On January 5, Mrs. Nelson’s Toy & Book Shop in La Verne, Calif., closed its doors for the last time, but the Nelson name lives on in a Facebook proposal from Patrick Carman, author of the Pulse trilogy among others, for a “truce” with Amazon. While acknowledging the appeal of Amazon’s pricing and speedy door-to-door delivery system, he asks people to split their purchases into a “Half Nelsons” by buying only half their books from Amazon and the other half from their local independent or an independent on IndieBound.com.

“There is nothing like getting a hot drink and stepping into Book and Game, my local bookstore, where I know the owner and the manager and I can browse for something new,” wrote Carman in support of bricks-and-mortar indies. “It’s an important part of our town that helps make Walla Walla feel like home.”

Carman’s campaign hasn’t sparked a movement yet. But it has given way to conversation about the importance not just of shopping indies but of other bricks-and-mortar stores like Barnes & Noble.