Bookshop Day 2024 reveals initial activities and events

• Bookshop events with Iain Dale, Glyn Maxwell, Gill Sims and more
• Mesmerising bookshop window designs by illustrator Angela Harding
• Double stamps in all Waterstones and Foyles bookshops
• Joint celebrations with specialist Christian bookshops
• Special Spotlight in Glasgow with bespoke murals

Press images here

London, 4 September 2024: The Booksellers Association (BA) is today announcing the initial line-up for Bookshop Day (Saturday 12 October), the annual celebration of all bookshops in the UK.

Top to bottom: Edge of the World Bookshop, Glyn Maxwell, Suddenly on Sheaf Street

From author events with Glyn Maxwell, Iain Dale and Gill Sims, to potato printing workshop for children to stunning window displays and book signings, Bookshop Day has something for everyone. On Bookshop Day, book-lovers are encouraged to go to their local bookshop, or support them online if they can’t pay them a visit in person. Booksellers will be on hand to share book recommendations and guide you to your next gift for yourself or your loved ones. Bookshop Day is also the perfect opportunity to start your Christmas shopping early.

This year’s Bookshop Day theme is “Bookshops Making a Difference”, highlighting the positive contribution bookshops make to their communities all year round. The campaign celebrates bookshops not only as valuable retail spaces on our high streets, but also as places that are committed to making a positive impact, through pay it forward schemes, events that bring authors and readers together, cultivating treasured venues for the community to gather, and so much more.

BOOKSHOP EVENTS

Author events and activities taking place on Bookshop Day across the UK include:

North of England

• The Blue House Bookshop (York) are running a children’s bookshop takeover with the bookshop being run by children from 10:00am -12:00pm on Bookshop Day with authors signing, special cakes and members of their creative writing courses bringing family and friends to show them why they love books. The children running the shop are 9-13 years old and have all attended at least one of their children’s courses. More info here.

South of England

• The Folkestone Bookshop (Folkestone) is doing a potato printing workshop for children with upcoming debut author James O’Brien on Saturday 12^th October at 11:00am – 12:00pm. More info
• Chorleywood Bookshop (Hertfordshire) is hosting an afternoon with award-winning author and leading political commentator Iain Dale on Saturday 12 October, 3:00pm – 4:00pm at Chorleywood Library. More info on how to book your ticket here.
• Heron Books (Bristol) welcomes Glyn Maxwell, author of The Big Calls and How the Hell Are You for a poetry reading. Also on the bill will be Kaycee Hill, author of Hot Sauce. Join them for a drink and an hour of pre-prandial poetry on Bookshop Day at 6:00pm/ More info
• The Rocketship Bookshop (Wiltshire) is joined by author and illustrator Kristina Stephenson for two craft sessions to promote her event at Salisbury Arts Centre on 1^st With Halloween and the spooky season approaching, join them as Kristina shows you how to make your own Monster in a Jar! There will be two sessions on Bookshop Day at 11:00am-12:00 pm or 1:00pm-2:00pm. More info here.
• South Devon Bookshop Crawl: Gnash Comic & Graphic Novels, First Draft Books, The East Gate Bookshop and The Ivy Bridge Bookshop are all participating bookshops. Present your card for a stamp between 1 September and Bookshop Day to claim a limited-edition tote bag designed and illustrated by Jackie Morris or Poonam Mistry. More info here.
• Angela Harding, creator of this year’s Books Are My Bag Limited-Edition Bag, will be illustrating bookshop windows with vinyls and hand-drawn elements, and signing books in the following bookshops: Edge of the World Bookshop (Cornwall) on Friday 27 September at 1:00pm, more info here; Maldon Books (Essex) on Saturday 5^th October, more info here; and Suddenly on Sheaf Street (Daventry) on Bookshop Day, 10:00am – 3:00pm, more info here.
• Nomad Books (London) is hosting a special story time and craft activities with Momoko Abe on Bookshop Day at 11:00am. More info

Scotland

• Daydreams Bookshop (Milngavie) will host local authors Gill Sims and Julie Shackman for drop in book signings on Saturday 12 October at 11:00am – 12:00pm. More info here.

Wales

• Publisher Graffeg will host authors Cai Ross, Cathy Jenkins, Charlotte Middleton and Miriam Latimer for book signings this Bookshop Day. More info about Graffeg here and further details will be available in due course.
• Book-ish (Abergavenny) will host a book signing for Karin Celestine, author of The Joy Bringers, at 11:00am on Bookshop Day. More info here.

NEW BOOKSHOPS

• The Rabbit Hole (Brigg) will be officially opening their second bookshop on Bookshop Day which is called The Rabbit Hutch (Grimsby). More info about The Rabbit Hole here

DOUBLE STAMPS

To celebrate the joy of visiting bookshops, Waterstones and Foyles will offer Double Stamps in all their shops on Bookshop Day, Saturday 12 October 2024. Plus or Foyalty card holders will receive double stamps on in-store purchases and customers new to Plus or Foyalty are welcome to sign up in store and collect stamps immediately. The offer will not apply to online orders on waterstones.com and Foyles.co.uk.

LIBRO.FM

Libro.fm, the audiobook retailer and app that shares profits with independent bookshops, will run a sale on bestselling audiobooks 7-13 October. In addition, participating partner bookshops will hide Golden Tickets (good for 12 free audiobook credits) for customers to find in their shops on 12 October.

GLASGOW CITY SPOTLIGHT

This Bookshop Day will spotlight Glasgow and its wonderful bookshops. Local artists Jacqueline Briggs and Jack Stamp will work with Jack Arts on two murals in St Enoch Square and Blythewood Street in the city centre.

Top to bottom: Designs by Jack Stamp and Jacqueline Briggs

Graduating in Illustration from DJCAD in 2016, Jacqueline Briggs now works from her studio in Wasps Creative Academy, Inverness. Inspired by her contrasting Papua New Guinean and Scottish heritage, her interest in people and culture is represented throughout her work particularly through her bold use of colour and humour.

Jack Stamp is an illustrator and designer from Edinburgh, with a degree in Illustration and a master’s degree in Comics & Graphic Novels, both from The University of Dundee. He is interested in comic and editorial illustration, graphic poster and book cover design and his work largely involves combining traditional hand drawn illustration, in pencil or ink, with clean digital shapes and bold colours to create striking imagery.

BOOKSHOP.ORG GOLDEN TICKET

Win books for life with Bookshop.org this October! Now in its second year, Bookshop.org’s Golden Bookmark competition will grant one lucky winner £250 in Bookshop.org gift cards every year for life, supporting independent bookshops. The competition starts on 1^st October and runs until the end of the month, with special activities planned around Bookshop Day. Participants will be able to enter following a special link, and will receive five bonus entries each time someone enters through their referral link, which will be made available to them after their entry is submitted.

BOOKS ARE MY BAG LIMITED-EDITION BAG

Artist, author and illustrator Angela Harding will design this year’s Books Are My Bag Limited-Edition Bag, which will be available exclusively in bookshops from Bookshop Day onwards, while stocks last. For this year’s Limited-Edition Bag, she was inspired by the scenic landscape of Shetland and its iconic otters. Angela joins the likes of artists and illustrators such as Poonam Mistry, Jackie Morris, Dapo Adeola, Charlie Mackesy, Sir Peter Blake, Tracey Emin and Orla Kiely, who have designed previous editions of the bag.

CHOOSE BOOKSHOPS VIDEO

To mark Bookshop Day, the Booksellers Association will be releasing a video featuring a number of authors, including household names, debut writers, and illustrators, which will be shared on Books Are My Bag socials channels (@booksaremybag on Instagram, X, Facebook and YouTube) on Wednesday 9 October at 6pm.

CHOOSE CHRISTIAN BOOKSHOPS

Bookshop Day will run in collaboration with specialist Christian bookshops, to celebrate and connect with their Christian community. The Christian Booksellers Group committee has been working with the Booksellers Association to focus on bringing the campaign together and celebrate Christian bookshops as part of Bookshop Day. Bookshop Day events include:

• The GLO Bookshop (Motherwell, Scotland) celebrates their 50^th anniversary on Bookshop Day. A short service of reflection and celebration will be followed by buffet lunch, and all are welcome. The event will also feature a book launch with local author Connie MacLeod. The day starts at 11:00am. More info about the bookshop here.
• Oasis Christian Bookshop (Wallington) will host a book signing for Emma Allen who is available to chat and enjoy children’s activities on Saturday 19 October at 1:30pm – 4:30pm. More info about the bookshop

Andrew Lacey, Store Manager of The GLO Bookshop, said: “As a specialist Christian retailer, Bookshop Day provides us with an opportunity to celebrate all the good things about our bookshop. While our primary focus is to support people from the local Christian churches, we also have many regular customers from the wider community who appreciate the excellent customer service we offer and the knowledge of our staff. We’ll be celebrating Bookshop Day with special offers and free refreshments for our customers, plus a special event where we will be inviting former partners and friends in the book trade to celebrate our 50^th Anniversary with us. We’re grateful to all who have contributed over the past half-century to the success of The GLO Bookshop in Motherwell.”

Fleur Sinclair, Booksellers Association President, said: “With the wealth and sheer number of books published in the Autumn, Bookshop Day shines a light on the very best places for booklovers to find exactly the right books for them – bookshops! There are lots of exciting offers available and events happening at bookshops all across the UK, and booksellers are using the support and custom they receive to do great work in their communities – supporting schools and people of all ages and backgrounds. In my shop, Sevenoaks Bookshop in Kent, we’re working on launching a special project to put books into primary schools on the rich history of migration. A topic not currently on the school curriculum, but we feel of great value to help our young people understand and celebrate the country we live in today.”

Emma Bradshaw, Head of Campaigns at the Booksellers Association, commented:

“This Bookshop Day we’re highlighting the difference that bookshops make to our local areas all year round. They are hugely valuable as retail spaces and, additionally, many bookshops are running programmes to improve literacy, wellbeing, and the cultural landscape of our communities. We want to remind consumers of the value of their local bookshops, and to choose to do their Christmas shopping with them. We’re thrilled to have so many exciting events and activities in place”

Details of Bookshop Day events taking place across the country can be found on the Books Are My Bag Facebook events page. Booklovers can also find out about events happening in bookshops near them by signing up to National Book Tokens Discover – the ultimate destination for all things books – or by searching for their local bookshops on the National Book Tokens site. Find more at nationalbooktokens.com

Follow the latest developments for Bookshop Day on social media: #BookshopDay @booksaremybag

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