Don’t Forget Indies First and Small Business Saturday

TODAY, of course, is the start of holiday-shopping season — which sounds like a euphemism for something — so I want to remind me readers how important it is to frequent independent, brick-and-mortar shops when you go looking for books and music especially.

This year sees both the Indies First campaign — which urges support of independent bookstores — and Small Business Saturday, during which Neil Gaiman and other authors will volunteer at an indie.

Here is a link to the Indies First page.

A Wall St. Journal story says that so far, despite the crushing power of Amazon and chains, some indies are doing okay this year.

Hoping that many of my fellow Angelenos will shop at stores like Book Soup, Skylight Books, Vroman’s, Amoeba Music, or Rockaway Reccords.

If you are buying a guitar or strings, don’t forget shops like the Fretted Frog (Pasadena) or Imperial Vintage Guitar (Burbank) — both wonderful places run my musicians.

Image courtesy Skylight Books

Happy holidays to my readers.