As gift-giving season draws closer, publishers look to retailers to stock up for the holidays, but this season, one of the largest retailers, Amazon, decided to drastically cut book orders to publishers. The cuts are due to space issues in Amazon’s warehouses as they make room for “bigger-ticket items for Black Friday and Cyber Monday,” Publisher’s Weekly suggests. This choice to cut orders has a significant impact on publishers, resulting in lower sales during a season when publishers count on high buy-ins. Amazon’s decision is especially hurtful to indie publishers who rely heavily or completely on Amazon for sales. The decision “will affect publishers’ bottom lines for months to come,” Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) states. Despite the fact that Amazon began as an online bookstore in 1994, its ever-increasing dominance and power creates a dependency that ultimately hurts the book industry. Amazon has no devotion or concern for the book industry, and its decision to cut book orders demonstrates just how important it is for book lovers to avoid Amazon for book purchases. The head of one company suggested moving more sales to retailers like Walmart and Barnes & Noble, but the best thing book buyers can do to support the industry is to make purchases from local independent bookstores. Purchasing from indie bookstores supports jobs, authors, and the local economy in a way that large retailers like Amazon simply cannot. Despite its convenience, Amazon is ultimately a harm to the book industry. This season, support your local community…

Pre-order. You might be surprised to learn that pre-ordering a book is critical to the launch of a book. Publishers may make decisions about how much marketing support to provide a new release based on the volume of pre-orders. Some even determine the size of a first print run using those numbers. If a book has strong pre-order sales, reviewers are more likely to review it, the media is more likely to hype it up, and retailers are more likely to carry it in stock and give it premium placement. If you know an author has a book coming out, please pre-order it. Write a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. It doesn’t need to be very long or a deep literary analysis. The number of reviews a book receives affects the algorithms for getting found online. If you don’t like the book, don’t leave a review. As my mother used to say, “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Spread the word. Let your friends and family know how much you enjoyed a book. Share this on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or wherever you do social media. Take a book-selfie. Post a picture of the book, your cat lying across the couch with a paw on the cover, you falling asleep on the couch with the book. Follow. Many authors have Facebook Pages you can like and follow. On Twitter, many authors have accounts and you can follow them and retweet to amplify their voices. Follow authors on…

There is something special about summer, especially in Wisconsin where warm weather happens for only a few treasured months of the year. And while reading is a favorite pastime all year round, summer has always felt like prime time for reading. So in the tradition of creating summer bucket lists, here are a few book-centered ideas add to your list. Take yourself on a book date. Visit your favorite local indie bookstore or library and pick up a new book that catches your eye. Then settle in with your new read on a chair at the beach, or on a blanket at a park, or in a cozy corner of a local coffee shop. This is a fun way to work on your TBR while also going on an outing to places you might not normally visit. Join your library’s summer reading program. Summer reading programs aren’t just for kids! Many libraries have programs for adults to join too (Brown County Library and the Appleton Public Library both do!). If you’re going to be reading all summer anyway, you might as well earn prizes while doing it. Read something new. Try reading something from a genre or an author that is new to you, or try reading an audiobook if you normally read print books. You might just discover a new favorite! Attend an event at your local indie bookstore. From author talks to book clubs to pop-up bookfairs, indie bookstores have a variety of events to suit every kind…