“Why is this so hard?”
This is a question that kept coming up when we started looking into opening a bookstore for independent authors. Not because we’re not tech-savvy or new to retail but because…well…
There are giant walls made of stigma standing between self-published works and in-store retail.
Here’s the thing: 2020 changed a lot in the world of publishing. Mainly through technological features and software innovation, but ultimately the massive shift to working from home as authors, editors, and designers who want to take more ownership and creative control.
Unfortunately, it’s been a snail’s pace crawl to get booksellers on board with carrying independent works. Prior to 2019-2020, “self-published” typically meant “low quality” (although there are are few bestselling exceptions, such as The Martian, Eragon, and Fifty Shades of Grey!).
And in the world of retail, especially small business retail, it’s a risky gamble to carry products that might never sell due to the compromised quality.
This is where BumbleBooks comes in.
We’re not just pros at retail—we’re part of a team of award-nominated independent authors, editors, and designers who have been there, done that, and have the accolades (and stress!) to show for it. We’ve been working with indie authors for several years with at least four of those books hitting bestseller ranks and award nominations just for the 2022-2023 season. And as far as retail goes, we’ve never had a bookstore say “no” to one of our curated novels!
So when we do receive the kind of book we wouldn’t be able to carry on the shelves or through our site, it’s never a hard “no”. Instead, we will explain to the author where we see room for improvement based on retail standards and market performance. Once everything is smoothed over, we’ll be happy to carry them—and so will other stores!
With BumbleBooks, we’re not only taking the steps to help promote indie authors within our online catalog—and in our brick-and-mortar location—we’re pushing to have this serve as a prime example and case study of how readers can and will genuinely enjoy buying indie works from places other than Amazon.
Every time you buy a book listed on this site, you’re not only supporting an independent author and independent bookstore, you’re also helping the book publishing world evolve.