Rain Taxi's Twin Cities Literary Calendar is once again publishing its pocket-sized Twin Cities Independent Bookstore Passport—and offering readers fun ways to visit the stores and win discounts and prizes. Our annual Bookstore Passport celebrates both Independent Bookstore Day (this year taking place on April 27, 2024) and our metropolitan area’s bounty of great community-based bookstores!
Illustrated by local artist Kevin Cannon, the Passport is FREE to pick up at any participating store (listed below) between Wednesday, April 24, 2024 and Sunday, April 28, 2024. During these five days, travel to as many participating Twin Cities area bookstores as you can, because you can get your Passport stamped at each store you visit during that time span for a future discount at that store and a chance to win great prizes!
Read on for more details below. We’ll see you in the bookstores!
How It Works
While this Passport can serve as a year-round guide, during the days surrounding Independent Bookstore Day, Rain Taxi and the stores invite you to get your Passport stamped to collect discount coupons and enter to win even more!
CHALLENGE 1:
Collect any number of stamps and activate coupons!
Grab a free Passport from any participating store, and from Wednesday, April 24 to Sunday, April 28, you can ask each store you visit to stamp its respective page. Each stamped page activates a coupon at that store, valid May 1 - August 31, so if you return to that store, you’ve got guaranteed savings!
CHALLENGE 2:
Collect 15 stamps and enter to win a Prize Pack!
Get your Passport stamped at any 15 bookstores by Sunday, April 28, and make sure the 15th one stamps the special page in the back of your Passport. Then follow the instructions there to be entered to win one of our Passport Prize Packs — see details below!
CHALLENGE 3:
Collect all 28 stamps and enter to win the GRAND PRIZE!
If you visit all 28 participating stores by Sunday, April 28, make sure the 28th one stamps the special page in the back of your Passport. Then follow the instructions there to be entered to win the Grand Prize: $25 gift cards to all 28 stores (a $700 value)!
How to Enter
If you have obtained 15 or all 28 stamps, email a picture of the Bookstore Hero stamps page near the back of your Passport to calendar [at] raintaxi [dot] com, including in the email your name and city/state of residence, by end of day on Monday, April 29, or tear it out and mail on Monday, April 29, to Rain Taxi, PO Box 3840, Mpls MN 55403 with your email address and name included. Winners will be notified by email on Friday, May 3.
Thanks and best wishes on your travels with
the Twin Cities Independent Bookstore Passport!
Tip: Click the [ ] icon in the top right corner of this map. When the larger map opens, click the three vertical dots to view options including to print the map or to copy it to your own Google Maps account, where you can create your own routes.
2024 Participating Stores
Click on these links to learn more about the open hours, special activities, and limited or exclusive items available at each participating store!
2024 Passport Sponsors
2024 Passport Prize Packs
We’ve got seven different Prize Packs on deck, and multiple sets of the first four, so over 20 bookstore travelers will win one! Get your Passport stamped at 15 or more stores by Sunday and then follow the instructions in it to enter to win one of the following prize packs. Winners will be notified by email on Friday, May 3.
PRIZE PACK #1: Library Friends Gift Set
A Minnesota Book Awards tote bag and the novel Under the Tamarind Tree by Nigar Alam—plus a Libro.fm credit for either 3 or 6 audiobooks!
PRIZE PACK #2: Multi-Genre Gift Set
Great new titles published by Graywolf Press, Lerner Publishing Group, University of Minnesota Press, and Verso Books—plus a gift card to either Moon Palace Books or Paperback Exchange!
PRIZE PACK #3: Button Poetry Gift Set
Three Button Poetry books in a Button Poetry tote bag, plus a Button popsocket and notebook—and a recent issue of Poetry magazine, too!
PRIZE PACK #4: Avid Reader Gift Set
Nine titles from Between The Lines Publishing, plus a t-shirt (name your size)—all in a bookstore tote bag from either Next Chapter Booksellers, The Vintage Storyteller, Excelsior Bay Books, or Subtext Books!
PRIZE PACK #5: Milkweed Gift Set
A snazzy tote bag plus three signed books of life-changing importance published by Milkweed Editions—and an enamel book pin, too!
PRIZE PACK #6: Youth Book Gift Set
Two middle-grade books and two YA novels, all by landmarks Minnesota authors—and a gift card to Excelsior Bay Books!
PRIZE PACK #7: Book Lovers Grab Bag
A Tropes & Trifles tote bag, a Cream & Amber t-shirt, three Calumet Editions books, a Wild Rumpus gift card, and a Libro.fm credit for Audiobooks for a Year—wow!
2024 Passport Grand Prize
To reflect the record number of stores in the Passport, this year’s Grand Prize is the biggest in Passport history: $25 gift cards to ALL 28 stores in the Passport — a $700 value!