Even in the era of Amazon.com and the e-book, which have forced giant book-selling retail stores such as Borders to shutter their doors, underdog booksellers and local independent bookstores who offer a more nuanced approach to book sales are actually on the rise, the Washington Post reports Sunday.
“We are a lot like Mark Twain: The rumors of our death are a little bit exaggerated,” said Oren Teicher, chief executive of the American Booksellers Association, which represents independent bookstores. “We have been counted out for a very long time.”
According to the ABA, its membership has grown 6.4 percent in 2013, following an increase in independent book sales by 8 percent in 2012, which maintained that pace throughout the following year.
More and more independent bookstores are popping up across the U.S., thriving by providing hand-selected and unique reads, not to mention the physical experience of holding a good book that many readers say cannot be replaced by electronic devices.
As The Washington Post reports:
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT