The conundrum of bookstore support

I received an email from a friend and bookstore owner, Pamela Grath today, that offered an article that appeared in todays issue of Shelf Awareness, a newsletter for booksellers. It was somewhat scathing in reference to authors posting an Amazon link on their websites for their book, but no link to Booksense.com. The article contained some comments from independent bookstores that offered various reasons why links to indies should also be on their website's home page. An overwhelming theme was to not only give consumers a choice as to where to spend their money, but also to highlight an obvious dilemma; why should we, as indies, prop up you authors and not get a little love in return? It got me thinking how confused I am as a just-published author. My publisher, Momenum Books, is a regional press out of Troy, Michigan. They've set me up with signings at both indie stores and chains such as Barnes & Noble and Borders, throughout the northwestern part of Michigan and the Detroit area. New to the game, I asked many times if I should direct people intrerested in buying the book to go to the chains, the indies or Amazon. The answer is always Amazon. This is because sales flow on the web, especially for a regional book (Eight Dogs Named Jack is available only in Michigan and parts of Ohio) attract the distributors to make bulk purchases from the publisher. What's even more confusing is that the indies oftentimes order their books from these same DISTRIBUTORS!
But I confess, that my homepage (www.JoeBorri.net) lacks links to indies. It's got the ol' Amazon logo right there, ready to be clicked on and direct folks outside of Michigan (that was my intent) to my Amazon page (currently plum full of 7 reviews). I do list Dog Ears as a favorite link, but that's on my bio page.
Soooooooooooo...
I will soon be making an adjustment to my home page. I am going to actively seek out the indies that carry my book and return the favor by posting their website links on my HP.
However, here's another interesting side-bar. I was recently fortunate enough to have a story from the book, Measure of a Man, exerpted in Traverse Magazine's November issue. The magazine has a 50-state subscribership, but primarily appeals to the upper northern part of the lower penninsula. So I was puzzled that a couple of indies up there refused to carry a display sign that reads, "As featured in Traverse Magazine." But the lack of support is not limited to the indies. There's the Borders by my house, less than 3 miles away, and that I have a signing at in November. My book is there on an "order-only" basis, yet the Borders on the East Side of the city featured my book prominently displayed next to some little-known thing titled, "Harry Potter and the something-something" (tongue totally wedged in cheek). People in my community that want to support me, and the local economy, by buying the book from a local bookstore (I know it's a chain, but a few indies don't stock my book) can't do so as readily as clicking on Amazon and getting it delivered to their door.
Man, all I'm trying to do is write stories and sell enough books to get the next one published. It gets to be crazy, confusing, and zaps the energy out of you.
Neal Rubin, a local columnist, told me upon a garbled congratulations for being published, that he'd love to have a book and not have to do any signings. I am totally down with what he means.