Tucked away from the hum of flipping pages and the clink of coffee cups, BookPeople’s Marketing & Events Coordinator Zareef Chowdhury is busy brainstorming his next move, keeping up with the ever-shifting tides of social media algorithms. The smell of espresso drifts through rows filled with thousands of books, where shelves of handwritten staff recommendations are stacked with bestsellers and new finds alike.

Located in the heart of downtown Austin, BookPeople is a local bookstore that continues to thrive as part of the community in an age of large corporation dominance. Founded in 1970, BookPeople offers a welcoming environment to read, drink coffee, or simply spend time with friends and family. The store has remained rooted in Austin culture through their reputation of being passionate booksellers, fostering a sense of community, and building a space open to everyone.

“BookPeople is a safe space for all readers, for all views, [and] all backgrounds. It’s a community space,” Mr. Chowdhury said. “This is a place that will always be here for our local community, no matter what age they are, no matter what year it is, [and] no matter what the state of the world is.”

Hosting around 300 events every year, BookPeople provides loads of opportunities to connect with readers and customers. Ranging from author events to Where’s Waldo? contests, the store has something for everyone, keeping reading fun, fresh, and interactive year-round. These events occasionally engage with other local businesses such as Waterloo Records, building a deep role in Austin and offering a unique community to customers that corporations cannot.

“It is a level of trust that real people, your neighbors, your community members, who have read every book basically on these shelves, are here and really care about what you and your family is reading,” Mr. Chowdhury said.

While traditional marketing tactics like TV advertisements offer a guaranteed viewer base, BookPeople stays true to its business values by prioritizing authenticity, community engagement, and local connection over broad commercial reach.

 “People think they can get away with inauthenticity or AI, which I’m sure works for some businesses,” Mr. Chowdhury said. “But we appeal to an audience that isn’t purely just motivated by getting the easy corporate option that Amazon can offer. We have to offer something real, because that is what is not [as] fungible as other bookstores.”

The store uses social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram to connect with readers and reinforce their brand. However, being an independent bookstore in a digital environment necessitates creating content that is sure to stand out. As the Marketing & Events Coordinator, Mr. Chowdhury constantly experiments with ways to cut through digital noise and foster a sense of community. Recently, he came up with a method to create engagement for an upcoming author event for Louis Sachar by making a meme from Sachar’s hit book Holes, and now the event is on track to sell out.

“The problem is, on social media, [marketing] is a lot more accessible, but it means you’re not guaranteed eyes on [content]. The ways that we deal with an unpredictable social algorithm world is seeing what other people are doing,” Mr. Chowdhury said. “But don’t let that overwhelm you, because at the end of the day, if you’re just picturing your content in the eyes of the people you want to see it, that’s 80% of the hard part.”

Despite challenges from constant algorithm changes and corporation competition, BookPeople remains an important aspect of local Austin culture. Whether it’s a quirky skit or a Reel highlighting book recommendations, each post is an opportunity to reflect the store’s values and introduce readers to their new favorite bookstore.

“[Making social media content] is a very fun puzzle. It’s a very fun creative exercise to everyday thinking,” Mr. Chowdhury said. “It’s like Phineas & Ferb — I know what we’re gonna do today. The heterogeneity of what kind of content we make is my favorite part of it.”