bookstores.
Special thanks to Julius Miller who covered this story in my 2nd Favorite newspaper of all time! The first is The Salt Lake Tribune, a Pulitzer Prize-Winning newspaper where a very special editor, Mary Chachas, helped me hone my own journalism skills in my first professional writing job.
