By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Andy Hunter: ‘Our Commitment to Bookstores and Their Communities’
On January 28, its fifth anniversary, Bookshop.org has announced that it now offers ebooks for sale, allowing local bookstores to sell them directly through their own websites or via Bookshop.org.
The commission for ebooks sold through Bookshop is the same that publishers offer to other retailers.
In a statement issued today, the company says, “Digitally-inclined readers can directly support the bookstore of their choosing by ordering through Bookshop.org, ensuring the full profit goes to supporting that chosen store.
“Alternatively, profits from orders without a specified bookstore are distributed among all participating bookstores on the platform, further benefiting the literary community,” and that happens, of course, by putting the sales not assigned to a specific bookstore into a pool fund for participating retailers.
As Alexandra Alter at The New York Times has written today, Bookshop founding CEO Andy Hunter (see our profile interview with him for the company’s second anniversary) “said he’s wanted to add e-books to Bookshop from the beginning. Independent bookstores already had a way to sell digital audiobooks, through Libro.fm, but no one had found a good solution for digital books.”
Andy Hunter
And that’s borne out by Hunter’s comment today in a statement to various media in which he says, “When we launched Bookshop.org, the vision was to support local bookstores in their battle against Amazon and other online retailers.
“This launch represents our commitment to bookstores and their communities. We’re focused on keeping bookstores afloat and helping them flourish in the digital age.”
The company goes on to say in its media messaging, “This innovation unlocks new income channels for authors and booksellers alike. Twenty-five percent of readers in the US prefer ebooks,” a data point the company draws from a Statista report from September 2023.
As audiobooks are now showing more traction in the United States and thus more share in the adult trade books market, the results of such research could be different in many cases, but the traction of many for digital formats is undeniable.
Bookshop.org reportedly has earned more than US$35 million for local bookstores since its arrival on the market in 2020. The company also notes that it’s a certified B corporation, carbon-neutral, mission-based business.
“For the first time in history,” today’s statement reads, “local independent bookstores will be able to sell ebooks to their customers.
“Through Bookshop.org’s Ebook platform, indie bookstores can go head-to-head with Amazon’s Kindle apps. Built to bolster revenue streams for brick-and-mortar bookstores, Bookshop.org’s digital books initiative is a monumental addition to its multi-award-winning giveback model and an advancement for the book industry.
More from Publishing Perspectives on bookselling is here, more on Bookshop.org is here, more on the work of Andy Hunter is here, more on bookstores is here, and more on Amazon is here.