Tag: books

Trade Talk: New Indie Book Bestseller Lists

January 14, 2026
Bookshelf

Publisher’s Weekly has announced that “The Independent Publishers Caucus, a collective of 117 small and independent publishers, has announced the launch of a new weekly bestseller list in partnership with the American Booksellers Association, creating what organizers say is the first national ranking focused exclusively on independent press titles sold at independent bookstores…Dubbed the Independent Press Top 40” (find the rest of PW’s article here).

Regularly publicizing a ranking of independent press titles (“indie books”) sold at independent bookstores is a great idea. This promotes small businesses. It provides attention for authors whose voices might not otherwise be getting large-scale public notice – making it more possible for readers to discover new-to-them authors.

A couple of examples demonstrate the value of this “Independent Press Top 40” list.

  • I personally buy several books per year from several niche publishers in a specific industry whose books (topics) I value. I happen to be “in the know” about the particular market for which these book publishers provide titles, so I know to follow these publishers. With that said, I know people who would likely want to read the same types of books I’m reading, but who aren’t likely familiar with the publishers whose websites I visit regularly. Any mechanism that supports “get out the word” for such indie publishers is a win-win-win-win for publishers, authors, readers, and the sustainability of “shop local” business practices.
  • My hometown (Bellingham, Washington) – like many communities – has a beloved local bookstore. Village Books and Paper Dreams is a valued hub in the community. This new weekly national “Independent Press Top 40” ranking is another way to keep such small bookstores in the public eye – thereby supporting great businesses.

While we’re talking indie booksellers, I’m happy to plug my two favorite online booksellers:

  • Hamilton Books. Based in Connecticut, Hamilton Books is based in Connecticut, USA and has been around since 1969. They specialize in selling discounted books to U.S. customers. I love Hamilton Books. They sell books via their website and a print magazine. I discovered them more than twenty years ago when they somehow got my name and mailing address; they sent me one of their magazines listing a sampling of their book inventory. It was actually their magazine that I fell in love with – their listing of quirky and off-the-wall titles of available books. I started buying from them for the purpose of staying on their mailing list (this is a sentence that every marketer wants to read!). Reading their lists of “off-the-wall titles” – such as “off the beaten track” historical books and books on political and religious conspiracy theories from “every end the political and religious spectrums” – literally became Friday night entertainment for me.
  • Thrift Books (their marketing angles: “gift more, spend less” and “read more, spend less”). This Washington State-based bookseller calls themself “the largest online independent used book seller. A friend told me about them last spring; I have already purchased enough books to achieve their highest reader/purchaser tier of “Literati Elite.” Their “Reading Rewards” program is simple yet fun – the more you buy, the more book-buying benefits you get….. Their membership tier program seems to be tied into our digital age approach to tapping dopamine receptors – our brains get a “dopamine high” every time we “like” or “achieve” something via a click-of-the-mouse….. Of course, book lovers like joining “Literati Elite” status……

I encourage you to click on this weekly Independent Press Top 40 and add to however you track websites that you visit regularly (add it to your browser faves, whatever). You just might find your next great read!

Kim Burkhardt provides writing services – including ghostwriting, “corporate storytelling,” articles, how-to manuals, and editing – at Burkhardt Writing Services. Contact us about your wordsmithing and storytelling needs.

Book buying options for Bibliophiles….

December 29, 2025
Books
Set of books

Book lovers like to “know our options” for book purchasing. This blog post profiles several options for ordering books.

Independent Book Stores

Supporting small, local businesses is important for the health of our communities. Browsing a bookstore is good for the soul and brings us into conversation with fellow book lovers.

  • My personal favorite local bookstore is Village Books in my hometown of Bellingham, Washington. Village Books creates community for local residents via their engaging, locally-loved bookstore and coffee shop. They will help book seekers “find any book that exists.” They also support local authors – they carried a couple of books that I self-published (thank you!).
  • The website “Independent Bookstores.ca” lists indie bookstores across Canada. This website is a great resource!
  • I currently live in Greater Seattle, so I would be remiss for not mentioning Seattle indie bookstore Elliott Bay Books. Because Seattle is a dog-loving city, dogs are welcome at Elliot Books. Every dog that comes in the door with a book reader gets their photo posted on Elliott Bay Book’s Instagram feed (I really should take my cat in to see if they’ll take her photo!).

National Bricks-and-Mortar Bookstores

In-person bookstores are important. Supporting brick-and-mortar stores are good for the economy. Again, browsing a bookstore is good for the soul and brings us into conversation with fellow book lovers. I buy from Barnes and Noble in the U.S.

Online and/or magazine-based book retailers (alphabetical):

  • Abe Books. Based in Victoria, B.C. – with an additional office in Munich, Germany – Abe Books has been selling discount books online since 1996. They also sell fine art and collectibles. I bought a few books from them in my earliest days online. My favorite reason for liking Abe Books is that they are Canadian!
  • Hamilton Books. Hamilton Books is based in Connecticut, USA and has been around since 1969. They specialize in selling discounted books to U.S. customers. I love Hamilton Books. They sell books via their website and a print magazine. I discovered them more than twenty years ago when they somehow got my name and mailing address; they sent me one of their magazines listing a sampling of their book inventory (I was living in B.C. and drove weekly to check my Washington State mail box where I received my U.S. mail). It was actually their magazine that I fell in love with – their listing of quirky and off-the-wall titles of available books. I started buying from them for the purpose of staying on their mailing list (this is a sentence that every marketer wants to read!). Reading their lists of “off-the-wall titles” – such as “off the beaten track” historical books and books on political and religious conspiracy theories from “every end the political and religious spectrums” – literally became Friday night entertainment for me. I actually have a stack of their magazines to give my book-loving friends. One of the books I ordered from Hamilton Books was written by a church minister who “made the case” that the Gospel of Mark was written by an astrologer (The Gospel and the Zodiac) – my curiosity wanted to know what the minister had to say…..
  • Thrift Books (their marketing angles: “gift more, spend less” and “read more, spend less”). This Washington State-based bookseller calls themself “the largest online independent used book seller” and state that they opened in 2003. A friend told me about Thrift Books last spring; I have already purchased enough books to achieve their highest reader/purchaser tier of “Literati Elite.” Their “membership tier” (“Reading Rewards”) program is simple yet fun – the more you buy, the more book-buying benefits you get….. Their membership tier program seems to be tied into our digital age approach to tapping dopamine receptors – our brains get a “dopamine high” every time we “like” or “achieve” something online via a click-of-the-mouse….. Of course, book lovers like joining “Literati Elite” status…… For every-so-many-dollars-spent, a book buyer qualifies for a free book “up to an X dollar amount” (just pay for shipping) – I’m using this member benefit to order books I want to give friends [in case you’re wondering what I’m gifting to my book-loving friends, I’m currently collecting shipping-only copies of The Gentleman from Finland (a book from a Seattle travel writer that made me laugh so hard I cried) and The Shadow of the Wind (opposite response – this novel based in 1945 Barcelona actually sent me into a dark, downward emotional tailspin but this NYTimes bestseller was so well written that I had to finish it. I am looking forward to when I’ve forgotten enough of the book to read it again)].

Encyclopedic Book Listings

Amazon-owned Goodreads provides a book equivalent to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), listing a very broad listing of books and providing a profile of each book. A straightforward way to find – and find out about – books.

Kim Burkhardt provides writing services – including ghostwriting, “corporate storytelling,” articles, how-to manuals, and editing – at Burkhardt Writing Services. Contact us about your wordsmithing and storytelling needs.

Writing Style: Be Clear, Be You

November 25, 2025
leather bound book
Book with leather cover

The purpose of writing is to communicate.

Actually communicating via the written word requires more than factually stating information. I indicated in my previous post, for example, that Robert M. Goldstein’s biographical tale of riding the Trans Siberian Express succeeds at being a laugh-so-hard-you-cry narrative because he did more than state where he travelled and what he did. He was self-transparent, thereby humanizing the story, in describing his mishaps – discovering two days into his trip-of-a-lifetime train ride that he was on the wrong train and telling about his only pair of shoes getting stolen.

At times, the written word does – in fact – call for literal, straightforward facts-and-figures communication. A how-to-assemble document for a piece of furniture or a bicycle requires literal step-by-step instructions. A good communicator, though, recognizes when such step-by-step communication is appropriate – and brings to the communication an understanding of how to be straightforward. “You will need a hammer for this project” demonstrates a writer’s understanding of the human experience involved when crafting the assembly of a useful how-to manual – while also knowing what information not to include (no one cares if your cat sat with you while you crafted the how-to manual). Personal insertions of information might be relevant – on the other hand – when assembling a how-to-ride-the-Trans-Siberian-Express manual (“Here’s a tip I learned on how to avoid getting your only pair of shoes stolen”).

Writing to communicate with an audience isn’t about you. Except when it is about you (an autobiography, for example). Written communication is for the reader. Yet, the reader will be able to see you in the written communication. Does the writer know to tell me to have a screwdriver when assembling a bookshelf? Does the writer know when to insert personal anecdotes to make a story human and therefore compelling? A reader of a professional journal will evaluate the writer of an article – does the writer know industry standards well enough to know the appropriate communication style(s) for that industry and that publication? Does the writer of a novel have enough experience with people to know the communication tools that make a narrative interesting?

I am currently reading a book by an author who narrates U2’s (the Irish rock band) use of visual imagery at their rock concerts. The author observes in the book that when there’s upward/downward tension co-occurring in a song, one band member will walk up stairs while another band member walks down stairs. I had never noticed that in watching U2 concerts. I appreciate author Kevin Ott – and have an increased appreciation for U2 – as a result of Ott’s insightful and descriptive narrative in Ott’s Shadowlands.

Writing – when effective – is clear, descriptive, and informative. When done well, writing also tells us about the writer. Of course, the best writing renders readers so absorbed in content that we don’t notice the medium…..

Kim Burkhardt provides writing services at Burkhardt Writing Services. Contact us about your wordsmithing needs.