Happy International Women's Day!

Happy International Women's Day! Two of my most admired women are Nancy Traversy and Tessa Strickland, co-founders of Barefoot Books over 25 years ago. Read on about Barefoot Books and these two remarkable women.
"Our mission is to:
Share stories, connect families, inspire children

"Founded by two young mothers in England in 1992 and based in Cambridge, MA, Barefoot Books has published 600+ books for children. Most importantly, over nearly a quarter of a century, Barefoot has put more than 20 million books into the hands of children around the world. With a mission to “Share Stories, Connect Families, and Inspire Children,” Barefoot is now leveraging its vibrant, timeless family brand with a social selling model that empowers women entrepreneurs."
"After a rigorous review process, Forbes has named Barefoot Books one of the Best Small Companies in America! The highly anticipated May 2017 announcement of Forbes’ second annual “Small Giants” list places Barefoot Books among 25 entrepreneurial companies that are seizing new opportunities and disrupting industries while maintaining sound business practices and impacting their communities. Noting a key differentiator between Barefoot Books and many other publishers, Forbes praised the power of the Barefoot brand:
“Perhaps most remarkably, [CEO Nancy] Traversy has defied conventional wisdom and created a publishing brand that parents and grandparents recognize, trust, and buy. They don’t buy one of the company’s books because of the author or the illustrator. They buy it because it’s a Barefoot Book.”
We are proud that Barefoot Books’ woman-owned and -run business with its vibrant company culture and open-book management has earned such a prestigious honor. This achievement would not have been possible without all the authors, illustrators, Barefoot team members, Ambassadors, parents, teachers, booksellers and other members of our community who have supported us over the years. We owe you our sincerest gratitude."

Thank you Barefoot Books!

 Post from the Barefoot Books Living Barefoot Blog, A brave decision promoting small businesses.  Thank you!  If you would like to know more about our ambassador program or join my team please email me, marshabarefootbooks@gmail.com. 

So Long, Amazon!

by Nancy Traversy Fri May 24, 2013 1:21 AM EDT

At Barefoot Books we believe that small is beautiful. From small, home-based beginnings twenty years ago, we have grown into an international, award-winning independent children’s book publisher. We are committed to cultural and economic diversity; and this is reflected in both our publishing program and in our business model. With this philosophy at the heart of our company, we have decided to end our relationship with Amazon.
As entrepreneurs, we admire Amazon and its ground-breaking accomplishments. However, living Barefoot is about creating a sustainable model which enables individuals to build small-scale businesses; it’s about the vitality of intimate relationships and the power of connection. We believe our future lies in supporting other small businesses and in growing our network of independent Ambassador distributors: – developing a community where personal connections matter, where we can bring our books to life for children, and where we can stay true to our values.
The challenges we have faced doing business with Amazon over the years are similar to those we experienced selling to the big box retail chains. Personal relationships with buyers are rare, particularly when you’re a small publisher. Our books become commodities that tend to only get promoted if they are heavily discounted and Amazon often starts selling them before we have even received our advance copies from the printer. This way of trading often drives small-scale businesses to the wall.
Since announcing this news a few days ago we have seen an outpouring of support not only from our Barefoot Books community, but from other publishers and people around the world!
Barefoot Books Ambassador Barbara Saunders Sims said, ‘I know each of my customers well and have worked hard to create wonderful, lasting relationships with them. This is the way book buying should be’.