Wanda Jewell's Excellent Adventure

On December 12, Wanda Jewell, the executive director of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA), will embark on "Wanda's Excellent Book Giving Back Adventure." Equipped with a camcorder and a $1,000 Book Sense gift card, for one week Jewell will become a "book fairy," offering to buy people books at independent bookstores in South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.

"One of my earliest memories is being in a bookstore and wanting books that I couldn't afford," Jewell told BTW. "I loved being in bookstores, but usually I had to walk out without buying anything. Now I want to buy books for other people. I think it will be very fulfilling."

Jewell was inspired to create her bookstore adventure by Oprah Winfrey, who gave her studio audience members $1,000 and a camcorder to do good works and record the results. Jewell and her husband are using their own money and their family camcorder to create their Excellent Book Giving Back Adventure.

Jewell said that her methodology would likely not include handselling. "I'll watch people in the store, and I think I'll have a sense very quickly about who I'd like to buy a book for," she explained. "I think I'll see myself in them. I'll thank them for shopping in an independent bookstore, and tell them I'd like for them to pick out the book of their choice and that I will pay for it." Jewell's husband will capture the exchanges on video.

Stops include Poor Richard's Booksellers in Easley, South Carolina; Eagle Eye Bookshop and Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse in Atlanta; Humpus Bumpus Books in Cumming, Georgia; Yawn's Books & More in Canton, Georgia; Horton's Books & Gifts in Carrollton, Georgia; Alabama Booksmith in Birmingham, Alabama; Little Professor Book Center in Homewood, Alabama; and Page & Palette in Fairhope, Alabama. For a bookstore to be part of the tour, Jewell said it had to meet three criteria: Be a SIBA member, carry Book Sense gift cards, and be on her route.

At her last stop, Page & Palette, Jewell will spend a week on the sales floor as a bookseller during the busy Christmas shopping season. In return for her help, Page & Palette is contributing $500 towards the book giveaway.

Jewell hopes that the stores on her Excellent Book Giving Adventure itinerary will be able to use her visit as a way to promote themselves in their communities, and that the entire trip will be a model for other people in the book industry to use to promote independent bookselling.

Jewell will be providing regular updates on her store visits via her blog and video streaming on SIBA's websites, www.sibaweb.com and www.authorsroundthesouth.com. --Karen Schechner