The Writer's Workshop 
As I mention in my Seattle writing classes, writers need to support local independent bookstores. These are the folks who will schedule your first reading, promote your books, and create the literary community that will help all of us thrive. I encourage the students my Seattle writing classes, online writing classes and Travel Writing classes, to support these local enterprises. I’ve had the pleasure of reading at a number of great independent bookstores in the Seattle area, including Elliott Bay Book Company, University Bookstore, Third Place Books, Queen Anne Books, and other independent book stories around the country including Village Books in Bellingham.
Over the years, these bookstores have struggled to compete with larger chains like Barnes & Noble and Borders. They discovered if they added amenities like cafes, people would stick with their local bookstores. As the world gets increasingly digitalized, people crave a comfortable physical space and the sense of a community that independent bookstores can provide. They offer something beyond the conversations that take places at universities, involving many different communities and readers, from kids, to teens to adults, interested in every subject under the sun.
These bookstores survived the chains, which have imploded or are imploding, only to face a bigger rival in Amazon. As the story below shows, some independent book store owners are finding ways to compete on price and convenience with Amazon. These bookstores also benefit from the emphasis on buying local, which makes sense whether you’re purchasing tomatoes or the latest sci fi novel. The key for the bookstores is to emphasize this and locate their stores in a place that’s convenient. Elliott Bay Book Company bounced back once they moved to Seattle’s thriving Capital Hill neighborhood.
The article below shows how such bookstores can innovate and find ways to complete with larger chains or with Amazon. These changes are good news for independent bookstores AND authors:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-model-for-independent-bookstores-1461082697
