04/23/2026
Last year's Independent Bookstore Day was not just our best Indie Bookstore Day yet or our best sales day of the year- it was our best sales day EVER. And man, could we ever use a boost like that again this year!
You might have noticed that the number of shops participating in our local book crawl is dwindling year by year. That's the unfortunate reality of retail in today's economy. Our profit margins are slim and our sales are down, pretty much across the board. But we keep hustlin', hoping each milestone that passes won't be our last!
Indie Bookstore Day is no Record Store Day, I'll give you that. (What I wouldn't give for a T. Swift exclusive book of some sort!) But we've planned some really fun stuff, so hopefully this weekend the local book scene will look a lot like the local music scene did this past weekend!
Lansing's Indie Bookstore Crawl! This year, there are five of us participating: Deadtime Stories, A Novel Concept, Hooked, Summit Comics, and Everybody Reads. Stop in to any location for a passport bookmark. Make a purchase and get your passport stamped at each location. Collect all five stamps, get a free limited edition tote! (While supplies last.)
Mi Book Hop! This year, over 100 independent bookstores around the state are participating in a month-long game of literary bingo with some killer prizes! It starts on Indie Bookstore Day, so stop in and grab your passport and bingo card, and start checking off those boxes!
GOLDEN TICKET- Our friends at Libro.fm have sent us a golden ticket to hide in the store, good for a year's worth of audiobooks! There's only one, and last year it was discovered pretty quickly!
FREE GIFT FOR THE FIRST 50! We've got some fun little "out of this world" grab bags for the first 50 people in line Saturday! Each bag will include a scratch-off ticket with the chance to win a bigger prize! (Redeem in-store.)
AUTOGRAPHED EXCLUSIVES! For the first time EVER, we will have autographed hardcover editions of the locally penned Haunted Lansing (by Jenn Carpenter) and The Eaton (by John K. Addis) Haunted Lansing will come with a limited edition sticker, and The Eaton will come with a special Indie Bookstore Day message!
MORE! We've got so much going on, we couldn't fit it all on the flyer! We'll have some AMAZING limited edition stickers (courtesy of Cussing Carrie's) and logo merch available in limited quantities, including t-shirts with our ghost logo from ALT Printing Co. for the first time ever! Also, get $5 in bonus bucks for every $50 spent!
And last, but not least- well, maybe least- tomorrow (Friday) is my birthday! I'll be 29! I know, can you believe it? I don't look a day over 45! For my birthday gift, I'd love for you to share this post! And let's just call Saturday my birthday party, and have a big ol' bookish party together! (Fun fact, next year Independent Bookstore Day will be on my actual birthday, just like it was our first year open.)
