Bookshop.org UK takes wraps off Golden Bookmark Competition

Bookshop.org has launched the Golden Bookmark Competition, offering people the chance to win free books for life.

Inspired by the Golden Ticket from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, the initiative will grant one winner £300 in Bookshop.org gift cards every year for life.

They will also get to nominate their favourite bookshop to receive a one time £500 donation.

The competition starts today and will run until Thursday, 10th November. To take part, click here.

Entrants will receive five bonus entries each time someone enters through their referral link, which will be made available to them after their entry is submitted.

Nicole Vanderbilt, Managing Director at Bookshop.org UK, says: “We are incredibly excited to be launching this once in a lifetime opportunity for one lucky reader to win free books from Bookshop.org for the rest of their life.”

“We hope the chance to win free books for life will come as a cheerful, heart warming initiative.”

“As with everything we do, we are running this giveaway also (and most importantly) to draw people’s attention on the positive difference that independent bookshops make to our lives, and to give the winner the chance to show their concrete support to their favourite independent.”

“Look out for booksellers’ #BooksForLife recommendations on our homepage and on social media, as they share their suggestions of books that will keep you entertained for a lifetime – something an algorithm will never be able to do.”

Born in the USA

Bookshop.org launched in the US during early 2020 and arrived in the UK in November of that year.

The venture is the brainchild of the writer and co-founder of Literary Hub, Andy Hunter.

It allows independent bookshops to create their own virtual shopfront on the site, with the stores receiving the full profit margin – 30% of the cover price – from each sale. 

All customer service and shipping are handled by Bookshop and its distributor partners, with titles offered at a small discount and delivered within two to three days.

Bookshop is a B Corporation, created with the mission “to benefit the public good by contributing to the welfare of the independent literary community”.

It therefore can’t be sold to a major US retailer, including Amazon.