Montreal's Authors for Indies Day promotes independent bookstores

Montreal writers are stepping up to support independent bookstores in the first Authors for Indies Day on Saturday, May 2.

Eight bookstores and almost 50 authors across the city are taking part.

In the age of Amazon, e-readers and shrinking institutional budgets, it's tough for booksellers.

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Bookstores like Nicholas Hoare have closed. Publishers are merging.  Some like La courte échelle and Lobster Press have gone bankrupt.

Saturday's event is a chance for authors to say thanks to local independent bookstores — and give them a boost of visibility.

In Pointe-Claire, children's author and resident Lori Weber is going to spend the day at Babar Books.

Weber has launched all her young adult novels and her new children's picture book, My Granny Loves Hockey, at Babar.

She says she gets the best treatment and her books the best showing at a small store like Babar.

"I think they're such important places to the community," she said. 

"I think the bigger box stores like Chapters maybe have their place. but they don't stock everything and they don't support local authors the way a small independent bookstore does."

For Babar Books owner, Maya Byers, Authors for Indies Day comes at a difficult time. 

Beyond the challenges from e-readers and online shopping, Byers says Quebec's accredited bookstores are suffering from cuts to institutional spending as a result of compressions to school board budgets.

"We're a bit terrified dealing with this," she said. 

"We're doing anything to sell a book at this point, going to school book fairs, signings outside the store. Wherever we can go to sell books we're doing it."

Authors for Indies Day takes place May 2 across Canada. To find out what's happening in your area, visit the event website.