# The Independent Bookstore Is Back. Here Is How Authors Can Land a Signing.

- Published: 2026-10-22
- Author: [Featured](https://marketermagazine.co/author/featured.md)
- Topics: [Insights](https://marketermagazine.co/insight.md)
- About: [American Booksellers Association](https://www.bookweb.org), [Find Bookstores](https://featured.com/product/features/find-bookstores)
- Based on: [ABA CEO Allison Hill's Letter from the 2025 Annual Report](https://www.bookweb.org/news/aba-ceo-allison-hills-letter-2025-annual-report-1632880), American Booksellers Association
- Based on: [The ABA Annual Meeting & Community Forum: Celebrating a 'Challenging, Banner' Year](https://shelf-awareness.com/theshelf/2026-05-29/the_aba_annual_meeting_community_forum:_celebrating_a_challenging_banner_year.html), Shelf Awareness
- Based on: [Independent bookstores are multiplying, although many people still think they're dying out](https://wtop.com/lifestyle/2026/05/independent-bookstores-are-multiplying-although-many-people-still-think-theyre-dying-out/), Associated Press
- Based on: [Independent Bookstore Day To Break Record with 2,000+ Stores Participating Nationwide](https://www.bookweb.org/sites/default/files/pages/diy/Independent%20Bookstore%20Day%202026%20Press%20Release.pdf), American Booksellers Association
- Based on: [Print Book Sales Rose Slightly in 2025](https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/99417-print-book-sales-rose-slightly-in-2025.html), Publishers Weekly
- Based on: [Pitching an Author Event: Tips from Talks with Bookstore Event Coordinators](https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/pitching-an-author-event-tips-from-talks-with-bookstore-event-coordinators), Independent Book Publishers Association
- Based on: [Where Authors Can Pitch: Independent Bookstores and Author Events in the United States](https://featured.com/press/research/where-authors-can-pitch-independent-bookstores-author-events-report), Featured
- Source: https://marketermagazine.co/insight/the-independent-bookstore-is-back-here-is-how-authors-can-land-a-signing/
- Publisher: Marketer Magazine

**The Independent Bookstore Is Back. Here Is How Authors Can Land a Signing.**

A decade ago the independent bookstore was a nostalgia story. Today it is one of the fastest-growing categories in local retail, and the stores that are opening look less like shops and more like community venues: an event space with a cafe, a book club calendar, a storytime on Saturday morning, and an author at the lectern on Thursday night. For an author with a book coming out, or the publicist working the launch, that makes the local bookstore the venue worth understanding.

This article covers what the growth looks like, what the stores do, how to find one that fits, and how to pitch it for a reading or a signing.

**The growth is real**

The American Booksellers Association’s [2025 annual report](https://www.bookweb.org/node/1700609) counted 605 new bookstore businesses opened in 2025, including 399 storefronts, 106 pop-ups, 77 mobile stores and 23 online shops, against 65 closures. Openings rose 87% from the year before. An [Associated Press report in May 2026](https://www.kpbs.org/news/arts-culture/2026/05/28/independent-bookstores-are-multiplying-find-booksellers-in-your-community) put ABA membership at 3,417 members operating 3,783 locations, up by more than 500 in a single year and the highest since the late 1990s. That is nearly double the 1,775 members the ABA [counted in 2016](https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/70306-aba-sees-membership-grow-for-7th-straight-year.html).

Customers are following. [More than 2,000 stores](https://www.bookweb.org/sites/default/files/pages/diy/Independent%20Bookstore%20Day%202026%20Press%20Release.pdf) took part in Independent Bookstore Day in April 2026, the largest turnout in the event’s 13-year history. Print has held steady through all of it; Circana BookScan [reported unit sales up 0.3% in 2025](https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/99417-print-book-sales-rose-slightly-in-2025.html).

**What the stores actually do**

An analysis of 1,093 independent bookstore records, compiled for Featured’s bookstore search and published in [Featured’s Independent Bookstore Report](https://featured.com/press/research/where-authors-can-pitch-independent-bookstores-author-events-report), shows how these stores describe themselves and how they can be contacted.

Events are the business model. 61.5% of the stores link directly to a public events or calendar page from their listing, and 37.5% describe author events, readings or signings in their own words. 13.9% run book clubs, 12.3% run storytimes or children’s programming, and 4.5% run a dedicated local authors program.

Many are gathering places as much as retailers. 14.1% operate a cafe, bar or wine program alongside the books, and 10.5% describe themselves as among the oldest or longest-running stores in their area.

They are reachable. 38.6% publish an email address for the store, 5.9% publish an online form for booking an event, and nearly every one publishes a website. The stores span all 50 states and the District of Columbia across 796 cities. California (11.8%), New York (9.8%), Texas (5.3%), Washington (5.0%) and Oregon (3.5%) have the most, and Brooklyn, New York City, San Francisco and Seattle are the densest cities. Of the 796 cities in the database, 666 have one listed store, so an author planning more than one event is usually planning across a state or a region rather than within a city.

**Why a bookstore event is worth the effort**

A review reaches people who happen to be reading. A bookstore event reaches people who chose to leave the house, and it ends with a line of readers holding copies. Stores promote their events through their own newsletters and social accounts, so a signing comes with a local media channel built in, and the store sells the book at the door, which is the sale a review cannot promise.

**How to pitch a bookstore**

Event coordinators are selective and protective of their customers. A [2005 IBPA article](https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/pitching-an-author-event-tips-from-talks-with-bookstore-event-coordinators) by Robin Quinn, drawn from interviews with three Los Angeles event coordinators, set out rules that have not changed. Expect a lead time of two to three months or more. Address the pitch to the person who books events. Never pitch a store that is wrong for the book. A few more apply.

Start with the store, not the book. Read the events page and the description. A store that programs small-press poetry readings is not the venue for a business book launch, and the coordinator will know within one sentence whether you looked.

Explain why their customers will come. Local ties, a regional subject, a connection to a book club the store already runs, or a format that fits the store’s calendar matter more than a national review. Name the audience you can bring and the groups you will invite.

Propose a format. A conversation with a local interviewer, a panel, a workshop, a book club takeover, or a themed evening with the cafe gives the coordinator something to say yes to. “A signing” does not.

Make the book easy to stock. Confirm that the title is available through the store’s usual distributors, or offer consignment terms in the first email. A store cannot host an event for a book it cannot sell.

Pitch early and briefly. Bookstore calendars fill two to three months out. Keep the pitch under 200 words, use the booking form when the store has one, and follow up once after a week or two.

**Finding the right stores**

The practical obstacle is discovery. The ABA’s [IndieBound](https://www.indiebound.org) store finder lists member stores by location, but not which ones host author events or who books them. Regional booksellers associations publish member lists. PR tools have begun indexing stores directly; Featured, for example, recently added a [Find Bookstores](https://featured.com/product/features/find-bookstores) capability that searches 1,093 U.S. independent bookstores by place or genre and shows each store’s description, events link and published email.

Whichever route you take, build the list by place, read each store’s events page before you write, and pitch each one separately.

**The bottom line**

Independent bookstores are growing, and they are built around events. Bring the right book to the right store and explain why its customers will come. Then propose a format the coordinator can put on the calendar. Brands and nonprofits looking for a local partner can use the same approach, but the stores’ calendars are built for authors first.

## Frequently asked questions

### How many independent bookstores opened in 2025?

The American Booksellers Association counted 605 new bookstore businesses in the U.S. in 2025, including 399 storefronts, against 65 closures. Openings rose 87% from the year before.

### How far ahead should an author pitch a bookstore event?

Two to three months or more, because bookstore calendars fill that far out. Follow up once after a week or two if you do not hear back.

### Who should an author pitch at a bookstore?

The person who books events, usually an events coordinator named on the store's events page. Use the store's booking form when it has one.

### What should a pitch to a bookstore include?

Why the store's customers will come, a proposed format such as a conversation, panel or workshop, and confirmation that the book is easy to stock. Keep it under 200 words.

### How do I find independent bookstores that host author events?

The ABA's IndieBound store finder lists member stores by location, and regional booksellers associations publish member lists. Featured's Find Bookstores searches 1,093 U.S. independent bookstores by place or genre and shows each store's events link and published email.