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Can I rant for just a tiny minute?

I guess I must have been actually reading back posts of my favorite blogs, because I came across this one on the blog of Lance Fensterman, conference director extraordinaire (BEA *and* Comic Con -- that's right, baby!) and generally funny and observant guy. He's got a link to this story in the MinnPost about Birch Bark Books in Minneapolis, owned by well-to-do and respected author Louise Erdrich but apparently not doing terribly well financially. Here's the opener:

So my win of the $15,000 PowerUp! Award for my bookstore business plan got written up in the Daily News yesterday, complete with photo of me with a goofy grin on my face (high on endorphins, as John T. surmised). I know the word got passed around at Winter Institute in Louisville, too.

Thank you so, so much to all of your for your congratulations and your support. Got ideas, suggestions, thoughts? Email me, for goodness' sake -- I'd love to hear from you! (Forgive me if it's mercenary to mention it again, but the one thing still standing between me and opening the bookstore doors is capital -- I'm looking for grants, loans, or any other creative means of pulling it all together, so if you have any suggestions in that regard, I'll probably be interested.)

Anyway, the congratulations keep coming -- from friends and strangers, many of whom think I should open the bookstore in their Brooklyn neighborhood! It's fantastic to know there are so many folks longing for a bookstore out there.

I was curious about how everyone was hearing about the news, and so I admit, I did that vaguely shameful thing authors often resort to -- I Googled myself. And here's who's writing about it (forgive the self-absorption -- it's kind of just for my records):

Chad Post (formerly of Dalkey Archive) in Three Percent, his new blog for Open Letter at University of Rochester...

Bookselling This Week had a nice mention, and Karen Schechner is writing up a more in-depth piece to run later this week...

Levi at Litkicks includes it in his roundup...

Shelf Awareness featured it front and center...

P.J. at Books in Northport gave me a bookseller-to-bookseller shoutout...

And Bud Parr at Chekhov's Mistress has a great post about what kind of bookseller he would be (a bit of a cranky one), along with his congratulations about the win...

Which leads me to another great post at BookNinja about George's dream bookstore (Lisa Loeb is involved)...

Inspired by this piece in the Guardian, about Lee Rourke's dream bookstore...

Which is really about two entrepreneurs (like me!) working toward opening The Big Green Bookshop in London, and writing a blog about the process (they've also apparently been bowled over by the publicity from the article). Warning: the blog opens to the tune of "Pleasant Valley Sunday," which I love but you might want to be aware of if you're in a quiet place.

I love reading all of the literary folks whose dream bookstore resembles that of Bernard Black in Black's Books, a hilarious cancelled BBC sitcom I've been obsessed with lately. Bernard loves drinking wine, reading books, and being left alone, and hates cleaning, anything new, and customers. Obviously he's a terrible bookseller. And as they admit, many of those who dream of the bookstore life aren't really cut out for it. But as my very first bookstore boss used to say, "that's why there are so many books [or jobs] in the world -- so not everyone has to like the same ones." And it doesn't hurt to dream, does it?

Happy Wednesday!

Okay, I really intended to try to write up some book reviews today (it's been a long time, have you noticed?) -- but that may have to wait until next week, as time is of the essence as usual. But I can't resist pulling this data from today's Shelf Awareness:

Bookstore sales in November were $1.186 billion, up 7.5% from $1.103 billion in sales in November 2006, according to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. For the year to date, bookstore sales have been $14.654 billion, up 0.8% from $14.532 billion in the first 11 months of 2006. This marks the fifth month in a row that bookstore sales were up over the same period last year--and the second month in a row that year-to-date sales have topped last year's comparable figures.

You may have already seen this, but the ABA has officially announced that 115 new independent bookstores opened in 2007! Apparently, it's the third year in a row that we've seen over 100 new store openings. You can look here for the full list of new stores -- -- there may be a new indie store near you. I found 4 of them just in the five boroughs of New York -- woo hoo! I'll have to update my own ongoing list of local indies, which is currently pushing 70 -- I love to pull it out whenever anyone laments the fact that there are "no more independent bookstores" in New York, and we often use it at my bookstore to refer customers looking for something specific. Now they've got even more options.

And more folks are discovering that's the case. In the Huffington Post last week, Michelle Haimoff writes about seven great New York indie bookstores, which she calls "The Secret New York Alternative to Barnes & Noble." McNally Robinson gets a nice mention, as do some of my other favorites.

(For another fun list, check out the (very subjective) Top 10 Bookstores in the World by Sean Dodson in the Guardian. What a travel itinerary that would be!)

Also in our fair city, Book Culture (formerly Labyrinth) has a new blog. If I recall correctly from my days working there during the coursebook rush, the Seven Shopping Tips for Students will be especially helpful (not least to the harried staff!) And the store's new events and marketing manager Kelly Amabile also has her own blog, with reflections on a life in books and working in an indie bookstore.

And it looks like 2008 is going to be another good year for indies. The ABA blog led me to Justina Chen Headley's Five Ways to Support Your Local Bookstore, inspired by the closing of her local Seattle store M Coy, and picked up by a number of other bloggers. It's another indication that consumer awareness about supporting indies is on the rise.

But also check out this letter to the Seattle Times from the very succesful Seattle Mystery Bookshop, objecting to the way M Coy's closing was covered in the media (thanks to Shelf Awareness for the link). It reads in part:

The local media are quick to mark the demise of an independent bookshop and say once again how it is nearly impossible for a small independent to survive. Difficult, sure. But not impossible....

If you want to know how independent booksellers really are doing, come ask us. Reacting to the closing of one bookshop by saying it is another death-knell of an industry simply isn't fair or correct and can be counterproductive. It can also mislead customers and drive more into the hands of the corporate Big Boxes, encouraging the difficulties that small independents face. Why not do a story about how some independents are doing fine because of their customers who want to support small businesses? Isn't there a story in that?

Here's a bit of good news, from PW via GalleyCat:

"Bookstore sales increased for the fourth consecutive month in October, rising 8.0%, to $1.10 billion. The increase was the second largest this year, trailing only the 9.3% gain posted in August.

Despite the string of increases, sales through the first 10 months of the year were still virtually flat with sales up 0.3%, to $13.47 billion, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. For the entire retail segment, sales were up 6.2% in October and 4.0% for the first 10 months."

At the SCBWI meeting held on Tuesday 20 November 2007 at UNISA Penny Hochfeld discussed the Exclusive Books IBBY SA Awards.

Exclusive Books, in association with IBBY S.A., has taken on the sponsorship of the award for the best original children's picture book or illustrated children's story book published in South Africa.

For the EXCLUSIVE BOOKS IBBY SA AWARD for 2007, they invited submissions of books published between 1 January 2006 and 30 June 2007. Fifty-six entries were received and evaluated by the jury.

The jury consisted of various people associated with publishing of children’s books as well as experts in Fine Art and book illustration. Other members comprised the Chairperson of IBBY SA, the IBBY SA Executive member responsible for the awards portfolio, and members co-opted from the areas of design, public and school libraries, academic librarianship, and book-selection for children.

The rules require that the award is for a picture book or illustrated children’s story book adjudged the best in the period of adjudication. The writer and illustrator must be South Africans, whether living in South Africa or not; or non-South Africans living and working in South Africa. The book must be an original work written in any of the official South African languages and it must have been published in South Africa.
Importantly, the award is given to a book that is recognisably South African in character.

The shortlist of five titles was published some weeks before the final award was announced. The award was announced at an Exclusive Books event on 11 September in Johannesburg.

Robin Malan announced that the Exclusive Books IBBY SA Award was awarded jointly to:

The Cool Nguni (written by Maryanne Bester, illustrated by Shayle Bester, published by Jacana Media) to award and reward adventurousness and a quirky sense of fun in the jaunty image projected through both text and illustrations.

Fynbosfeetjies (written by Antjie Krog, illustrated by Fiona Moodie, published by Umuzi) to award and reward professional excellence and artistry in both the writing and the illustration of the funky fairies.

Ouma Ruby’s Secret (written by Chris van Wyk, illustrated by Anneliese Voigt-Peters, published by Giraffe Books Pan Macmillan) for the humanity and the homespun South African authenticity of both text and illustrations.

UTshepo mde / Tall enough (written by Mhlobo Jadezweni, illustrated by Hannah Morris, published by Electric Book Works) for the magic of its story and the sophistication of its illustrations.

Zanzibar Road (written and illustrated by Niki Daly, published in English by Pan Macmillan and in Afrikaans by LAPA Uitgewers) for the professionalism and experience of the writer and illustrator as much as for the fun he has and gives young readers.

Excerpt from presentation by Robin Malan (Chairman of IBBY SA) at Awards Event held on 11 September 2007.

The award will be made every second year, from 2007 onwards. Exclusive Books and IBBY SA hope that this new Award will encourage the publication of wonderful new South African children's books, as it rewards talented authors and illustrators.

I love that people send me articles about books, bookstores, book technology, and other stuff they know I might be interested in for the blog. My friend Steve sends me the best of the gazillion articles he reads about ebooks. The ALP sends me articles about comics. And sometimes my mom sends me articles about bookstores. Thanks, guys -- I read them all, though I don't always have time to talk about them.

Speaking of time, if you've got any this Saturday and Sunday, check out the Indie & Small Press Book Fair at the New York Center for Independent Publishing. As the Times notes, the sessions include musicians as well as authors and publishers, and the conversations should be as wide-ranging as the books on offer.

And speaking of a wide range of great books, check out the new project of the National Book Critics Circle: a monthly Best Recommended list, compiled from the favorites of lots of great authors and critics. It's sure to be an extremely well-curated list -- like an NBCC award shortlist for every month. We're planning on featuring a display in the bookstore, and I think the list will prove useful in lots of other venues for finding out the best books of the moment. Here's the current list:

Fiction

Monday, an article in the New York Times confirmed the story that the Barnes & Noble on Astor Place in New York is closing, and put to rest the rumors we'd been hearing that a new branch would open in Chelsea. The Astor Place branch will close on December 31, citing astronomical rents, the bane of all bookstores in NYC. (Strangely, the quoted yearly rent of $1.15 million for 32,000 square feet works out to only about $35 per square foot -- well within reasonable range, even for a bookstore.) The Times reports that a new B&N will open at 270 Greenwich Street in TriBeCa on November 28, "so the total number of Barnes & Noble stores will be unchanged."

However, a Tuesday article in the New York Post makes that last statement questionable. Real estate sources say that the Chelsea Barnes & Noble won't renew its lease when it comes up next May, though Barnes & Noble hasn't confirmed this. But the Post also says the chain may have signed a lease at Lexington Avenue and 86th Street for a new store to open next year. Go fig.

Possibly the best part of the Times story is two paragraphs at the end, where Meg Smith of the ABA offers McNally Robinson as a counter-example to the gloom-and-doom of the bookstore news. But read through the comments on the article for almost every possible perspective on the issue, from optimism that perhaps this signifies a return to local retail, to despair that New York is becoming ever more unaffordable and homogenized, to apathy about the importance of bookstores at all, and a brief debate about whether McNally Robinson is in fact a chain (it isn't; see comment #33). Fascinating stuff, and far from simple.

And then, check out the Tuesday Daily News story on independent bookstores in Brooklyn, which are thriving despite competition from Barnes & Nobles in their area. BookCourt (Boerum Hill), A Novel Idea (Bay Ridge), P.S. Bookshop (Dumbo), and Spoonbill and Sugartown (Williamsburg) are doing just great, actually. (And of course this brief article doesn't cover half the indie bookstores in the borough.).

Three New York papers; two days; three articles about bookstores. It's an interesting moment, folks.

Dear readers, the end of this week is the deadline for the Brooklyn Business Library's business plan competition, and I still have some elements to pull together. So blogging will be light, if it happens at all.

But just in time, Shelf Awareness linked to three articles about independent bookstores making good.

Explore Booksellers and Town Center Booksellers are among the only local shops lauded for good customer service in an article about the trade-offs of shopping local in the Aspen Times. (Note to self: customer service is a key component of a successful indie.)

The Raven Bookstore in Lawrence, Kansas is getting new owners after twenty years, according to this article in LJWorld. Click on the video link to hear Kelly Barth, a long-time employee who is one of the three new owners, talking about plans for the future, including focusing on the store's strengths and providing space for local writers. (Note to self: the neighborhood is the strength of a successful indie.)

And my hero Betsy Burton speaks in the Deseret Morning News about the King's English, one of the most successful indie bookstores in the country and spearhead of a powerful Local First movement in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her confidence and optimism have shaped the world around her; she's seen growing public awareness of the value of local businesses. (Note to self: the benefits to the local economy are one of the values of a successful indie.)

It's good to be encouraged by such voices as I turn toward what I hope is the real beginning of the process of starting my own independent bookstore. I hope you'll forgive the Biblical quotation, which seems unavoidably apropos as I find myself inspired by the community of booksellers testifyin' about the good work that they're able to do:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders... and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

I'm off and running. See you after the deadline.

P.S. In the meantime, don't forget about the Brooklyn Book Festival this weekend! The lineup is even better than last year -- I'll be there if I possibly can.

There's a very nice piece in Bookselling This Week about booksellers who blog, which features yours truly, among others: namely Chuck Robinson of Village Books in Washington, the staff of River City Books in Minnesota, the folks at Harry W. Schwartz in Wisconsin, Arsen Kashkashian of Boulder Bookstore in Colorado, and Megan Sullivan of Harvard Bookstore in Massachusetts. Megan I knew already, of course, and I'd heard of a couple of the others, but I'm really impressed with what store owners and staff are doing with store blogs. I think the blogging "model" Megan and I follow is a different one from what the others are doing, and I'm intrigued by the difference.

The Written Nerd is less a promotional tool than a means of personal expression and connection-making -- my own personal mutual-interest-based social networking site, in a way, and an outlet for talking about the topics that are spilling out of my own head. Bookstore blogs are that too -- just booklovers talking about stuff that gets them excited -- but as in indie bookstores themselves, that excitement is "value added" and ultimately an asset to the store. As indie booksellers we trade (in the best cases) on our knowledge and passion, our ability to put books in the right hands, craft events and displays that make books irresistible, and our real love for the books dovetails beautifully into our need to sell them.

Though I can imagine how you could think that was a conflict of interest of some kind, I think it's the best-case scenario to have people pay you to do the thing you love: like an actor who loves acting, a hairdresser who loves chatting and beautifying, a chef who gets paid to indulge his joy of cooking. When you'd be doing it anyway, and you find a way to make it pay, it's a beautiful day for economic and psychic well-being. Some bloggers take pride in the fact that they "can't be bought," that they're doing it purely for the love of it. And some booksellers (okay, very few) take pride in the fact that it's "just business," that no personal feelings are going to get in the way of making a profitable enterprise. While sometimes emotion and ethics must take precedence, and sometimes business concerns have to be foremost, it seems to me that in any industry, but especially in the book industry, the best work is done when the investment of passion is remunerated, and love translates into food on the table.

Which is why I think it makes so much sense for bookstores to get their employees involved in a store blog. One of the issues the Emerging Leaders project aims to combat is the sense among a lot of young bookstore employees they're retail workers, not professional booksellers: that their love of books is just personal, and they don't have a lot to offer their store and their industry beyond ringing sales and shelving books. Asking employees to write about the books they love for a blog, as for a staff picks display, is a way of making them invested in the bookstore, so that they make a connection between their passion and their paycheck. And there's a lot more to write about on a blog than just beloved books, and all of that content makes for a store that draws readers.

Two of my favorite examples, aside from the ones mentioned in the article, are the blogs of Powell's Books in Portland, OR, and Atomic Books, in Baltimore, MD. The two couldn't be more different: Powell's is as massive as an independent can get, with several stores in the Portland area and an e-commerce site which actually rivals Amazon's (I'm seeing it linked more and more by those who'd like to support independents but need to make their book available online). Their blog contains not only staff picks, but original essays and interviews, book news, celebrity guest bloggers, podcasts, and lots and lots of other content. Atomic Books is a small store with a comics emphasis, which does e-commerce but not on the scale of Powell's. Their blog has a lot of local Baltimore news and gossip, information about upcoming events in the store and in the neighborhood, and excited announcements about what's just in or on its way. Powell's has a full-time staff devoted to its website content; Atomic is written by its two owners in between running the shop. I love checking into both of them for the richness of the content and the investment of time and energy that they obviously represent. Visiting Powell's in Portland was made more special because I felt like I'd spent time there through the voices on the blog. And I cannot wait to visit Atomic when I'm in Baltimore for NAIBA-Con, and see the people and the place in real life.

And I can't wait until I have a bookstore, and employees, and I can bring their unique voices into the project by having a blog that everyone can post to. There will be no stigma against being on the internet during work hours (unless there's a customer needing immediate help, or you're sending your one millionth personal email, or the shelving is out of control), because good booksellers need to use the tools of the internet to stay informed, and to keep their customers informed, just as they need to read the books they're selling. A blog is a way not only to get employees invested in the store, but a way to get customers invested as well. As Toby at Three Lives describes, people who walk in to a beautiful bookstore, who take in the atmosphere of stories and ideas and curiosity and freedom, want to belong to it somehow, want it to be theirs. They want to get invested. And the way they do that is to buy a book. Blogs can be another tool for creating that atmosphere, and that desire for investment. And investment is what keeps our projects going.


What do you think? What are other ways that booksellers can feel invested in the store where they work, and in the book industry as a whole? What are ways that customers can be made to feel like a bookstore has something worth investing in? What's the relationship between emotional and economic investment? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

There's lots of good news and bad news in Bookselling This Week.

On the one hand, bookstore sales are apparently down over last year for the 12th month in a row. And there's another piece on the closing of Bennett Books.

On the other hand, eleven new independents opened in the month of July. And the California town of Stockton (named after some distant relative of mine, I've been told) successfully passed legislation that will keep out big-box stores. And there's also a piece on how bookstores are using MySpace for publicity and community building.

And the future just keeps on coming on. HarperCollins has announced that it will release free samples of new books in an electronic format that can be read on the Apple iPhone (I first came across this on a fellow LBC member's blog, but now I can't remember whose). You can download them here on the HarperCollins Browse Inside page. The language suggests the brief downloadable passages are meant to replicate the experience of browsing before buying, rather than being the precursor to entire books being available for iPhone reading. What do you think of that, readers?

In a more leisurely vein, novelist Nicole Krauss has a nice piece about walking in New York in the Times, and there are more where that came from. I came across this in the UrbanEye, the Times daily email newsletter, which always has great suggestions for what to do today (I'm always thrilled when McNally Robinson gets recommended). You can sign up for UrbanEye here.

And in Brooklyn this weekend: I was sad to miss the Fort Greene Summer Literary Festival on Saturday (I work late that day), but Brooklyn author and blogger Richard Grayson has a great write-up of the Festival on his blog.

On the agenda today: compile a SWOT analysis of bookstore competition in Brooklyn. The hard question: what exactly are the Weaknesses and Threats facing, say, Amazon, at least in the eyes of the financial professionals who will read this? Any suggestions welcome.

Hopefully some book reviews later this week. Happy reading!

Carolyn Bennett is one of my favorite people in the book industry. She's a sales rep at BookStream, a youngish independent wholesaler (and sends out their great e-newsletter), and works part time at Oblong Books in upstate New York. She also belongs to a wonderful bookselling family: her sister Whitney works for HarperCollins, and her parents John and Betty Bennett are the proprietors of Bennett Books in Wyckoff, New Jersey. I've been lucky to get to know both John and Betty through NAIBA, and they're some of my bookselling role models.

Last week, Carolyn told me Bennett Books has made the decision to close at the end of September. The closing of an indie bookstore is always a hard thing to grapple with, and I think Carolyn's own words do it better than mine could. The following is also published in today's Shelf Awareness and on Carolyn's blog.

Epilogue: Nineteen Years Later

Back in 1988, my ten-year-old heart burst with a secret. My parents were going to open a bookstore. All they needed was a location, shelves, and books, and we were going to be in business! After harboring this secret for months, the plan finally came to fruition, and I was allowed to tell my friends that my town of Wyckoff, New Jersey was finally getting its own bookstore and my parents were opening it! Thus began two decades of an extremely successful bookstore.

In the past few days, my heart has been bursting with another piece of news. Because of recent rent increases, flat book sales, the explosion of the internet, and the high cost of much needed capital improvements, it is impossible for the store to remain in business. Bennett Books will be closed by September 30, 2007.

In the past nineteen years, I've been filled with pride for my parents' achievements. From the first book sold (The Art of the Deal by Donald Trump), to the day they finally had enough books to fill the shelves, and the two times that burgeoning stock allowed them to expand the size of the store, to the time they proudly sold and displayed The Satanic Verses, as well as Sex by Madonna despite threats of a boycott called for in a sermon given by a small-minded local pastor, to the time they found a loophole in Bergen County's blue laws which allowed them to sell books on Sundays when the chains on the highway closed (and still do) like the rest of the malls, and throughout their participation in the American Booksellers Association and the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association, The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and the Chamber of Commerce, my parents, John and Betty Bennett, have been outstanding booksellers. It's deeply unfortunate that all great things cannot last, and while I'm devastated to see my favorite bookstore go, I remain confident that independent bookselling will remain an important part of our country and communities.

The world has changed by leaps and bounds since 1988, and I don't think that anything will stop the free distribution of information on the internet, which creates formidable competition for booksellers. Even I have downloaded recipes and travel instructions instead of looking them up in a book. Despite the competition, the traditional book is not dead, and some bookstores are finding creative ways to evolve with technology. But this is not the only obstacle booksellers face.

Recently, I had a conversation with my mother about where she purchased books before the store opened. Her answer was that she, like her neighbors, had to drive to other towns, or to the mall, or not purchase books at all. Now that Bennett Books is closing, residents will yet again have to drive long distances to buy books instead of making the short trip to the town center. In the past year, almost every publisher has released at least one book about the importance of buying locally for the sake of the environment and the economy. It would be a shame if they don't make the connection that they have the power to help prevent independent bookstores from closing, and keep these vital community businesses alive. With pricing and terms that would allow independents to compete with chains, it would prevent the ever centralization of book distribution and allow local businesses to stay in business. This would be good for communities, individuals and the publishing industry itself. Unfortunately, it's too late for the people of Wyckoff, NJ, because starting October 1st, they will no longer be be able to buy their books from a local retailer.

Carolyn Bennett

I can't wait until all my fellow booksellers converge on Brooklyn for BEA starting May 30! You may have noticed my major passions are books and Brooklyn, and I'm giddy with excitement as the two get lots of attention this season.

Bookselling This Week has Brooklyn restaurant recommendations from local writer Pat Willard. I have a special soft spot for Convivium, which is where the ALP proposed, and 5th Avenue in Park Slope is becoming a real foodie's paradise -- in addition to Pat's choices, I'd also highly recommend Bogota for exciting Latin American food, and Biscuit for mouth-watering barbecue. But Smith Street is even closer to Hotel ABA, and you can't miss with the strip's array of restaurants. I love Bar Tabac for the sweet Gypsy jazz often being played by a live band, as well as for their juicy burgers, and have to add to Willard's list my favorite pan-Asian restaurant Faan -- the ALP and I love ordering a couple of sushi rolls, some Pad Thai and a glass or two from their sake menu while sitting in the open-air patio. Nothing better on a summer evening.

But it's not just a restaurant town -- BTW also has a great piece on longstanding bookstore success story Brownstone Books in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. I admit I haven't yet been there (though I once got scammed out of an apartment in Bed-Stuy -- long story...), but I'm delighted at the prosperity and community engagement demonstrated by the bookstore's owners. It's a big borough -- it's good to dig into our neighborhoods.

I was lucky enough to go to the Brooklyn Literary Mingle a few Fridays ago, kicking off the preparations for this year's Brooklyn Book Festival. In addition to chatting with Brooklyn literary stalwarts Johnny Temple of Akashic, Tom Roberge of A Public Space, Rob Spillman of Tin House, and others, I got to hear about plans for this year's festival, which will be even bigger and better than last year's unexpected success. The date is September 16, 2007, so mark your calendars -- it does NOT conflict with NAIBA-Con this year (which is October 14-15 in Baltimore, another great book town -- hooray!), so I will be there with bells on in one capacity or another.

But you probably have love for your hometown too, and places that make it unique. I'm excited about attending the Localism session at BEA (Saturday at 1:30), hosted by Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy, which will focus attention on Shop Local movements around the country. I've been saying for some time to anyone who would listen that the backlash against corporate homogenization is happening, as consumers learn to value unique local culture, and apparently Bill McKibben agrees with me. It's a great thing for independent bookstores, and for communities, and I can't wait to hear more.

In the meantime, I spent a lazy but semi-productive weekend in my own neighborhood with the ALP, and picked up (at my local comic shop Rocketship) the latest issue of Local, Brian Wood's brilliant experiment in realistic, serialized storytelling. Every issue is set in a different town (including #6, set in Park Slope, Brooklyn), following a single character through the episodes of her nomadic life, and filled with unique local scenes and details. It's a celebration of the diverse and fascinating characters of American communities, and a good story too. But as I savored the issue over a Sunday afternoon pint at the Brazen Head, the ALP reading Jonah Hex next to me, it was hard to imagine any place as great as Brooklyn.

I've been thrilled and intrigued by the answers to my questions about where you read reviews, and why. I want to keep the question open for a couple of days longer to get some more feedback and refine my thoughts on the subject. Look for a synthesis of your responses and my thoughts on the matter by Wednesday, and in the meantime, if you haven't responded I'd love to hear from you. (It's the end of Fundraising Drive Week at WNYC, which I listen to every morning, so forgive me if I sound like I'm soliciting pledges...)

Instead, today I want to point out joyfully two major articles about independent bookstores that are NOT playing the same, sad "too bad independent bookstores are doomed" tune. Thanks to Shelf Awareness for the link to these two:

The Colorado Springs Business Journal allows as how there are fewer indie bookstores in Colorado Springs than there used to be, but demonstrates that those that remain are growing and thriving because they have adapted to the changing marketplace. Poor Richards and Covered Treasures (which doesn't have a website yet) are highlighted as stores that have diversified their inventory (PR has a restaurant, wine bar, and toy store, and CT carries unique stationary), and created community gathering places through author readings and other events. Now that's what I'm talkin' about!

The LA Weekly magazine has a whole string of articles on their local indie bookstore scene, which is as diverse and sprawling and sometimes kooky as the city itself. Bookstores admired include Book Soup, Vromans, Skylight, Family, Diesel, A&M Book Cellars, Alias Books, Counterpoint Records and Books, The Daily Planet, David Kaye Books & Memorabilia, Equator, The Iliad Bookshop, Metropolis, Small World Books, and Tia Chucha’s Cafe Cultural.

The cool bookstore names alone are worth savoring, and the LA Weekly highlights not only the stores' unique aesthetics but the staff that give them their personality. My favorite was reading about Book Soup's events coordinator Tyson Cornell, since we have basically the same job on opposite coasts, and Book Soup and my bookstore have a lot of overlap in the authors that we host... but Cornell has had drinks with Johnny Depp, and his photo indicates he is clearly far cooler than me.... still, it's nice to find oneself in such hip company. Kudos to LA for focusing on what's great in its literary scene, and honoring the booksellers as a major part of that.

* * *

So while you're in the celebratory mood, I'd like to announce that the Emerging Leaders Party at BEA is in full effect. We'll be hanging out at 7:00 on Wednesday night, May 30, at a cool Brooklyn bar with good music, some young authors, and a whole bunch of hot young booksellers. Under 40-ness will be [semi-]strictly enforced -- this is for the youngsters who don't necessarily get invited to all the big BEA parties, and it's just for us. We'll have some practical information to hand out to help the kids get the most out of BEA and our bookselling careers, and the drinks are on BEA (thanks a zillion again, Lance Fensterman!). Email me (booknerdnyc, earthlink) if you didn't get an invite yet and you want to come, and I'll send you the info. Hope to see lots of you there!

(We now return to our regularly scheduled Friday programming. In Brooklyn today bookstore and wedding compete for the Book Nerd's attention...)