Bookshop.org: A Virtuous Alternative to Amazon for Book Lovers
Five years ago, Andy Hunter, a publishing entrepreneur, set out on a mission to provide a “virtuous alternative” to Amazon’s dominance in the U.S. print book market. Thus, Bookshop.org was born.
With a vision to support independent bookstores, Bookshop shares its profits with local, physical bookshops. Customers can make purchases on Bookshop.com and choose to designate a local store to support. For those who do not select a specific store, Bookshop redistributes the funds among all participating stores. Additionally, the platform offers affiliate accounts for online-only sellers, authors, and events, allowing them to earn a 10% commission on referrals.
Currently, around 90% of the American Booksellers Association members, which represent independent bookstores, are affiliated with Bookshop. The platform claims to have distributed over $36 million in profits to local stores. However, only a fraction of ABA members offer ebooks.
The Shift to Digital
While physical books still dominate sales, there is a noticeable trend towards digital formats such as audiobooks and ebooks. Bookshop is now venturing into the ebook market, a domain largely controlled by Amazon’s Kindle. In late January, Bookshop introduced ebooks to its platform, offering over a million titles. Bookshop ensures that participating bookstores receive the full profit margin offered by publishers, approximately 30%, for referring ebook buyers.
Readers can access Bookshop’s ebooks through a browser or the newly launched smartphone app, available for both Android and iOS devices. The app includes features like text search, highlighting, font adjustment, bookmarks, and note-taking. Users can sync their reading progress across devices, choose between paginated or scrolling mode, and share excerpts on social media platforms.
Bookshop’s ebook platform does not support Amazon’s proprietary Kindle format. However, plans are underway to add compatibility with other platforms like Rakuten’s Kobo, popular in various regions globally. Additionally, independent bookstores can earn commissions from audiobook sales through an unrelated platform, Libro.fm.
Empowering Self-Published Authors
Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) reigns as the leading platform for self-published authors, with Kindle Unlimited serving as a crucial channel for independent writers. Bookshop’s ebook app integrates with ebooks published on Draft2Digital and IngramSpark, the second and third-largest self-publishing platforms, respectively. Ingram, the largest book distributor in the U.S., also partners with Bookshop for print book distribution.
For self-published authors seeking alternatives to Amazon, Bookshop provides a viable option. Notable authors like Dave Eggers and Lydia Davis have opted out of selling their books on Amazon due to ethical concerns. It remains to be seen if more authors will follow suit and embrace platforms like Bookshop for their digital releases.
While some traditional independent bookstores may not immediately offer ebooks, the landscape is evolving. Prominent stores like Powell’s, City Lights, and Strand are yet to include ebooks in their offerings, but the tide may turn as digital reading gains momentum.