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Hi, folks, as promised my amazing chicken doodle project will be featured at the end of this post! I am over the top busy right now, but that is a good thing. This week I continue my "Chicken by Chicken" series. This week's topic I'm talking about this Mess: "book products," Kindle, and why I feel there is big time mucking up going on with something I love. I'm in a ranting/ramble mood. I hope something in here resonates with you.
I'm totally not against writers making money. In fact, I am totally for it, but the technology books has sort of ruined books for now. I have this thing called the Kindle. I buy books on said Kindle. I sell books on the Kindle. I use it daily. But I am as not as happy as I could be! I have formed an opinion. I love this Kindle technology, but I hate the business side of the Kindle, that has turned book selling into a big box store enterprise with a store interface that is over the top annoying. The wonky Kindle interface makes finding good books VERY difficult. You can't trust the reviews because businesses exist to make reviews. You can't trust the ratings--people pay for stacks of ratings.You can't trust the search or rank features because Amazon is a publisher too and, yeah, they want to sell their books most-est....
So I'm stuck in a bookstore that has an agenda, and that agenda is to deliver me the content they love (cough,they've negotiated the best deals with the publishers), and curtail my access to any other content. Let me say this here: superior technology is not ruining the pleasure of buying books, it's the inferior book business of the book technological innovators. These technology gurus have invented an awesome way to deliver books to us all. I totally cheer that, but dang it, they are not content delivery innovators. If I could buy a Kindle and rip out their "buyer" interface I would do it in instant. I want Kindle to change.
I want to buy books from whoever I want on the Kindle, from Mom and Pop Bookstore on the Kindle. Period. I should be able to put what ever book buyer interface I want on my Kindle! You remember when every had to use Explorer? That is so over. Currently, I use Google to find books. I use bloggers to find books I want to read. I ask my friends what is hot. It's a way better method than the Kindle store. My method is OK but not great. Technology innovators please figure out a way to separate the book interface from the store interface! Can you imagine if the printing press had locked up selling only specific content back in the day? Boo, Kindle. Boo.
Here's the best way to buy books. Every reader in the world knows this. Mom and Pop decide to open a bookstore. They decide to make it a fun place to serve coffee and offer books. They do not sell tons of toys, games, and Doctor Who cookie jars (Okay, I will allow the cookie jars because I am a fan.) Mom and Pop read all the time. All their friends read. They love to chat up books. Their employees read. This crowd does not care who wrote the book, who published the book, how much marketing was spent on the book. They care that they like the book. They care that they offer books they hate too because these folks ought to have a free speech flag flying above their door. I love Mom and Pop.
The downside of Mom and Pop, they sell a book for $20 that can be purchased on the Kindle for $3. Overhead is a problem. Listen to me, we all have fewer dollars to pass around. This is a growing trend. I hear Marie Antoinette telling me to eat cake if I don't have bread, and we all know how it turned out for her. We need an innovative online way to sell content to readers on the Kindle that respects that some of us lack moola. And for me from small city Texas without even an independent bookstore,
I need everyday folk access.I want independent stores on my Kindle. Allow the middle man into your business, kind of like channels on TV. Make it happen.
Okay, rant is over. I feel better. I will be back next week with more of my series.
Here is a doodle for your pocket:
It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters. Epitctetus
A few days ago, Lynn Rosen, the editorial director of the Publishing Business Group, wrote to ask me about those end-of year lists we see so often in the book business. What are they? What do they mean? How are they created? How do they affect us? She asked, and I (with my always limited knowledge) answered. Our conversation is
here.
This morning, while I was waiting for an unexpected visitor to leave the house (okay, so it was the pest control guy, and, all right, if you must know, I was not precisely prepared for the visit, and since you won't stop asking, no, my hair was not combed and my eyes were raccooned), I was scrolling through my blog log and saw that my good friend Danielle Smith of There's a Book had written something about pausing.
I need pause right now, I thought, and so pressed on the link, only to discover that Danielle had included me in her glorious post. You'll see what I mean,
here.Oh my gosh, new insertion. Here is Sarah Laurence being uber kind to Small Damages at year's end. So how do I feel about being included in some of these phenomenal lists, mentions, citations, possibilities? I feel blessed, pure and simple. I feel outrageously lucky. I have been writing books for a long time. I have published many. I was an outsider from the get-go, but I don't feel so outside anymore. I feel like I am part of a community. I feel like there is reason to go on searching for stories and words.
I want to write.
I loved this article in Fortune that author Sara Ryan pointed me to, about how Cassie Claire used the marketing sensibility she was taught by her dad to make sure her publisher had plans in place for her success.
CLARE: We were in the boardroom. The publisher [Simon & Schuster] said, "Our plan is to raise the profile and increase the sales." And I said, "What are your concrete plans to achieve that?" They said, "Well, we're going to get the book more attention and sell more copies."
As opposed to a plan to sell fewer copies?
RUMELT: They were naming goals instead of actions. She gets that sensibility of distinguishing between the two.
CLARE: I asked them to come back in a week or two with a list of things they were going to do—advertising, print run, special promotions, third-tier stores like Costco they were targeting. For Target, I asked if we were on the planogram. They've looked on me as if I were an alien. "You're not supposed to know these words!"�But they did what I asked.
You can read the rest here..
I'm pleased to announce the debut of the "2010 Fine Books Compedium & Bookseller Directory":
This delightful guide to fine books features writing from Nicholas Basbanes, Scott Brown, Erica Olsen, Derek Hayes, Ian McKay, and many others. Stories include coverage of the Grolier Club conference on the future of the book trade; million dollar books; magazine collecting; collecting in Norway; fine maps; fine presses; and much more.
Also included is the 2010 Gift Guide for the book minded and the 2010 Bookseller Resource Guide, a listing of more than 700 bookstores and book-related institutions worldwide.
As most of you know, FB&C ceased their usual print issues and went digital only about a year ago. They have, quite brilliantly, decided to issue an annual print volume that will put most of the annual digital content into ink on paper in a lovely, shelvable, volume. I encourage you to reward this decision by
purchasing a copy.
We were included in two "best of book blogs" lists yesterday and are flattered and honored by both.
The first was part of blog.com's ongoing program of providing internal and external "10 Best List"s. In this case, Larry Mitchell (collector, occasional dealer and special collections library) and author of the brilliant blog
The Private Library was asked to compile his
Top 10 list. Our blathering notwithstanding, it is a wonderful short list. I am pleased to say, it only added 4 that I was not already following...they have been added. Each site is described briefly so you can get a touch of flavor.
The only problem is that he was only allowed to include 10 blogs. Apparently, Larry heard about this shortcoming from a number of humans as he subsequently posted
an apology. Such lists are obviously subjective...We are very pleased to be included in Larry's best of...
[N.B. As I have said before,
The Private Library should be on everyone's blog roll...in addition to this regular and cogent posts, his navigation links provide a clearinghouse to nearly every substantive rare/used book resource available. It is the benchmark against which data-rich biblio-sites should be measured.]
OnlineSchool also included us in their "
100 Best Book Blogs for History Buffs" under the "Rare" section. They have created a much longer list, broken up into sections (e.g. Reference, Librarian, Rare, Review, etc.) and, again, most have short bios. Obviously, there is a lot of crossover, but they try reasonably hard to group things properly and the result is a good list.
It is always nice to be recognized...more so by those you respect. Enjoy the various suggestions...I'm going to have to start posting more cogent missives.
By: Elizabeth,
on 7/27/2009
Blog:
Underage Reading
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Publisher’s Weekly on IRAQIGIRL:
IraqiGirl: Diary of a Teenage Girl in Iraq. Haymarket (Consortium, dist.), $13 paper ISBN 978-1-931859-73-8
In 2004 in Mosul (the third largest city in Iraq), a 15-year-old girl started a blog detailing her life in the midst of the Iraq War. Her journal encompasses the day-to-day trauma the American invasion has caused her city, her family and friends. “Today is like every day in Iraq. No electricity, no fun, and no peace,” writes Hadiya (all Iraqi names in the book are pseudonyms). Her struggle against helplessness is agonizing, though her view modulates somewhat over time (her blog is still active, but the book covers her writings only through 2007). “I sense that my country is still beautiful in spite of everything that has happened to it,” she says during a hopeful moment. Poems and photographs accompany her thoughts on her academic struggles, Islam and growing up in a war zone; comments from her blog are interspersed, and Hadiya responds to others in several entries (“Another anonymous said, ‘You certainly don’t deserve this life.’ I want to ask you something—is this really a life?”). Hadiya’s authentically teenage voice, emotional struggles and concerns make her story all the more resonant. Ages 12–up. (July)
If you happen to be in the San Francisco area this week, please consider heading to Modern Times independent bookstore this Thursday, July 30, at 7 PM. IRAQIGIRL’s developer (i.e., the guy who discovered the IraqiGirl blog, had the idea to make it into a book, and assembled the initial manuscript), and former human shield in Baghdad, John Ross, will be talking about how the book came to be and reading some selections.
And now having shamelessly promoted the book, I’m going to even more shamelessly brag on behalf of the press publishing it. Here’s Library Journal, post-ALA:
Small presses, big books
Essays by Arundhati Roy and Wallace Shawn, plus reflections on the contemporary world by Noam Chomsky and Breyten Breytenbach. Top picks from a big New York house, right? Wrong. These authors are all being published this fall by Chicago-based Haymarket Press, truly a small press that thinks big and my top find of the convention. Roy’s Field Notes on Democracy: Listening to Grasshoppers (Sept.) argues that Hindu nationalism and economic reform are thwarting India’s democratic efforts, turning the country into a police state. Shawn’s Essays (Sept.), his first collection and ranging over his entire career, move from the act of playwriting to considerations of privilege, while Breytenbach’s Notes from the Middle World (Nov.) considers the artist’s role in a shrinking global environment. Chomsky’s Hopes and Prospects ponders political activism in the Western Hemisphere.
And now I am going to stop bragging. For this week, anyway! Real posts coming up.
Posted in Book Business, IraqiGirl: Diary of a Teenage Girl in Iraq
The Independent has just posted a list of the 10 "Best Bookshops in the World. There is a brief description of each (all not, not antiquarian). It is quite a list and I must admit to having only set foot in two. All are now added to my "future places to travel" list.
There is an outstanding new reference/resource blog for bibliophiles: The Private Library. The site's owner is a longtime collector ("overly enthusiastic book collector"), a sometime antiquarian bookseller and a professional librarian (with a MLS w/ a Specialization in Rare Books & Manuscripts)...that is, he is a high-order book geek, to our great benefit.
His posts are well written, cogent, reasonably frequent and genuinely useful (as opposed to my random and often off-topic rants). He posts, as the title implies, on various aspects of the private library...all sorts, all levels and all nuances. As one who spends most of my time in and around collection development projects, it is a great treat to find.
Best of all, however, are the resources he has pulled together. At either side you will find:
GLOSSARIES OF GENERAL BOOK TERMS
GLOSSARIES OF SPECIALIZED BOOK TERMS
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHIC RESOURCES
BOOKISH ORGANIZATIONS
BOOKISH PODCASTS & WEBCASTS
BOOKISH BLOGROLL
STATE CENTERS FOR THE BOOK
It is, far and away, one of the best reference sites I know of and has leapt to the top of my "Hit Every Day" blogs. Enjoy.
Biblio-folk are showing up in interesting places these days. I joined Facebook a long time ago...and largely ignored it until relatively recently. Over the past several months, however, there has been a tremendous surge in book people (dealers/collectors/etc) who seem to be coming out of the woodwork. The ABAA now has a FB Page (as does Lux Mentis), ready for "Fans" to join and follow, as does Fine Books & Collections. The Rare Book School's Page has nearly 450 Fans... There are also many...many...many groups that are biblio-theme, from collecting to author-specific to elements of the craft.
When I started poking about FB, there were *very* few book dealers who had accounts, now there are literally too many count. Some are active, some on personally, others professionally and some just lurk...but there are a remarkable number of the biblio-crowd on FB and more joining every day. It is rapidly becoming a vibrant network to keep your pulse on the doings of the trade, hobby and/or obsession.
Linked-In is another site
I've been for a very long time...more actively when I did more consulting work, but I kept my profile active and periodically checked on bookish elements there. Recently, in addition to a number of "serious" dealers beginning to be found there, more than one "
book group" has formed (admittedly, one by me).
Last for today, and certainly not least, is
Twitter. I am
quite fond of it, as it updates nicely from my iPhone and auto-updates my FB page, killing two feeds with one, so to speak. A considerable number of people are beginning to use it in interesting ways. Publishers are using it
around news,
booksellers are carefully using it for traffic and sales (a tricky issue, as there is a general "anti-commercial" use sentiment...but very effective in good hands,
as here). Personally, I find I tend to post biblio-related missives with a bit of news and a bit of "things that amuse/annoy me"....and I tend to most enjoy those who do the
same.
There are beginning to be some good focus-centers for books Twitterers. WeFollow has a well developed "
Bookseller" tag (we can be found on
page two). There is also a "
BookCollecting" tag that I am experimenting with...
Potentially more useful (and still "emerging") is Twibes, where tweets that share common words can be grouped for easy review. See:
Books,
BookCollecting,
BookDealers and/or
Librarians (the last very active, with over 700 members).
This, in addition to the various blogs that are out there...many feeding each other. One of the nice things, frankly, with FB is that many/most of the best book blogs are either mirrored there or are part of
NetworkedBlogs there, streamlining one's reading/following (though not, at this point, entirely replacing a good RSS reading).
There is a tremendous abundance of bookish news, personal and professional. Enjoy the data-stream...
Amy Stewart (co-owner of Eureka Books (with husband Scott Brown)) has just published her most recent book, Wicked Plants.
From the back of the book:
A tree that sheds poison daggers; a glistening red seed that stops the heart; a shrub that causes paralysis; a vine that strangles; and a leaf that triggered a war. Stewart takes on over two hundred of Mother Nature's most appalling creations in an A to Z of plants that kill, maim, intoxicate, and otherwise offend.
Menacing botanical illustrations and splendidly ghastly drawings create a fascinating portrait of the evildoers that may be lurking in your own backyard. Drawing on history, medicine, science, and legend, this compendium of bloodcurdling botany will entertain, alarm, and enlighten even the most intrepid gardeners and nature lovers.
I've grown more than one poison garden and am greatly looking forward to adding some plants from these pages... Can be
ordered signed at retail cost directly from the author
[Note to Mother: Page 143-Purple Loosestrife (under "Destructive"). The battle continues...
As some may know, David and Cynthy of The Philadelphia Rare Books and Manuscripts Company suffered a tragic loss recently. On March 9, 2009, a fire tore through the shop consuming books and taking their two shop cats, Sessa and Thalia. The silver lining is that no humans were hurt, many of the books were unharmed and/or will be salvaged and the building itself appears to be structurally sound.
Our thoughts and best wishes go out to them. I can thinks of few things worse and hope all goes as well and as smoothly as possible.
Please note, they have indicated that their internet connection is currently flakey. That said, words of support and commiseration are seldom a bad thing and can be
directed here.
A short article, image and video can be f
ound here.
There is a fun little interview with William Smith, owner of Hang Fire Books over atBoingBoing. William specializes in "vintage paperbacks and lurid pulp fiction from the 1940s-60s" while also carrying general stock. His blog is great as he posts wonderfully lurid pulp covers with pleasing regularity. [Also, you should not miss his current post on the annotated sleaze that arrived recently. Thesis research?!?].
Among the new things happening over at Fine Books and Collections is a new "group" blog. I am very pleased to say that I was involved in drafting the first crop of bloggers and I think it is off to a great start. The intent is that everyone will post about once a week, which should provide for some steady, interesting posts with a variety of voices and focus areas. Though there are a few asks still jelling, the crew as it stands includes the following:
A riotous crew, if I do say so myself...and I do. I'm hoping to announce one or two more bloggers in the near future. So
head over and read some interesting posts by people who write better than I.
The trip was about as good as could be hoped for. Planes on time. The new Terminal 5 at JFK make you want to *plan* for long layovers there. Truly. Good food, good tech, good design. Just as well thought out functional space as I've seen.
We paid the wee bit extra for the "extra leg room" on the JFK-SFO leg. It is *so* worth it. Truly. We also used the traditional trick of selecting seats "A" and "C" as very few people will opt for a single middle seat...so if the flight is not full, you often end up in a row by yourself. Worked like a charm this time. We sat further apart than we usually do on the couch for an evening ...and had plenty of legroom.
The only downside on the flight was a passenger one row up and across. He was a very big man with, apparently, no ass or hips. As a result, every time he stood up...and he stood up A LOT...his pants were WAY down. Conservatively, 8 to 10 inches of ass crack every frigging time he stood. It would have been funny were it not so horrifying. We were right at the front of the plane (we in 2, he et al in 1)....best part of the flight was when Captain and one stewardess were standing about 2 feet from him when he stood, turning his back to them....their facial reactions made the day.
This brings me to the other moderately interesting thing. Twice during the flight, the flight attendants used one of the rolling carts to "barricade" the aisle from the little kitchen/bathroom area and the "armored cockpit door". Then one FA would enter the cockpit and the pilot and copilot took turns leaving and using the bathroom (and chatting up the other FA). All the while, the other FA basically stood guard at the food cart, defending front of the aircraft. It was a little surreal and a first I've seen.
Carriage Inn is very nice. It's owned by a small chain we love and they just added/renoed this hotel. Not only is it very close to the event all, but it is literary themed. More on our room later. Very nicely, as we are members of their little free "we love the hotel chain" mailing list, there was a chilled bottle of wine waiting for us in our room. It is now "2:52am" EST, so I best get to sleep.
The tentative plan for tomorrow is dim sum brunch at
Hang ah Tea Room and then
Serendipity Books for the afternoon and early evening...we shall see what else evolves. Have several other strong recommendations re food for the weekend. It should be a great trip. The only real question lurking out there hangs on how the show itself will play out. Hope springs eternal.
The Guardian article's basic argument is that nearly all players in the book world, collectors, dealers and libraries/special collections all tend to be as quiet as possible regarding losses. This, added to the tendency toward personal fiefdoms and the strong aversion to sharing data, allows miscreants and thieves a much "safer" playground within which to work.
This is a very interesting issue and one that deserves deeper thought and, possibly, an attempt at a data[base] driven solution. I lack the time to run with this at the moment...but we shall return to it in the future.
Thanks to
JG for the heads up.
They met when in their late teens and were dating each other's best
friends. They remain friends to this day. She "knew at 16 that he was
going to do great things...and kept everything he ever sent me." The
collection provides a look at a little known side of one of the
cultural icons of the 20th century (and a remarkably talented
catoonist). All is packed and ready for
San Fran.
Says Chronicle Books, "The Classic Regency Romance—Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!" The publisher's blurb reads:
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies features the original text of Jane Austen's beloved novel with all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie action. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Complete with 20 illustrations in the style of C. E. Brock (the original illustrator of Pride and Prejudice), this insanely funny expanded edition will introduce Jane Austen's classic novel to new legions of fans.
I don't even know where to start. As you know,
Gregory Maquire started a one-man rewriting of classics in alternative voices (e.g. Wicked, A Lion Among Men, Son of a Witch, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, etc). What we have here appears to be a different beastie...not a well-known tale told from a different perspective...rather, a well-known tale with flesh-eating zombies thrown in. I have already ordered a copy (possibly more than one).
I predict that P&P will see a bump in sales because of this...doubly so if they make a movie of it. Oh, please let someone make a movie based on this iteration.
I also predict this is the first in a series. Perhaps next we will see Matheson's, vampires ala
I Am Legend invading Holmes' London. Maybe L. Bloom (of
Ulysses fame) will have to fend off a werewolf as he wanders Dublin. Or
Tom Sawyer will follow one more cut-off in the cave...and in his madness, release the
Old Ones upon a Twainian world. Then again, it just might be a zombie horde roaming from one classic to another.
I hope this is as clever as it seems to want to be. It could actually be good fun...it could also be very painful. I will review it when it appears... Thanks for the heads up
JG.
One our own is the "Web Pick of the Week" over at Publishers Weekly. Stephen Gertz (of David Brass Rare Books), just received a great plug for his recent work, The Dope Menace [N.B. the previous link benefits SG a bit, please use it if not picking a copy up from his very self]. From the post:
Readers will dig Gertz’s enthusiasm and formidable knowledge; the stories behind key titles like The Polluters (in which the nation’s water supply is spiked with LSD) are almost as enjoyable as the beautifully reproduced, full-color covers for titles like H is for Harlot, Narco Nympho, The Junk Pusher, and scores of others.
Lead soldiers. So I stop by to visit a client and when I entered, my octogenarian client said, "Oh, come to the basement, I want you to see what I've been working on." She then led me down to where a large table was covered and set up as shown (only partially...and with her permission).
She has collected lead soldiers for many years and sets up elaborate scenes each holiday season.
There are actually two soldier sets blended here. One set is based upon "Beau Geste". The other set is based on Khartoum. She built the forts and mountains, etc (covering forms in cloth and sand infused paint/plaster).
She told me how she never thought it was fair that her brothers, many years ago, where able to pour lead into molds to make their lead soldiers and she was not allowed to do so. She has made up for it.
Following on the heels of Fine Books & Collections' decision to abandon print for a digital existence, it appears that Rare Book Review has also ceased publication. Published since 1974, RBR "is to be 'mothballed' with immediate effect!". There is no indication as to what direction they may take...perhaps they will publish periodically. They do, it appears, intend to keep the website live and to sell banner space there but there is no clear sign that they will be adding content. We shall see.
Icky way to start the week...with luck, the news will improve...
Read the rest of this post
I have just had it confirmed that the Nov/Dec issue of Fine Books and Collections Magazine is the last hard copy issue. Starting Jan, 2009, they are going "digital only". Perhaps this should not be a surprise, US News and the Christian Science Monitor have both recently gone digital only. However, they are both "news" venues...and as such, the web (and push delivery and all sorts of other techish things) lends itself to their content. Personally, I think the world of Fine Books and Collection does *not* lend itself to digital only.
I *want* hard copies, nicely organized, on my shelf. I *want* to be able to go back to old issues when I run across something that I know they wrote about. I *want* the content in my home, all the time. I am *so* pleased that our last ad in the magazine was a "celebration" of our first ABAA show. I want to be able to keep that...to show it to the boys...and their boys and girls in many years.
Most of all, I *want* to be able to keep and control the data. I want to be able to get a back issue if I loan one out and it does not return. I want the archive. I trust that FB&C will keep "back" content and have it searchable and all that great stuff. HOWEVER, they will only do so as long as they exist...or choose to do so...and/or as long as their hardware does not catastrphically fail. I am uncomforatable with the risk of losing data (and that is what the textblock is) that I value with no ability to do anything about it... Urgh.
That said, it is not my business and I am confident that Webb and his team are making the decision after careful consideration and contemplation. Webb has indicated that they have triple the number of readers online as they do for the print edition. I don't doubt that...though I know several of the clients I can directly trace back to FB&C are significantly "anti-tech"...no email, not computer...and we will lose them in this switch.
On the other hand, it does reach deeper and broader with very minor incremental costs. It certainly does have interesting options and opportunities. Push tech that could put new content onto my iPhone, auction calanders dynamically updated, integration with Facebook, dynamic content and "community" elements that might more deeply engage subscribers, interesting ways-from an advert standpoint- to reach new customers, etc.
I think it will be interesting and I hope it will be good. I will miss the paper though. Paper is good. Paper is real. Paper lasts. We shall just have to wait to see how long this medium lasts...
Read the rest of this post
I just discovered/realized that the fair this Sunday has a setup of FOUR hours. It took me 10+ hours in Baltimore (20 hours, if you count (wo)man hours). I have never...in my life...set up in under 5 hours. I now also encourage people to come early on Sunday because I should be in rare form. Urgh.
Among the things I have not had time to properly blog about is this year's slate of winners of the Fine Books and Collections Collegiate Book Collecting Championship. There was a great turnout this year and, as I understand it, the strongest field they've seen. After much deliberation, the winners are:
1st Prize goes to Rhae Lynn Barnes, who is beginning her senior year at UC Berkeley, for her extensive and well-annotated collection of blackface minstrel plays.
2nd Prize goes to Basie Bales Gitlin, who is beginning his junior year at Yale, for his collection of publisher's canvassing books.
3rd Prize goes to Jacob Brunkard, a recent graduate from Swarthmore College, for his collection of Black Sparrow Press.
Fine Books will also make a donation to the libraries of the winners, in addition to the winners' awards.
Much praise is due the competition judges: Claudia Skelton, from the Book Club of Washington; bookseller Joachim Koch, of Books Tell You Why; and Richard Ring, the special collections librarian at the Providence Public Library.
We (Lux Mentis, et al) are very pleased to be sponsors of the competition and look forward to supporting it for years to come. As I have said before, the burden is on us...all "younger" dealers...to do all that we can to bring along the next generation(s) of book collectors. This competition and all those at the college level are a great starting point.
Congradulations to all the winners. We look forward to meeting all the winners at the awards dinner during the Seattle Book Fair.
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I like this discussion because I wonder, a lot, about these lists and what 'best' means. And I love that a book and writer (and person) I love so much is considered 'best'.
Writing more is the best reaction! I'm eager to read more too. You've made my best YA of 2012 list on my blog today.
You are so wonderful to me Beth. I'm so happy I could share what you've done with everyone.
I've thought about all the best of lists and I have to agree with Melissa, my favorite ones are from the bloggers/authors/bookish people I know. It's wonderful.
And I have to say, I love how things have gone for you recently. It's wonderful and couldn't have happened to a better person. xo
The best of it is that you want to write.