Though most bookstores are closing their doors to the public, you can still buy books from them! And because you believe in our shared responsibility to preserve the wellbeing of those most vulnerable among us, you’re staying home and reading books, right? This past weekend saw many book people taking to Twitter to start recommendation threads and it was really lovely to see. Though the coming months are going to be hard on all of us, the emergence of supportive digital communities (already so crucial for those on the margins) is—and will be—a wonderful thing to see. We’re going to do everything we can to support and amplify these communities, and to help those in need. As such, a lot of these posts are going to be updated regularly.

First up, independent publishing powerhouse and founder of Melville House Dennis Johnson put a call out for indie bookstores to pipe up in his mentions—you can visit the thread below to see for yourself all the great stores across the country who will deliver books, but we’ve organized them by region at the end of this post, and will be adding to this list for as long as it takes.*

Let's get something good going: Boston indie bookstore @papercutsjp just newslettered a reminder that they sell online – see below. BOOKSELLER CHUMS: Please reply with the link to your store READERS: Look for your local below & shop! EVERYONE: Retweethttps://t.co/4fHNHrPJNF — Dennis Johnson (@MobyLives) March 14, 2020

Of course, you can also order from Bookshop.org, a great—and important—alternative to Amazon that shares proceeds of every sale with small, independent stores, and is a much-needed affiliate revenue stream for anyone who covers books online. In the past week, 70 more stores have joined Bookshop. For the next eight weeks, to help support them, indie stores using Bookshop will receive 30% of the cover price of any sale, up from 25%. Bookshop will earn no revenue from those sales.

You can also use BookstoreLink.com to find your nearest indie, and if you like audiobooks, Libro.fm (same people behind BookstoreLink) are offering two-for-one deals if you use the code SHOPBOOKSTORESNOW (and 100 percent of the money goes to the store!).

To support independent bookstores, we have a deal for new members—when you start a membership with code SHOPBOOKSTORESNOW, you’ll get two audiobooks for the price of one and 100% of your payment will go to your bookstore. 📚 Help out at https://t.co/5R21TFv0z0 #ShopBookstoresNow pic.twitter.com/T9pNM8CsPO — librofm (@librofm) March 15, 2020

Literati, a wonderful bookstore in Ann Arbor has some tips for supporting your local store that go beyond simpling buying books (but still do that!), including signing up for newsletters and organizing digital book clubs.

Without wanting to fear monger, this virus has the potential to be, at best, highly disruptive to Indie bookstores, and at worst, potentially devastating. So, want to support indie bookstores? Here are a few ways: — Literati Bookstore (@LiteratiBkstore) March 12, 2020

Ally Kirkpatrick, of Old Town Books in Alexandria, VA is looking to bolster income through virtual classes from writers (and it seems to have caught on!).

Authors + agents: My indie bookstore will have to close its doors soon. If I start a series of online classes to help pay our bills and sell books, can you virtually teach a one hour intensive for us? Your book + expertise included in the ticket price and maybe I can stay open. — Ally Kirkpatrick (@oldtownbooks) March 15, 2020

Long Island’s Book Revue will leave puzzles and socks (and books!) on your doorstep.

Live in our area? We will put the books and socks and puzzles (we are selling so many puzzles) on your doorstep. https://t.co/fPBd62hV0N — Julie Wernersbach (@JulieWbach) March 15, 2020

Not sure what to order? There are a bunch of great threads out there with recommendations, including these from T Kira Madden, Maris Kreizman, and Raven Bookstore

I’ve been curating reading lists for people on insta to support March-April books taking a hit. I’m sure I’m missing some. Please drop a line here with your book title so I can make sure to include or post w permission. Thanks! — T Kira Madden (@tkiramadden) March 15, 2020

I'm devastated by all of the book events that are being canceled throughout the country, but I'm glad we're taking all necessary precautions. That said, who wants a book recommendation? — Maris Kreizman (@mariskreizman) March 10, 2020

Let's start a big ole book recommendation thread. 1⃣ *in a reply to this tweet*, tell us a book you're loving

2⃣ maybe say a word or two about why it's great

3⃣ this is the important part: include a link to the book on an indie bookstore's online store — Raven Book Store (@ravenbookstore) March 15, 2020

East Bay Book Booksellers compares the purchase of gift certificates to low-interest loans that can help see a store through to the other side of this.

Gift certificates are absolutely amazing during times like these. They cannot be redeemed for online purchases, so they’re only available over the phone (510-653-9965), but they are like little (OR LARGE!) low-interest loans . . . adrenaline to a sucker-punched cash-flow. — East Bay Booksellers (@EB_Booksellers) March 16, 2020

And for our readers in the UK, here’s Simon Savidge doing a call out for stores that are delivering (see details in thread).

Let’s help out our indie bookshops & loved ones… If you’re an indie bookshop who can deliver books here, there & everywhere (or just locally) please comment below & say where you are & what your website is. Let’s get ordering books for loved ones & ourselves. I’ll retweet all. — Simon Savidge Shields (and Reads) (@SavidgeReads) March 15, 2020

And here is some calming advice from Tayari Jones for debut writers: “Your book… is not a carton of milk. It won’t expire.”

Dear Debut Authors, I know it feels like Covid19 is stealing your moment. Please believe me when I say that you will have another moment. And your book is out there. It's not a carton of milk. It won't expire. — Tayari Jones (@tayari) March 15, 2020

Joshua Roark at Frontier Poetry is organizing a virtual book tour for poets.

Just got an email from a poet with the wonderful idea of doing a "blog tour" for his new book. If any poets out there, preferably debut authors, have a spring/summer release scheduled—hit me or @FrontierPoetry up. We want to be a stop on your digital tour! — Joshua Roark (@JoshuaRoarkPoet) March 15, 2020

The lovely Robert Macfarlane is setting up a Twitter reading group, #CoReadingVirus. (Our vote for first book is Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer.)

The #CoReadingVirus Twitter Reading Group gathers pace. Wondering between:

1) Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer

2) The Living Mountain, Nan Shepherd

3) Middlemarch, George Eliot

All available as books, ebooks & audio. All by women. All astonishing.

Which would you choose? https://t.co/OeOnv2dIfv — Robert Macfarlane (@RobGMacfarlane) March 15, 2020

And Maris Kreizman, providing an easy way to donate to the employees of McNally Jackson, who were laid off while the stores are closed:

You can donate right here to the nearly 80 McNally-Jackson booksellers who were temporarily laid off yesterday. Let's help keep them afloat in this trying time. Solidarity. https://t.co/21csyZcSf9 — Maris Kreizman (@mariskreizman) March 17, 2020

The Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc) has had the most financial assistance requests on record in the past couple days, with several booksellers asking for help every hour. The good news is that the book community is also making major contributions: on just Monday, $44,000 was raised through a generous gift-matching challenge by literary agent Steven Malk of Writers House and Beacon Press. There is another gift-matching challenge occurring now: every dollar up to $41,000 will be matched. Donate here!

*

Order from these independent bookstores:

*To add your store to the following list, please email info@lithub.com

With reporting by Julia Hass

Flagstaff, AZ

Bright Side Bookshop

Phoenix, AZ

Changing Hands Bookstore

Bay Area, CA

Booksmith · Green Apple Books · City Lights · Corte Madera Book Passage · East Bay Booksellers · Santa Cruz Bookshop · Menlo Park Kepler’s · Point Reyes Books · East Wind Books of Berkeley · Napa Bookmine · Flashlight Books · Books Inc · Walden Pond Books · Alexander Book Company · Orinda Books

Burbank, CA

Autobooks-Aerobooks

Los Angeles, CA

Diesel Bookstore · Skylight Books · Booksoup · Eso Won Books

Montrose, CA

Once Upon a Time Bookstore

Pasadena, CA

Vroman’s Bookstore

Riverside, CA

Cellar Door Bookstore

Santa Barbara, CA

Chaucer’s

San Diego, CA

Diesel Bookstore · Mysterious Galaxy

Durango, CO

Maria’s Bookshop

Madison, CT

R. J. Julia Booksellers

Mystic, CT

Bank Square Books

Washington, DC

Solid State Books · Politics and Prose · Carpe Librum

Rehoboth Beach, DE

Browse About Books

Delray Beach, FL

Murder on the Beach Mystery Bookstore

Key West, FL

Books and Books

Miami, FL

Books and Books · Good News Book Shop

Orlando, FL

Writer’s Block Bookstore

Punta Gorda, FL

Sandman Books

Tampa, FL

The Bookstore

Athens, GA

Avid Bookshop

Augusta, GA

The Book Tavern

St. Simon’s Island, GA

Righton Books

Hailey, ID

Iconoclast Books

Chicago, IL

Unabridged Bookstore · 57th St Books/Seminary Coop · Book Cellar · Book Stall · Sandmeyers · Women and Children First · Open Books · Pilsen Community Books · Carpe Librum

South Bend, IN

Brain Lair Books

Fairway, KS

Rainy Day Books

Louisville, KY

Carmichael’s

New Orleans, LA

Octavia Bookshop · Garden District Bookshop · Tubby & Coos Children’s Books

Andover, MA

Hugo Bookstore

Boston, MA

Harvard Bookstore · Brookline Booksmith · Trident Booksellers · Porter Square Books · Belmont Books · Papercuts J. P. · Frugal Bookstore · Wellesley Bookstore · More Than Words · Brattle Bookshop · Bookshop of Beverly Farms

East Sandwich, MA

Titcomb’s Bookshop

Greenfield, MA

Federal Street Books

Baltimore, MD

Red Emma’s · Atomic Books · Charm City Books · The Ivy Bookshop · Greedy Reads

Oxford, MD

Mystery Loves Company

Brunswick, ME

Gulf of Maine Books

Portland, ME

Print: A Bookstore

Rockland, ME

Hello Hello Books

Ann Arbor, MI

Literati Bookstore · The Books Connection

Chelsea, MI

Serendipity Books

Oak Park, MI

The Book Beat

East Lansing, MI

Curious Bookshop

Marquette, MN

Snowbound Books

Minneapolis, MN

Magers & Quinn

St. Paul, MN

Subtext Books · Next Chapter Booksellers

St. Louis, MO

Left Bank Books

Jackson, MS

Lemuria Books

Oxford, MS

Square Books

Asheville, NC

Malaprop’s Bookstore

Chapel Hill, NC

Flyleaf Books · Epilogue Books

Charlotte, NC

Park Road Books

Durham, NC

The Regulator

Greensboro, NC

Scuppernong Books

Raleigh, NC

Quail Ridge Books

Wake Forest, NC

Page 158 Books

Winston Salem, NC

Bookmarks

Lincoln, NE

Francie & Finch Bookshop

Concord, NH

Gibson’s Bookstore

Portsmouth, NH

River Run Bookstore

Hoboken, NJ

Little City Books

Maplewood, NJ

[words] Bookstore

Montclair, NJ

Watchung Booksellers

Albuquerque, NM

Bookworks

Las Vegas, NV

The Writer’s Block

Albany, NY

Book House of Stuyvessant Plaza

Brooklyn, NY

Greenlight Bookstore · Word Bookstores · Books Are Magic · Topos Bookstore · Molasses Books · Community Bookstore

Buffalo, NY

Talking Leaves Bookstore

Hudson Valley, NY

Oblong Books

Manhattan, NY

McNally Jackson · Shakespeare & Co · Book Club · Book Culture

Rosendale, NY

Postmark Books

Saratoga Springs, NY

The Northshire

Queens, NY

Kew and Willow

Columbus, OH

Book Loft · Gramercy Books

Shaker Heights, OH

Loganberry Books

Eugene, OR

J. Michael’s Books

Hood River, OR

Waucoma Bookstore

Portland, OR

Powell’s Bookstore

Doylestown, PA

Doylestown Bookshop

Narberth, PA

Narberth Bookstore

New Hope, PA

Farley’s Bookshop

Philadelphia, PA

Joseph Fox Bookstore · Shakespeare & Company · A Novel Idea · The Head and The Hand · Uncle Bobbies · Amalgam · Harriet’s Bookshop · Big Blue Marble Book

Phoenixville, PA

Reads & Company

Pittsburgh, PA

City of Asylum Books · Penguin Books · White Whale Books · Shadyside Books · Mystery Lovers Books · City Books · Riverstone Books

Wayne, PA

Main Point Books

Providence, RI

Riffraff Bookstore

Charleston, SC

Buxton Books

Greenville, SC

Fiction Addiction

Memphis, TN

Novel

Nashville, TN

Parnassus Books

Austin, TX

Book People

Dallas, TX

Interabang Books

Houston, TX

Brazos Bookstore

Salt Lake City, UT

King’s English

Saint George, UT

The Book Bungalow

Alexandria, VA

Old Town Books

Arlington, VA

One More Page Books

Norfolk, VA

Prince Books

Richmond, VA

Fountain Bookstore

Manchester Center, VT

Northshire Books

Woodstock, VT

Yankee Bookshop

Bremerton, WA

Ballast Book

Port Angeles, WA

Port Book and News

Seattle, WA

Elliot Bay Book Company · Third Place Books · Phinney Books · University Books · Mercer Island Books

Spokane, WA

Auntie’s Bookstore

Algoma, WI

Yardstick

Madison, WI

Room of One’s Own Books

Milwaukee, WI

Boswell Book Company

Charleston, WV

Taylor Books