Jessica is another person that came to mind automatically when I decided to spotlight different indie bookstores. She is a regular at RiverRun in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I remember her telling me once about a program that they have where you get a signed book of your choice every month. I think that is a great idea and I was automatically obsessed with it and oh so jealous. She talks about it a little bit in the last question. Read on!
How long have you been shopping there? Do you know the staff? Are they helpful? I just recently started shopping there (probably within the last year). I do not know that staff because I don’t get to shop there as frequently as I would like to as the store is roughly an hour away from my house.
What sets your indy bookstore apart from chain stores? The store is located in a very busy section of Portsmouth. It is in an area with a ton of shops and coffee houses and resturants. People come from all over to walk around and just hang out for the day in this part of town. They get a ton of foot traffic. From other indy stores?
Does your store have new and used books or only one or the other? They have only new books. But the nice thing about the store is that they have a number of author signed editions on the shelves for purchase by customers.
How many times a month do you visit? I try to get up there as much as possible. I have been a few time so far this year.
Does your store do special events/ author signings/ things like that? They have quite a few author signings each month that are held in the bookstore itself. I had the pleasure of seeing Justin Cronin this past June when he was promoting “The Passage”. They also sponsor a series called “Authors on the New England Stage” which are held at the Portsmouth Music Hall. hese events are usually quite popular authors (like Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, Barbara Kingsolver, Joyce Carol Oates, etc.) that they book and need a large hall to host becuase the actual bookstore is too tiny to hold all the people.
Do you attend these events? Every chance I get. I just purchased a ticket yesterday to go see Simon Winchester at the Portsmouth Music Hall as part of the Authors on the New England Stage.
Anything else you want to add? Because RiverRun has so many wonderful authors come through their store each year for events, they are able to offer customers a chance to sign up for a special program where the customer can receive a signed first edition of some of the most popular books of the year. All the customer has to do is sign up for the program and pay the price of the book (plus shipping) and RiverRun will send the customer a signed first edition (their pick) each month. My husband got me this for a christmas gift last year and so far I have been able to receive the following signed books: Under the Dome by Stephen King; The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver; The Big Short by Michael Lewis; The Lake Shore Limited by Sue Miller; to name a few.
To learn more about this bookstore check out their website.
For the intro to my Indie Spotlight series, hop over here.
To learn more about indie bookstores in general head over to indiebound.org.
To recommend a store to spotlight, email me at jacki@lovelylittleshelf.com