We can't praise the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc) enough. It regularly comes through for booksellers, bookstores and comic bookstores in need and is already helping in this emergency.
Binc said over the weekend that it "will continue to help booksellers according to our policy for public health emergencies. Assistance may be available for the medical expenses of booksellers and to help booksellers in specific cases where store closure and/or loss of scheduled pay leads to the inability to pay essential household bills for an individual or family." Those circumstances include if a bookseller or member of a bookseller's household contracts an illness and can't go to work or must be quarantined; a bookseller loses more than 50% of scheduled work hours because residents are told by authorities not to go to work or a mandatory quarantine; if a bookstore loses a significant amount of business due to forced store closure or restrictions on residents' movement and the store is unable to pay store rent and/or utility expenses.
Not surprisingly, Binc is hoping to raise more funds for the growing emergency. Development director Kathy Bartson said, "Renewing, increasing, or pledging your support right now will be critical to our decisions moving forward and allow us to help every qualifying bookseller and comic retailer that comes to Binc for help. This is a critical time for booksellers as business slows, schools close, and they are canceling months' worth of events. Booksellers need to know that Binc will be here for them so they can weather these scary circumstances and come out on the other side."
Binc is now running a matching grant challenge that totals $12,500 per gift. It consists of matches from two sources. One is literary agent Steven Malk of Writers House, who is matching every gift dollar for dollar up to $7,500. He told Binc: "As the son and grandson of independent booksellers and a former independent bookseller myself, I understand how vulnerable booksellers are during times like these. Booksellers are the lifeblood of our business, and it's incumbent upon all of us in the publishing community to do what we can to help protect them and ensure their ongoing success during times of crisis."
The other matching grant is for $5,000 and is from Beacon Press. Helene Atwan, director of Beacon Press, said: "This is an unprecedented time and while we still don't know the full impact of this pandemic, we do know that many booksellers will be affected. Booksellers are very important to a small independent press like Beacon and so it is especially meaningful for us to be able to support Binc. I would like to encourage everyone who can to donate, so Binc can strengthen the booksellers' safety net."
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To help support independent booksellers, Chronicle Books is offering a special for indie and gift retailers that features an extra 5% discount and 90-day dating at the standard 24-unit minimum. It's valid effective immediately through June 1 for titles published before May 31. The promotion applies to all Chronicle Books, Galison/Mudpuppy/Lacroix, Laurence King, Princeton Architectural Press, Creative Co., Twirl, Quadrille, Hardie Grant titles. All orders ship free freight.
The company stated: "We know there is nothing better than a good story, a comforting meal, and a game or puzzle to keep the family entertained and occupied. Many people will be turning to their local independent shops for books and games that bring them joy and will help make time at home more enjoyable."