Indies First is a national campaign of activities and events in support of independent bookstores, first envisioned by author Sherman Alexie in 2013. It kicks off each November on Small Business Saturday, when independent bookstores host authors as honorary booksellers throughout the day to help sell and sign books, share recommendations, give readings, and more.

Cheryl Strayed, the bestselling author of Wild, Tiny Beautiful Things, Torch, and the new Brave Enough, was the 2015 official spokesperson for Indies First. (See her appeal to authors here.) Other authors who have spearheaded the campaign include Kate DiCamillo, Neil Gaiman, and Amanda Palmer. In 2014 Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) began Upstream, a bookstore-author partnership that connects authors with their local independent booksellers to offer signed books.

Independent Bookstores: add Upstream info to the map here.
Authors & illustrators: get involved here.

The 2015 Small Business Saturday events and Upstream partnerships are listed on the map. A blue dot means an event was held on Nov. 28, 2015; a red dot indicates a store with an author's signed stock on hand. Click on the dot for details.

(Small Business Saturday details are sorted by store or state, and Upstream partnerships only are sorted by author.)
 •Nov. 28, 2015 activities by state •Nov. 28, 2015 activities by store  -->•View index of Upstream authors and stores