Independents' Days

Over the moon to see that IndieBound.org is offering a pre-order for the paperback version of “St. Nicholas Salvage & Wrecking!”

Oregon is blessed with an abundance of independent bookstores. Powell’s is the most well known and the largest, but I’ve had successful book launches at Annie Bloom’s, Sunriver Books & Music, the Book Bin in Salem, Bob’s Beach Books in Lincoln City, Cannon Beach Book Co., and so many other great, locally owned bookstores. 

Some time back, in my disguise as a newspaper journalist, I saw that author Craig Johnson, creator of the popular Walt Longmire series of mysteries, was coming through town to promote “Depth of Winter.” I called his agent to set up an interview for the Portland Tribune. When I got Johnson on the phone — hell of a nice guy, by the way — I asked him why he came to Oregon so often.

It was the indie bookstores, he told me. When his publisher, Penguin Random House, sent him on big-city tours, he’d always carve out some time to hit Oregon, so he could do a circuit of the locally owned bookshops. In his younger days, he did it on motorcycle. 

“You just can’t beat Oregon’s independent bookshops,” Johnson told me.

Preach, brother.

Me speaking at Annie Bloom’s in Portland’s Multnomah Village.

IndieBound.org is a collaborations between the independent bookstore members of the American Booksellers Association, and its goal is to promote “local first” shopping. Dollars spent locally stay in the community. 

So if you’re a fan of Gold Beach Books, Bloomsbury Books in Ashland, Dudley’s Bookshop Café in Bend, Third Street Books in McMinnville, or Klindt’s Booksellers and Stationers in The Dalles, be sure to drop by and drop a dollar or two. 

And, ahem, ask about my trade paperback. It hits the stands March 3.