Home / Guides

Black Friday and Small Business Saturday emails for independent bookstores

Independent bookstores sell something nobody else can: taste. Your holiday emails should be your booksellers’ voices, not a banner. Here’s a plan that fits a bookstore’s calendar and a bookstore’s customers.

Updated October 25, 2026 · By Doorbuster Studio

Bookstores are a gift business in the fourth quarter

Many people who don’t buy books all year buy them as gifts in November and December. That means your list is full of people asking “what should I give?” rather than “what should I read?” Frame every email around that question.

The five emails

1. Early access to the gift guide (the week before Black Friday). Staff picks by reader type: “for the history buff,” “for the person who says they don’t read,” “for the 8-year-old.” This single email can be reused for weeks.
2. Black Friday: a bundle, not a blanket discount. Books have thin margins, so offer something other than a discount on everything: a free tote or bookmark with a $50 order, a book-and-candle bundle, or free gift wrap.
3. Small Business Saturday: the booksellers’ picks. Photos of your people and the book each one is pressing into customers’ hands. Example emails.
4. Signed copies, local authors and gift cards (early December). If you have signed books or events with local authors, email them separately; a pre-order for signed copies is a perfect, specific, real reason to open.
5. Last day to ship and last-minute pickup. Book shoppers can wait until the last minute. Give the ship-by date, then switch to pickup, gift cards and e-gift cards. Template.

What to put in a bookstore’s emails

• A person’s name next to each pick. “Dana’s pick” is more persuasive than “bestseller.”
• One sentence per book, in the bookseller’s voice, without spoilers.
• Gift options: wrapping, shipping notes, gift cards.
• A link to your own site to order, so the sale stays with you.

A short template: staff picks gift guide

Hi [First Name],

Gift season is here, and we asked our booksellers what they’d give.

For the reader who loves a good mystery
[Title] by [Author]. [Bookseller name]: "[one sentence]"

For the history buff
[Title] by [Author]. [Bookseller name]: "[one sentence]"

For the person who says they don’t read
[Title] by [Author]. [Bookseller name]: "[one sentence]"

For kids
[Title] by [Author]. [Bookseller name]: "[one sentence]"

[See all the picks -> link]

We wrap for free, and gift cards are available in the shop and online. Order by [date] for shipping before Christmas.

Happy reading,
[Your name], [Shop Name]

See our bookstore sample email for a finished version.