FAQs and Contact
Q: Can I preorder a book through you?
Absolutely! There are two ways to preorder:
Go to our online shop’s Preorder Corner and take a look at what’s listed. If the book you’d like to buy is listed, you can go ahead and purchase it online. We’ll notify when your book is available for in-store pickup (or when it is ready to be shipped to you, if you selected shipment)!
If you don’t see the title you’re interested in on our website, give us a call or email us at info@callandresponsechi.com!
Please note that we ship preordered titles on their publication day. Due to agreements with publishers, we cannot ship books substantially earlier than their scheduled release date.
Q: Can I order a book that I don’t see on your shelves or listed on your online shop?
Absolutely! Please send us an email at info@callandresponsechi.com with the title and quantity and we can place a special order for you!
Q: Are you currently hiring?
Unfortunately, we are not currently hiring. We will always update our website and social media pages if an open position is available.
Q: Can I have an author event at your store?
If you’d like to host an event at our store for your book, please email info@callandresponsechi.com! We kindly ask for at least two months’ advance notice to allow time to iron out details, market the event, and order books in time.
Although we are not able to accommodate all event requests, we will do our best!
Q: Do you work with self-published authors?
Of course! We love fostering genuine, meaningful relationships with local self-published authors. If you are looking to have your book sold on our shelves, please note the following:
We are only able to stock self-published titles that are available for wholesale purchase through Ingram, and it must be listed as returnable. We do not have capacity to sell books on consignment at this time.
We are currently prioritizing Chicago-area self-published authors at this time. You are still welcome to submit an inquiry through our form if you’re not local, though! If you are local to Chicago, please keep in mind that we strongly prefer to work with authors who have supported our store in the past!
Please do not drop off or mail unsolicited copies of your book at the shop! We will not review any materials that are mailed to the shop. We are a small storefront with limited shelf and storage space, which means we cannot accept unsolicited drop-offs or mailings.
As much as we love supporting as many authors as we can, our limited space also unfortunately means that we cannot stock every book for which we receive an inquiry! If we’re able to work with you, we will do our best to get back to you as soon as possible.
We will not stock or sell books containing AI-generated illustrations or text.
Please be sure to fill out our short author inquiry form so we can gather information about where to purchase your book, the book’s target audience, and more! If we can work with you to shelve your book, we will get back to you as soon as possible; given the size of our store and staffing limitations, we unfortunately cannot work with every author who submits a request, but we try our best!
Q: Can I submit a bulk order for my event, school, or organization?
We are more than happy to work with you on your bulk purchases for educational needs, book clubs, corporate events, and more! Please send us an email at info@callandresponsechi.com and be sure to provide the number of books you need, as well as the date by which you need them. Please be sure to give us at least 5 weeks’ advance notice to ensure we are able to fulfill your order in time.
Q: Can I rent the space for my social gathering or event?
Yes! Please email us at info@callandresponsechi.com for information about rates and times. If you’re looking to host a book club meeting in the shop, please be sure to let us know how many people will be in attendance and when you plan to meet so we can discuss options for space usage—our space is relatively limited and we want to make sure customers can still browse all of our shelves if you are hosting the book club during our regular store hours!