Episode #272: Indie Bookstore Sales with Julie Isgrigg!

Grace and Alvina continue their "publishing curriculum" series and welcome special guest Julie Isgrigg, Independent Bookstore Representative. They discuss everything from how she got her start in publishing (Julie, Grace, and Alvina have all worked in the industry for 25 years!), her philosophy for selling books into bookstores, and her favorite part of her job. For the Fortune Cookie segment, they talk about what they've been reading lately.

How have you been?

Grace just got her Flu, Covid, and Shingles vaccine at one time. Alex and Grace drive to Boston for the Mass Book Awards because Once Upon a Book won the Early Reader Picture Book Award! Debbi Michiko Florence and Grace then hit the road for their Very Asian Book Trip where they traveled to indie bookstores and signed books in New England. It was great to see some of the indie bookstores move into bigger locations and be thriving!

Alvina celebrated her 25th anniversary at Little Brown! Julie has been doing a great deal of traveling for work visiting big indie book stores. The floods in North Carolina have been on her mind and in her heart as she has family from that part of the country. Bookmarks store in Winston Salem invited her to be there promoting about 20 Hachette books. Julie will be bringing author Louis Bayard, who wrote The Wildes.

Julie’s career history

Julie talks about how she got into publishing and talks about how she has seen publishing change over the years.

What have we been reading:

Julie: Will's Race for Home by Jewell Parker Rhodes, Tartufo by Kira Jane Buxton

Grace: The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai, Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering by Malcom Gladwell

Alvina: The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Gratefuls

Grace is grateful for all of the indie bookstores she got to visit recently. High Five Books and The Eric Carle Museum, The Silver Unicorn, Porter Square Books, Brookline Bookmsith, The Blue Bunny Bookstore, River Bend Bookshop, and Bank Square books! Julie is grateful that her two twin daughters are home from college and she is grateful for Grace’s support for indie bookstores and Alvina’s commitment to working in the industry. Alvina is grateful for Megan Tingley and her anniversary work party.

THANK YOU!

Thank you to Hachette Audio, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, and Alex at Pacyworks Studio for producing and editing this podcast. Be sure to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and tell a friend about us. (Use the hashtag #bookfriendsforever.)

You can find Alvina @Planetalvina on Twitter and TikTok and @Alvinaling on Instagram and Threads, @alvinaling on BlueSky

You can find Grace @Pacylin on Instagram and Threads, @authorgracelin on Facebook, @gracelinauthor on TikTok.

You can find Julie’s crafting @missjuliereally for sewing crafts!

Please keep tagging and messaging us on social media using the hashtag #bookfriendsforever! OR email us at bookfriendsforever@gmail.com! Please let us know if you have any topic ideas!