It’s the most wonderful time of the year: the Fifteenth Annual SantaThing is here at last!
We’re focusing on indie bookstores again this year. The pandemic has been a disaster for independent bookstores, even as it sent Amazon sales to new heights. So we picked a few of our favorites indies from around the United States. You can still order Kindle ebooks, we have Book Depository for international orders, and also stores local to Australia and New Zealand this year!
What is SantaThing?
SantaThing is “Secret Santa” for LibraryThing members.
How it Works
You pay $15–$50 and pick your favorite bookseller. We match you with a participant, and you play Santa by selecting books for them. Another Santa does the same for you, in secret. LibraryThing does the ordering, and you get the joy of giving AND receiving books!
Sign up once or thrice, for yourself or someone else.
Even if you don’t want to be a Santa, you can help by suggesting books for others. Click on an existing SantaThing profile to leave a suggestion.
Every year, LibraryThing members give generously to each other through SantaThing. If you’d like to donate an entry, or want to participate, but it’s just not in the budget this year, be sure to check out our Donations Thread (to come), run once again by our fantastic volunteer member, mellymel1713278.
Important Dates
Sign-ups close MONDAY, November 29th at 12pm EST. By the next day, we’ll notify you via profile comment who your Santee is, and you can start picking books.
You’ll then have until FRIDAY, December 3rd at 12pm EST to make your picks. As soon as the picking ends, the ordering begins, and we’ll get all the books out to you as soon as we can.
» Go sign up to become a Secret Santa now!
Supporting Indie Bookstores
We’re teaming up with independent bookstores from around the country to deliver your SantaThing picks, including BookPeople in Austin, TX, Longfellow Books in Portland, ME, and Powell’s Books in Portland, OR.
Once again this year, we’re also offering international deliveries through Book Depository. New to this year are retail partners Readings for our Australian participants and Time Out Bookstore for the Kiwi participants. Kindle is available to all members, regardless of location. To receive Kindle ebooks, your Kindle must be registered on Amazon.com (not .co.uk, .ca, etc.). See more information about all the stores.
Shipping
Some of our booksellers are able to offer free shipping, and some are not. Depending on your bookseller of choice, you may receive $5 less in books, to cover shipping costs. You can find details about shipping costs and holiday ordering deadlines for each of our booksellers here on the SantaThing Help page.
Questions? Comments?
This is our FIFTEENTH year of SantaThing. See the SantaThing Help page further details and FAQ.
Feel free to ask your questions over on this Talk topic, or you can contact Kate directly at kate@librarything.com.
Happy SantaThinging!
Publishers do things country-by-country. This month we have publishers who can send books to the US, Canada, the UK, Israel, Australia, France, Germany, and more. Make sure to check the flags by each book to see if it can be sent to your country.
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