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Amazon decided to launch its annual book sale at the same time as Independent Bookstore Day, a national event celebrating independent bookstores through raffles, contests and events.
But Sacramento’s bookstores aren’t worried because of the cooperative relationships they’ve formed throughout the years.
The 12th-annual national celebration is this Saturday, and Sacramento bookstores are celebrating all weekend, beginning Friday with a Book Crawl encouraging local readers to visit as many participating bookstores — 10 total — as possible.
Participating bookstores include Beers Books, Capital Books, Underground Books and East Village Bookshop. A passport and Read the Region smartphone application are available for participants to get stamped after spending $10 at any location.
According to organizers, each check-in is an entry into a raffle to win a tote bag and gift certificate from one of the participating stores.
Wild Sisters
Wild Sisters Book Company Wednesday, April 23, 2025, at 3325 Folsom Blvd in Sacramento.(Gerardo Zavala/CapRadio)
Claire Bone is the owner of Wild Sisters Book Company located along Folsom Boulevard in East Sacramento. She said she and her sister, Noelle Baganz, started the business together in 2021 at their original location in Tahoe Park.
Baganz went back to school to work towards becoming a social worker, so Bone is now in charge of the store.
“We kind of joke that everybody that works here is a wild sister,” she said. “Not only children at this store.”
Bone said what sets her store apart from other bookstores is their focus on holding bookstore events, both free and paid, that bring people together.
“[For] Silent Book Club, you bring whatever book you're already reading and you just come sit and hang out with other people,” she said. “[We have] opportunities to be here without actually buying anything while also having the normal bookstore events that do support us financially.”
During this weekend’s event, the bookstore will feature local groups and organizations including 916 Ink, an arts-based creative writing and literacy organization providing workshops and tutoring for Sacramento youth; a Sacramento-based animal sanctuary; In a Nutshell storytellers and several authors.
Bone said she thinks Amazon’s decision to hold a huge sale overlapping with the national celebration was intentional.
“It’s marketing 101 to meet your competition where they are and lowball them,” she said.
She argued that consumers, especially those who frequent independent bookstores, are there for “more than a quick savings.”
“If Amazon’s ever the only one left standing, what’s going to be offered is going to be whatever they want us to read, rather than a really diverse, exciting, colorful selection, and that’s not what we want,” she added.
Amazon held a similar sale last year in May, which didn’t impact Independent Book Store Day. This year’s sale will see up to 80% off discounts on Kindle titles and 65% off print books.
A Seat at the Table
A Seat at the Table employee A'isha Saleh makes a latte Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Elk Grove.(Gerardo Zavala/CapRadio)
A Seat at the Table owner Emily Autenrieth said she’s excited to have this “national energy around supporting” independent bookstores because they are “such an essential part of creating spaces for our communities.”
“Having the spotlight on that, particularly with ambassadors like Trevor Noah speaking for us, is one of the reasons that we’re still around as an industry because we can have this opportunity to celebrate,” she said. Noah is the official spokesperson for this year’s celebration.
Autenrieth said what makes her queer- and family-owned business unique is that they are the only bookstore cafe and the most social-justice-oriented bookstore in the region.
“We’re located in one of the most diverse cities in the country and we’re very intentional about honoring that and upholding that through our book selections,” she said. “We’re also the only place to see drag currently in Elk Grove for either adult shows or kid story times.”
For anyone who won’t be in town during the event but still wants to support or who prefers to listen to audiobooks or read ebooks, she recommended they utilize Libro.fm or Bookshop.
“What’s great is your credits don’t expire, you don’t lose your credits if you cancel, they are employee-owned and support indie bookstores with every purchase,” she said about Libro.fm. “If you’re looking for a little bit faster shipping and don’t need the specific bookstore’s in-stock inventory, you can order off Bookshop and, if you pick a bookstore, they’ll get 30% of your purchase. They also have ebooks now.”
Crawford’s Books
Sue Richards purchased Crawford’s Books in 2018 despite not having any experience working in the retail space. She said she did it because she loves books.
And despite not holding many events and operating mostly as a traditional bookstore, Richards said the city’s independent bookstore community’s support and collaboration have been helpful.
To her, this book crawl is an example of how closely Sacramento bookstores work to keep each other afloat.
“We really want to support each other as best as we can because we all provide something different to the community,” she said. “When we let Sacramento know what a flourishing book community they have, they will be less likely to turn to Amazon. That’s our competitor, not each other.”
She noted that book crawls have led to interest in her book clubs and new regulars, many of whom come because of the store’s robust mystery and romance section.
“My book clubs went from about 10 to 12 regular people to now about 15 to 20 every month,” she said.
Richards said her store is known for its book selection and offers a variety of mystery titles including American, international, historical, military and cozy mysteries.
“Our romance section is very large as well,” she said. “They’re called new adult mysteries [and] are more geared towards people in their 20s. They’re not reading your grandma’s romance.”
Richards said she isn’t too worried about the Amazon sale overlapping with this year’s book crawl because she’s heard her customers are angry about it.
“This is literally the biggest weekend of the year for me,” she said. “It’s bigger than Christmas as far as sales in a short period of time, so it’s very intentional and I feel like this really shows their evil business practices.”
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