The New York State Writers Institute and WAMC Northeast Public Radio are joining forces to assist the Capital Region's independent bookstores with a new initiative called #IndieBookstoreBoost, with a goal "to encourage book sales and to increase revenue during this do-or-die moment for these vital community centers."
Each week, Joe Donahue, host of WAMC's The Book Show, and Writers Institute director Paul Grondahl will conduct an online interview with notable authors talking about their newly published books. Each recorded interview will be geared to a local indie bookstore, with a link for listeners to purchase the author's book directly from that store. There also will be options to buy gift cards or make a donation toward the purchase of children's books to be distributed to under-served children in their community.
To kick off the project, Donahue and Grondahl interviewed four indie booksellers about the desperate situation they are facing due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Featured guests were Chris Morrow of the Northshire Bookstore in Saratoga Springs and Manchester Center, Vt.; Susan Novotny of the Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany; Stanley Hadsell of Market Block Books in Troy; and Lily Bartels of the Open Door Bookstore in Schenectady.