Saturday 11th August is National Bookshop Day, and I’ve been invited to be a “celebrity” bookseller at The Younger Sun Bookshop. I put quotation marks around “celebrity” as I fully expect nobody to know who I am, and the fact that Andy Griffiths is following me means there’ll no doubt be a huge crowd of kids shouting “We want Andy! We want Andy!”.

Not that I’m complaining, mind you! I can’t wait to meet everyone who comes in, as well as hopefully sell some books (whether they’re mine or somebody else’s). There’s a lot of talk these days about the challenges that bookshops are facing. Let’s show them our support!

I’ve copied the details for The Younger Sun’s National Bookshop Day event below;

Join us to celebrate the bricks and mortar bookshop on National Bookshop Day, Saturday 11th August 2012. To thank you for being ace and supporting your local bookshop we’ve got a bunch of fun things planned, including celebrity booksellers, treats and competitions. We are also taking part in ‘The Lost Thing Passport’ competition in conjunction with many other wonderful Melbourne independent bookshops. The passport is inspired by Shaun Tan’s magical book The Lost Thing. Get your passport stamped at participating stores and you could WIN A SIGNED SUITCASE EDITION OF SHAUN TAN’S THE ARRIVAL as well as gift vouchers from participating stores. The winner will be drawn at the end of Book Week on 24th August.

You can also go in the draw to WIN A BOOK A MONTH FOR A YEAR on us if you buy a book from the Sun Bookshop or the Younger Sun on the day.

We will have super special celebrity author booksellers Josephine Rowe (Tarcutta Wake, How a Moth Becomes a Boat) and Chris Flynn (Tiger in Eden) at the Sun Bookshop 2:30pm-3:30pm.

We are also very pleased to announce Kate from the Younger Sun will be returning to the shop to join in the fun on the day. As well, we have a whole list of awesome celebrity booksellers for the Younger Sun! They are:

Cath Crowley 10.00am – 11.00am

Danny Katz 11.00am – 12.00pm

Clare Saxby 12.00pm – 1.00pm

Steven Lochran 1.00pm – 2.00pm

Andy Griffiths 2.00pm – 3.00pm