"I owe my entire career to indie booksellers. Word of mouth has just been what has helped me to keep publishing, so they are just so crucial to my life. I also worked in three independent bookstores when I was younger, and loved each one of them.
"The bookstores in my town--and in every city I go to--are so important to me. I am just so indebted and so grateful. And now more than ever, independent bookstores are so crucial to our future, to our population, to facts and information, and to education. They're a pillar that is holding up our country."
--Lily King, whose novel Heart the Lover (Grove Press) is the #1 October Indie Next List pick, in a q&a with Bookselling This Week