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Granta is partnering with 18 independent bookshops in Bristol and Edinburgh as part of their "Shady Cities" campaign for Mariana Enriquez’s new short-story collection, A Sunny Place for Shady People, translated by Megan McDowell.
The two cities will be dubbed "Sunny Cities for Shady People" and the bookshops, "Sunny Shops for Shady People".
The latter statement will be printed on eye-catching, customisable window vinyls and the bookshops will be sent limited edition green and pink "Shady Person" caps for customers who pre-order the collection. Each book will also be stamped with the city in which it was purchased.
Several of the independents will also hold in-person events for book club members with Enriquez joining the conversation remotely.
Adam Barclay, owner of Argonauts Books on Leith Walk in Edinburgh, commented: "Well-thought-out, cohesive campaigns like ’Shady Cities’ allow us to be unabashedly enthusiastic about an author we love while giving something back to our customers. Even a single pre-order for us goes a very long way to keeping the doors open and paying the living wage. We’ve designed little in-house art bookmarks for everyone who pre-orders a copy and are raffling off the ’Shady Person’ hats with a pre-order as a ticket."
In tandem with the bookshop partnership, Granta will run an influencer campaign to encourage BookTokers and Bookstagramers to visit the independents. As part of this, creators will be given a password to receive one of the caps.
Dan Ross, owner of Storysmith bookshop in Bristol, said: "There is a very small number of authors we like to reserve special bookseller excitement for and Mariana Enriquez is one of them. As a rule, we’re a bit wary of orchestrated promo campaigns, but having worked with the relentlessly inventive team at Granta over the years we are honoured to pull out all the stops for Mariana and to re-christen Bristol as an official ’Sunny City for Shady People’."
Lamorna Elmer, deputy publicity director at Granta, added: "Bristol and Edinburgh are true hubs for Mariana fandom. I received so many excited and thoughtful emails from bookshops asking for events when we announced this new collection."
A Sunny Place for Shady People will be published on 26th September.