Welcome to another edition of Shelf Awareness Extra!, which are special issues that focus on a particular subject and appear once a month. The edition focuses on Indies First/Small Business Saturday, which takes place on Saturday, November 29.

Saturday, November 29, on Thanksgiving Weekend is Indies First/Small Business Saturday, one of the busiest days for independent bookstores across the U.S., drawing huge amounts of customers. 

Indies First began with the idea of authors being in independent bookstores to greet customers, promote indie bookstores, do events, sign their books, and more. But in connection with Small Business Saturday, the concept of celebrating indies has expanded dramatically over the last decade. Many booksellers offer "blind date" gifts, passport arrangements with other bookstores and local retailers of all kinds, toasts, food & drink, special merchandise, and discounts both in-store and online (sometimes geared to loyal customers). A common theme is booksellers' knowledge and ability to find personal, thoughtful gifts for customers. (See what some stores are planning this year below.)

The American Booksellers Association is offering a variety of resources and help for booksellers as they prepare for Indies First. They include posters for display and social media assets and a listing of special publishers' offers for Indies First.

Other organizations continue to join in. Bookshop.org will again offer free shipping over the holiday weekend. Libro.fm is holding a sale on bestselling audiobooks that runs from November 25 to December 1, and has social media assets that tie in to Indies First/SBS as well as Plaid Friday and Cyber Monday. (More information about Libro.fm's offers is available on the Bookseller Hub.) 

Origin Stories

American Express began Small Business Saturday in 2010 as a way to highlight local bricks-and mortar stores of all kinds at the start of the holiday season and as a counterpoint to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which have always featured big box stores and online sales, respectively. Over the years, American Express has invested heavily in the event, advertising it widely (and sometimes featuring bookstores!), and Small Business Saturday has become a major part of American Express's Shop Small Movement. The company estimates that since Small Business Saturday's founding, consumers have spent an estimated $200 billion at small businesses on SBS. American Express offers small businesses a variety of suggestions for expanding marketing, operations, and more. It also has a Shop Small Map on which bookstores can be listed.

In 2013, the American Booksellers Association founded Indies First, an idea that started when Janis Segress, at the time one of the owners of Queen Anne Book Company in Seattle, Wash., suggested to author Sherman Alexie that authors promote their favorite indies on Small Business Saturday after Alexie was "bookseller-for-a-day" when Queen Anne reopened that year. Alexie liked the idea and wrote to other authors about it, which he dubbed Indies First. The ABA immediately picked up on the suggestion and began promoting and organizing for it. 

Related events that extol the values of diverse, local, and independent businesses are Plaid Friday and Cider Monday, bookending the Thanksgiving weekend. Plaid Friday is a direct alternative to Black Friday, offering a calm and peaceful experience supportive of indies in contrast to the frenzy that's usually marked Black Friday. Bookselelrs are encouraged to wear plaid, take pictures of customers and staff wearing plaid, use a plaid theme in wrapping, displays, etc.

In a similar way, Cider Monday promotes a more laidback, human atmosphere in stores on a day when many people furiously shop online. Cider Monday was founded in 2013 by Willard Williams, formerly of Toadstool Bookshops in New Hampshire. As he put it, "Stop in for a free cup of cider and a snack, see some real people, and have a good time checking out what's in our stores. It's sure to be a heartwarming experience. We can promise no crashing websites, our 'servers' won’t be overloaded, and we bet they will even smile at you!"

Among stores with big plans for this year's Indies First/Small Business Saturday:

On Indies First/Small Business Saturday this year, Unabridged Books, Chicago, Ill., will also celebrate its 45th anniversary. (Owner Ed Devereux opened the store on November 1, 1980.) Unabridged will offer 10% off all instore/online purchases along with free giveaways, including 45th anniversary bookmarks, anniversary notebooks with pens to the first 300 customers, and cookies from local favorite bakery and neighbor, Sugar Daddy. The store will also be putting up new outdoor anniversary banners that will remain up for the remainder of the 45th year.

Bound to Happen Books, Stevens Point, Wis., will have a "tax holiday," under which it won't collect tax on purchases on Saturday and Sunday, November 29 and 30. Sales tax is 5.5% so as store owner Lyn Ciurro noted, "it amounts to a pretty small discount, but people get really excited about it."

Bound to Happen will also be part of a passport program in downtown Stevens Point, and it's working with a Wisconsin author to do an event the week before or after Indies First/SBS in an effort to drum up excitement about holiday shopping.

Boozy Book Fair

On Friday, November 28, Indies First/SBS eve, A Seat at the Table Books, Elk Grove, Calif., is planning what owner and founder Emily Autenrieth calls "another of our VERY popular Boozy Book Fairs." The previous one sold out of 65 tickets in five hours. The store pulls all books eligible for return, lays them on tables, yard-sale style, and prepares lemonades and mimosas before opening the doors. Every ticketed guest gets a drink and 50% off all clearance books.

As Autenrieth notes, "This saves us a lot on the labor and cost of shipping returns, reduces waste and environmental impacts, and makes people VERY happy. At least half of the guests buy full-priced books as well during their time here."

On Indies First/SBS, the Book Mark, Neptune Beach, Fla., will offer hot apple cider, give away prizes and secret gifts, and feature book signings by Maggie FitzRoy, author of Never on Monday, and Dorothy K. Fletcher, author of The Chambermaid.

The Bookies Bookstore, Denver, Colo., will host more than 20 local children's, middle grade, and YA authors for a holiday shopping event on Indies First/SBS to showcase their books. The store will also partner with other local small businesses.

Kona cats brainstorm for Indies First/SBS

Kona Stories, Kailua Kona, Hawaii, will celebrate Indies First/SBS with in-store specials, 19th anniversary giveaways, homemade sangria, plus live music and courtyard festivities "to keep the good vibes going." The store will also have a DIY gift-wrap station where customers can wrap their treasures and support AdvoCATS with a donation.

The Grinch will have a presence, too, at Kona Stories on Indies First/SBS. Auntie Linda will read The Grinch Who Stole Christmas at 1 p.m., and families can take photos with the Grinch until 3 p.m. Talk Story time will feature Lighthouse Ladies: Shining a Spotlight on Hardy Heroines by Kris Coronado, illustrated by Islenia Mil; Mother Tree, Daughter Seed: Lessons in Slow Growth by Marata Ketekiri Tamaira; and Flying Octopus by Alisha Adkins.

Indies First/SBS highlights at Bright Side Bookshop, Flagstaff, Ariz., include a Shop Small Raffle, under which for every purchase, a customer receives a raffle entry to win a Bright Side Gift Bundle ($75 gift card, tote, mug, journal, and more); a book drive & giving tree that benefits the Zaadii Foundation; and a holiday kids event, Jammies Storytime, under which kids cozy up in pajamas for festive stories, a simple holiday craft, and a sweet treat. Each child in jammies receives a $10 Bright Side Bookshop gift certificate to find the perfect gift for mom or dad. The store is also participating in the local Holiday Shopping Passport program, which runs from November 21 to January 4.

LeVar Burton has been named the American Booksellers Association's Indie Bookstore Ambassador for 2025-2026 and will serving as a champion for independent bookstores, beginning with Indies First Day/Small Business Saturday on November 29. His term goes through Independent Bookstore Day on April 25, 2026. Previous ambassadors include Celeste Ng, Amanda Gorman, and Trevor Noah. The ABA has social media assets about LeVar Burton's role that booksellers can use.

Burton is an actor, director, producer, and podcaster whose work includes Roots, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Reading Rainbow. He is the recipient of seven NAACP Awards, a Peabody, a Grammy, and 15 Emmys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Inaugural Children's & Family Emmys. He is also a lifelong literacy advocate and has dedicated decades to encouraging children to read.

In 2023, Burton premiered his first documentary, The Right to Read, a film that considers the literacy crisis in the U.S. as a civil rights issue. The Right to Read was an official selection at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and SXSW EDU.

He is also the award-winning author of Aftermath, The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm, and A Kids Book About Imagination. He launched his first book club with Fable, a digital book club community, and partnered with Masterclass to share the power of storytelling.

His production company, LeVar Burton Entertainment (LBE), develops film, television, podcasting, and publishing projects with the mission to share stories that foster empathy, champion diversity, and build community. The LeVar Burton Reads podcast has more than 175 episodes in its catalog, with 25 million downloads. LBE's first Kids & Family podcast, Sound Detectives, made its debut on Stitcher in 2023.

Burton called it "an extraordinary honor to be chosen as ABA's Indie Bookstore Ambassador. From my earliest memories, books carried me beyond the world I knew. They let me explore distant planets, ancient kingdoms, and lives very different from my own. Independent bookstores are where those explorations began. They are sanctuaries of possibility where a single story can change a life. In my forthcoming book, I reflect on discovering and embracing one's authentic self. Bookstores offer that same opportunity to every reader. Step inside, wander the shelves, ask questions, and follow your curiosity. Every book you open is an invitation to imagine, to learn, and to see the world anew. But, you don't have to take my word for it!"