Astoria Bookshop is selling Ta-Nehisi Coates’ memoir, “Between the World and Me,” at $14 in an effort to bring the book to a wider audience, says owner Lexi Beach.
Beach said that she was so moved by “Between the World and Me” that she “burst into tears on the subway” when she finished the advance copy of the book, and she said she started thinking of ways she could get more people read it.
“This is a conversation that everyone should be aware of,” Beach said.
Beach said she settled on selling the book at a $10 discount for $14, or at cost. Sales are limited to two books per customers, and customers who bought the book before the discount can visit the store with a receipt and get $10 off another purchase.
“I don’t even think of it as a promotion or a discount really, it’s a campaign,” Beach said.
“Between the World and Me” went on sale on July 14, and the Astoria Bookstore promotion began a week later. Beach said the book had already been selling really well, and it continues to sell well under the discounted price. So well, in fact, that she has increased the number of books she plans to sell at the discounted price.
Beach announced the move on Astoria Bookshop’s Instagram and Facebook pages, where readers responded positively.
“Love this promotion! told so many people about it. I ended up reading this book in one sitting. So intense yet so important. I reread the last 5 pages like 10 times and cried by the 7th or 8th because it was so powerful. I lost my receipt,” commented one Instagram user.
Another user commented on Facebook that she bought two copies, and gave the extra copy away. She wrote in the inscription: “The owner of Astoria Bookshop decided that everyone should be able to read this and sold it at cost … If you choose to, pass it on when you are finished with it.”
