13 Activities to Help Independent Bookstores on Friday the 13th

(PRLEAP.COM) As part of its annual fundraiser, the Lorem Ipsum Bookstore in Cambridge, MA is organizing a "Flash Buy" where customers "assemble" on its website at the same time, attempting to completely sell out of its inventory at the promotional price of $13 a book.

Participants converge on the website SaveTheBookstoreSaveTheWorld.com on Friday the 13 and buy a randomly selected book from the Lorem Ipsum inventory for $13, which includes shipping. The company claims that the randomly chosen book will bring good luck for the year ahead—and might be a good read as well.

Lorem Ipsum started the campaign when it noticed it had both the square root of 13 factorial books in stock (78,911 books) and that its street address is 157 Hampshire Street, with 1+5+7=13. Recalling this epiphany, store Manager Sara Theriault said, "Wow, it’s like it was meant to be."

13 Activities to Help Independent Bookstores on Friday the 13th

1) Buy a dictionary from your local independent bookstore to lookup the word ‘Paraskavedekatriaphobia’.

2) Locate your 13 nearest independent bookstores. Plot these using Google Maps and print them out so that the next time you wander toward a chain store you can redirect yourself.

3) Make a list of 13 books you’ve been meaning to read. Put this list in your purse or wallet so you can pull it out the next time you’re in a store.

4) Visit your local bookstore. Browse the shelves. Make a list of 13 things you like about the store. Tell the person working.

5) Visit your local bookstore. Browse the shelves. Make a list of 13 things you think their store could do better. Nicely tell the person working. (Everyone needs feedback!)

6) Call or email 13 of your friends. Tell them about this list (and the Lorem Ipsum Flash Buy!).

7) Make a list of your favorite 13 books. Write them down and give them to your friends, encouraging them to read.

8) Find an independent bookstore in the town you used to live in online and buy a book from them via the Internet.

9) Take 13 books from your shelf that and bring them to your local used bookstore, with the direction "recirculate these".

10) Tell 13 strangers about the last good book you read. Encourage them to read it. "It was so good."

11) Get 13 of your friends to do #13.

12) Chant (no less than 13 times): "Books have been known to stop bullets and save lives. Literally AND figuratively."

13) Participate in Lorem Ipsum’s "$13 Flash Buy" at http://SaveTheBookstoreSaveTheWorld.com

The Lorem Ipsum Bookstore is located in Cambridge’s Inman Square where it carries out its mission to bring reading material to a neighborhood and help the independent retailer innovate through embracing technology and the Internet. The company plans to use the funds raised to further these goals.

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