After several months of trial and experimentation, Bookshop.org has officially launched in the UK! Sure, you may not have heard of it til now, but give it a few weeks and no doubt this will be the website at everyone’s finger tips.
Bookshop.org aims to provide significant financial support to independent bookshops across the country. The process is, in actual fact, surprisingly simple.
- Search for your book of choice and add to the basket
- If you have a preference, select a book shop you’d like the proceeds to go towards.
- Buy your next read! Now, your money will be paid directly to a bookshop near you, supporting local, independent shops across the country.
It sounds like a strange thing at first. Why do we need another online book shop when Wordery, BookDepository, AbeBooks, Waterstones and the dreaded Amazon all sell these products? The answer is simple – for the common man.
Although individuals can sell products via Amazon, the payment at the end is pea-sized when you think about the astounding wealth a company like Amazon has. When we purchase books through these platforms, we are funding narrow, streamlined forms of purchasing books rather than enjoying the wonder and excitement that comes with discovering a new, wholly unique place to buy your next favourite book.
So many places are feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, from job losses to shutting down whole businesses. A lot of our favourite places no longer stand tall and proud on the high street, instead falling into the hands of Amazon and other online book chains. In this time when we are being constantly encouraged to support local independent businesses, bookshop.org could not come onto the stage at a better time, and especially with Christmas approaching! We have now been afforded the opportunity to not only support our local businesses but to save money, get people gifts that they love in the form of literature, and support fantastic causes, such as spreading the word of literature from a diverse range of voices. What more could you want?
Unfortunately there aren’t many local book shops to Bangor that have joined the organisation, but fingers crossed there will be soon! In the meantime, here are a handful of Welsh indies we can support over the next few months!
The Bookshop, Mold https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/BookshopMold
Gwisgo Bookworm, Aberaeon https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/GwisgoBookworm
Book-ish, Crickhowell https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/bookish
Book stores that aren’t featured on the website and ARE local to Bangor:
- Awes Menai, Menai Bridge
- Palas Print, Caernarfon
- The Junction Book Shop, Llandudno Junction
- The Little Bookshop, Blaenau Ffestiniog
- Hinton’s of Conwy, Conwy
- L’s Cafe and Book Shop, Conwy
