Author's New Title Indie-Only for Three Months

Shelf Awareness

Earlier this spring, Michigan author Loreen Niewenhuis released her most recent book, a travelogue of her journey around the Great Lakes called A 1000-Mile Great Lakes Walk (Crickhollow Books), with an unusual arrangement: for two months before it was available on Amazon, from April until June, the book was available only from 12 Michigan independent bookstores.

"I think the independents are vital to keeping literature and reading alive," said Niewenhuis, whose story of walking the entire perimeter of Lake Michigan, A 1000-Mile Walk on the Beach, was published in 2011. "Independents embraced it, and made it a bestseller in the heartland. As a thank you to them, and as a way to support them, I decided to get them books two months before Amazon had access."
Niewenhuis is not at all shy about her opinions of the online giant. In May, Niewenhuis wrote a blogpost bluntly titled "Amazon is Evil," and the Amazon listings of her books feature short notes thanking customers for taking a look at the book, but imploring them to buy from an independent store instead. Remarked Niewenhuis, chuckling: "I don't think they've noticed, but it's there."

Great Lakes Walk had its launch party at Brilliant Books, the indie in Traverse City, Mich., and during the two months before the book was widely available, Niewenhuis visited as many participating indies as she could. "I love the independents," she said. "Many of these owners are my friends now. I've worked very closely with them, done events at their stores, given lectures in their communities where they can sell books. I really consider myself a partner with indies."