Featured Launches Find Bookstores for Authors Planning Book Signings and Book Tours

Highlights

• Scottsdale, AZ, Thursday, Oct 22, 2026
• Featured, the AI co-pilot for PR, today launched Find Bookstores, a search of 1,093 independent U.S. bookstores built for authors and book publicists planning signings and book tours. Users name a place or a genre in Featured's chat and get the stores that host author events, with a link to each store's website or events page and, where the store publishes one, its email.
• Type a request such as "Bookstores in Texas that host author signings" or "Mystery bookstores in California" and Featured returns the matching stores. Each result shows the store's name and location, a short description of its programming, a link to its website or events page, and an email address when the store publishes one. Users can then ask Featured to draft the pitch in the same chat.
• Find Bookstores is available on every Featured plan, including Free. Book publicists can plan the rest of the tour in the same place: Featured answers requests for bookstores and speaking opportunities in the same chat, and Find Podcasts covers the interviews around each stop.
• Independent bookstores are growing. The American Booksellers Association's 2025 annual report counted 605 new bookstore businesses opened in 2025, including 399 storefronts, against 65 closures, with openings up 87 percent from 2024. ABA membership reached 3,417 members operating 3,783 locations, nearly double the 1,775 members the association counted in 2016 and, according to the Associated Press, the highest since the late 1990s. For an author, each of those stores is a room and a crowd that chose to come.
• Of the 1,093 stores in Featured's database, 59.9 percent link to a public events or calendar page and 37.6 percent publish an email address for the store. The stores span all 50 states and the District of Columbia across 796 cities, and 36.6 percent describe author events, readings or signings in their own words.
• What's New
• A first-mover edge: Featured's Find Bookstores gives authors a first-mover edge by instantly matching them to 1,093 independent bookstores that host events.
• Stronger community ties: Featured's Find Bookstores helps authors connect with local independent bookstores, strengthening community ties and expanding access to live literary events.
• Search by place or genre: Featured's chat tool searches 1,093 independent U.S. bookstores by place or genre and returns event links, descriptions, and emails for pitching.
• Coverage across all 50 states: Featured's new search covers 1,093 independent bookstores across all 50 states, and 36.6 percent describe author events in their own words.
• When my book came out, I pitched Changing Hands in Tempe for a talk and signing. What made it tough is that as a first-time author, I had no idea what I was doing when it came down to promoting my book. Featured simplifies that path, and connects authors with the stores that host events and can move product.
• Find Bookstores runs inside the same Featured chat users already use to find Substack publications and TV stations. It is live now at featured.com. Free to start. No credit card.