World Book Night: A Reason to Party

With less than three weeks to World Book Night [1], plans are well underway at indie bookstores across the country for book “pickup parties” to be held in the week leading up to the April 23 celebration. Boxes of books are shipping to arrive the week of April 16; all boxes are being labeled with givers’ names and will be on the road via UPS to stores and libraries before long.

Booksellers can find WBN promotional materials in the BookWeb’s DIY [2] —  including customizable thank-you certificates for book givers. WBN is also be sending bookstores and libraries copies of the WBN thank-you certificate to photocopy and distribute to givers.

Here’s a quick look at plans in the works at bookstores around the country:

• Greenlight Bookstore [3] in Brooklyn will host a "pickup party" for givers on April 18. Givers will receive their carton of special edition books for giveaway and sip champagne while meeting their fellow World Book Night participants. Press is invited.
   
• Monday, April 16 at Mysterious Galaxy [4] in Redondo Beach and San Diego will be “World Book Distribution Night.” The San Diego location will host a party and an event featuring Orson Scott Card.Mysterious Galaxy will also create a collective World Book Night Journal and video blog.
  
  Givers will be asked to film short “Flash Card Stories” at the store and to load them on the Mysterious Galaxy’s YouTube Channel. (To learn more about “Flash Card Stories, search for the term on YouTube [5].) For those who don’t want to be on camera, Mysterious Galaxy is creating a journal, where givers will be encouraged to write their thoughts about the giveaway.
  
  Both locations will also hold World Book Night Reflection Mixers on Monday, April 30, so givers canreflect on their World Book Night experiences and share stories with other givers and the Mysterious Galaxy staff.
   
• {pages} a bookstore [6] in Manhattan Beach, California, will have a pre-World Book Night reception on Monday, April 16, where store staff will distribute books, serve light refreshments, and ask everyone to announce the location where they are going to distribute their books.
  
  In collaboration with Mysterious Galaxy, {pages} is sending press releases to local media outlets to shine a light on independent bookstores.
  
  The bookstore will host a post-WBN reception on April 30, where they will share experiences and stories and serve light refreshments.  The collected information will be included in the {pages} newsletter and on its website.
   
• On Tuesday, April 17, The Spotty Dog Books & Ale [7], a café/bar in Hudson, New York, will be offering free snacks and beverages to World Book Night givers, who will be sporting special name tags so that they can be identified by the Spotty Dog’s bartenders. The names tags will also serve to engage the public at large in discussions about WBN and books in general.
   
• the river's end bookstore [8] in Oswego, New York, will be hosting a wine and cheese party for its book givers on April 16. The media is invited, and the store has lined up a photographer to take inspiring pictures. The mayor and school superintendent are among those who are being invited to witness the WBN launch.
   
• The Fountainhead Bookstore [9] in Hendersonville, North Carolina, will host a wine reception on Monday, April 16, and local media has expressed interest in covering the event.
   
• Booklovers Bookstore [10] in Aiken, South Carolina, will host a givers reception on Tuesday, April 17, and will partner with the Country Square Shopping Center to hold a Book Festival and Open House on Saturday, April 21. Most of the shopping center businesses, including Booklovers, will be giving away a free used book with any purchase. Booklovers will be encouraging customers to give the free book to someone on WBN Monday. Details for the event were covered in the Aiken Standard [11].
• The Book Shelf [12] in Winona, Minnesota, will hold a wine and snacks reception on April 17. Staff will talk about WBN, host a meet-and-greet, provide support for givers’ logistical concerns about the April 23 event, offer a discount within the store for all who attend, and more.
   
• Back of Beyond Independent Bookstore [13] will hold its pre-WBN reception on Friday, April 20, where refreshments will be offered and books distributed. The reception will give people the opportunity to ask questions, pick up bookmarks/buttons, etc.
   
• The Raven Bookstore [14] in Grand Cane, Louisiana, will throw a Book Givers Party on April 20, complete with a Shrimp and Crawfish Boil and airbrushed WBN t-shirts for givers. On April 21, the store will set up at WBN display at the town’s Louisiana Artfest & Celebration of Louisiana's 200th Birthday. 
   
• The Blue Bunny Bookstore [15] in Dedham, Massachusetts, will host a pre-WBN reception for book givers on Tuesday evening, April 17.
   
• Curious Cup [16] in Carpinteria, California, will have a “pick up your book” party and press night on April 16.