Pilot Books successfully champions independent publishers, authors | Arts & Culture

Pilot Books is like a honeybee: small but essential and deceptively strong. Since launching in 2009, the tiny store, perched in an enclave on the second floor of the Alley Building at 219 Broadway E, has had an impact on the city's literary terrain disproportionate to its size.

Owner Summer Robinson, 25, previously currated books at the Capitol Hill gallery, Anne Bonny, but realized Seattle didn't have a bookstore that "makes independent publishing its number one priority," she says. "I really love to explore the full range of publishing, not just the books that are coming out from publishers owned by conglomerates."

So she launched Pilot Books to fill that void. "I named the store 'Pilot' because it's a Pilot Project," she says. And while Pilot Books is currently Seattle's only bookstore that exclusively carries books from independent publishers and self-publishing authors, Robinson points out, "We're one piece of what could become a much larger puzzle."

Underscoring the enthusiasm Pilot Books engenders, Robinson and I have to speak in the hallway outside the store on Saturday night because each square inch of the venue is carpeted with individuals partaking in a writing workshop, this one led by poet Zachary Schomburg. "We've been holding our Small Press Book Fest throughout March, so we've had events each night. All our events are always free and open to the public."

"Stacey Levine, Matthew Simmons, Ryan Boudinot, Matt Briggs, Gregory Hoffman, I've met so many wonderful and talented authors through doing this," Robinson says. (Full disclosure: I just happen to know four of the five she lists.) "And I enjoy how diverse our clientele is," she continues. "You know how sometimes in the arts there's all this drama and polarization? We haven't had that. I really appreciate how supportive the community has been."

More on Pilot Books' inventory and calendar:

http://www.pilotbooksseattle.com/wordpress/