"What the heck is Indiebound?"

Those of you who click the links on my blog dutifully, as blog readers should (wink, wink), will notice that I link to titles on Indiebound as often as possible. Those of you who do not click said links, or perhaps even those who do, might ask the same question as a recent customer in the Next Chapter Bookshop in Mequon, WI: "What the heck is Indiebound?"

Here's my best answer: it's an alternative to Amazon for book searching, recommendations and links. When I want to link to a book - and we all know that is quite often - I can link to the book on Indiebound rather than Amazon, and because Indiebound has this nifty feature that allows you to type in your zip code to local an independent bookseller near you that carries the book, I am supporting local, independent bookshops instead of the Monsterzon. Phew, that was a long-winded, one-sentence answer to that question.

But wait, there's more. Indiebound allows bookstores to register themselves, and book buyers and bookshop owners can input their book recommendations for new and exciting reads, which in turn are compiled into the Indie Next List. There is also a Children's Next List, because, as in all publishing, adult books and children's books are considered separate markets (some, such as myself, might claim that the children's book market is missing out on parents, as well as kids that like to read above their 'level' and adults that like to read below it, but that's another story, really).

Next Chapter's blog post on the question explains better than I could how the site is viewed from a bookseller's point of view - give it a glance over, at least. They also add that you can use the site to find independent bookstores just about anywhere, so we all know what I'll be doing before my next vacation.

I'm off to peruse the Next List myself, to see if there's anything on there I just have to read. Wait, damn. I promised I'd read what I already own...