Why Does Downstage Media Use Bookshop.org?
If you’ve clicked on a book recommendation from me, odds are good that you’ve been sent to BookShop.org. But what is this site? Why not use Amazon? Here’s why we recommend books through this site, and how buying books from Bookshop.org supports not only Downstage Media, but your favorite indie bookstore as well.
When Billionaires Started Going Into Space
Sure, I love the convenience of Amazon Prime. I love Audible for audio books and I love Kindle Unlimited to read free books. Amazon, for sure, gets plenty of my money. But, around the time that Jeff Bezos went into space, I started looking for a way that I could recommend books that didn’t feel like the revenue was going into orbit (or at least to pay the people that spend the money for it to go into orbit). I was really pleased to find BookShop.org.
Don’t you just love bookshops? The smell of the pages, the aisles to get lost down. The extra reading-adjacent stuff that they sell (Journal obsession? Guilty). And if you’re lucky enough to have one near you, you know how dear that is to any neighborhood. You may not be able to browse and shop there as often as you like, but if it went away tomorrow, you’d be pretty bummed out. And, frankly, that’s happening to too many of them these days.
How Bookshop
.
org Works
When you create an account with Bookshop.org you can choose an indie bookstore near you that you want to support. When you purchase a book, Bookshop.org handles the fulfillment and delivery, the bookstore gets the sale, and Downstage may get a small percentage of that sale. You’re helping a female-owned business and an indie bookstore all at once. Oh, and you know who you’re not supporting? A space tourist.
Fun Fact: When Lin-Manuel Miranda and a bunch of his friends saw their favorite indie bookshop closing, they bought it. If that’s not an option for you, Bookshop.org is another way that you can support independent booksellers.
Books Downstage Recommends
Downstage has created a storefront with recommendations for the books that have helped build the business. I’ve also included a list of books that Donald Miller of StoryBrand has written that often provide the frameworks that we use for our clients.
So check out the books that are up there. And in the meantime, let me know in the comments what books about marketing, the arts, or marketing for the arts you think I should add to these lists.
