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Apologies, Written Nerd readers: there's been a distinct lack of posting around here. I blame the truly frenzied level of real-ness which the bookstore project is approaching. More details and announcements as soon as I'm able, I promise. In the meantime, since I have no attention span, here's some random cool stuff I've noticed lately.
Via the ALP's friend Heather (thanks!): The Most Interesting Bookstores in the World. Can't argue with the title. These photos make me woozy with desire, especially the Lello bookstore in Portugal. (Watch out for the hairless cat, though -- rather disconcerting.)
Closer to home, Mona Molarsky of the New York Examiner website continues her series on Favorite Bookstore of New York with the Upper East Side (that's Corner Bookstore, Archivia, and Crawford Doyle if you're trying to get your bearings.) Check it out, then browse through the previous 7 articles in the series for an in-depth look at some of the city's best. I recommend the Village and SoHo, naturally.
Someday I should be so lucky. A Nova Scotia book club, too big to continue meeting in homes, just went ahead and opened a private bar to hold book discussions. It's called Fables, and it's beautiful. Sigh.
Can't wait to listen to this radio broadcast on genre fiction, featuring Michael Chabon, Richard Price, and Agatha Christie's grandson. I'm in kind of a genre mood right now; I'm reading and pondering G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Knew Too Much, and looking forward to starting Berry's The Manual of Detection right after that.
My awesome sister who works in Santa Barbara, possibly the most beautiful town in Southern California, sent me this article on the one thing the town lacks: strong indie bookstores. The piece is typically doom-and-gloom (the internet is killing the indies!), but it does have a list of the few that are still around, an interesting interview with an indie internet entrepreneur, and a great quote from indie bookstore champion Roy Blount Jr.: “I'd say the more local and personal and informed a store is, the more it will provide what the Internet can't.” Right on, Roy (and thanks, Sarah).
Okay, I'll end on that note -- too antsy to keep pasting links. Better do some yoga, then get back to work. Will update you soon, promise promise promise.
One of my oft-lamented pet peeves is the recurrence of media stories about books and independent bookstores that tell the same old story: indie bookstores are a dying breed, reading is the victim of new technologies, etc. So I must give credit where credit is due to two pieces of journalism today that present a more nuanced picture of the world of books and bookstores.
Via Publishers Weekly, here's an LA Times piece on the uncertain future of the fabulous and venerable Hollywood bookstore Book Soup, after the too-young, too-soon death of its founder Glen Goldman. Even with this somber starting point, the LAT piece offers the most balanced and realistic picture of the actual business of bookstores that I've read in a national newspaper. Here's a sample:
In recent decades, independent bookstores have become endangered, closing as chain stores move into their neighborhoods and market share is gobbled up by online booksellers such as Amazon .com. Some, like Dutton's Brentwood Bookstore, closed when the cost of real estate (usually rented, rarely owned) swamped small (though reliable) profit margins.
Yet believe it or not, independent bookstores, carefully run by those rare individuals who are both "book people" and "businesspeople," are often profitable -- meaning that you can make a living, pay a few employees and work reasonable hours.
Contrast this with the dire reports of Borders teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, or Barnes & Noble's reported $172-million loss at the end of the third quarter last year. To hear the chain executives talk, you'd think people had stopped reading altogether.
People have not stopped reading. The problem, most bookstore owners and publishers will tell you, is a distribution system that caters heavily to chains and wholesalers like Wal-Mart.
When the economy founders, big stores, with their hierarchical policies enacted miles from where the books are sold, have a harder time responding in a flexible way.
According to manager Tyson Cornell, Book Soup did "very well" last year. So did Los Feliz independent Skylight Books, which recently expanded from 2,000 to 3,100 square feet.
I suspect that Tyson and the other great booksellers at Book Soup will find a way to a future despite the terrible loss of Goldman. And it's good to see the newspaper with an open-eyed pictures of their strengths as well as their challenges.
Also today in Shelf Awareness,
Robert Gray writes about the issue of technology and books. The best part is the link to
his previous column, where he quotes extensively from Stephanie Anderson, inspiring Emerging Leader-type bookseller (and soon to be Brooklynite). Here's what Stephanie, who comes from a very traditional bookstore, has to say about the boogeyman of e-books:
"If there isn't a place for e-books in the indie store retail future, there isn't an indie store retail future. I like your Genius Bar example [i.e. asking whether bookstores can work with the Apple store model of expert help]. That is always what I've envisioned--you handsell the book and then the customer sets their e-reader into the dock, pays you, downloads the book, and leaves. It's important for indie booksellers to look at this as an opportunity, not, groan, another thing to add to an already busy day. As I see it, once most books are available in e-book form, and presumably stored on someone else's server and accessible through the Internet, the so-called advantage that chain and online bookstores have in terms of number of titles available just disappears. Everyone is on a level field now--except that we still have the advantages we've always had, like solid customer service/hospitality, staff who read books and handsell well, etc."
Kudos to Robert and Stephanie for thinking forward on this one, rather than trying to resist the developments that are coming.
And in what turned out to be her
last online column for Publishers Weekly, editor in chief Sara Nelson expressed her trademark responsible optimism about the industry to which she's devoted herself. For example:
In other words, while everything suggests that the road ahead is going to be rocky, like many others in BookLand, we're still on our feet—and moving forward—because we're still passionate about what we do. We're real readers, we care, and even though many of us have spent our lives swimming around in the publishing pond, we still get excited at the sight of a mail delivery that contains padded envelopes filled with books. And publishing is all about passion: in the people that make books and the people who will still, always, continue to read them.
I was saddened to hear that Nelson had been let go from PW, as she's been a very visible face and voice for the book industry, someone who paid attention and listened and expressed well-informed opinions in the magazine as well as in panels, news sound bytes, and anywhere else there was something to be said about books. I hope she'll find another platform to speak from, and I'm grateful for her words.
Let's hear it for "those rare individuals who are both "book people" and "businesspeople,"" the ones who make books and bookstores viable now and in the future.
This morning I got this message in my inbox, with the return address Paperbacks Plus:
An Important Letter to our Bookstore Friends:
In 1970, when we first opened our doors on Riverdale Avenue, we lived in a very different world: Nixon was President; Lindsay was the mayor; the buses and subways (and even a slice of pizza!) cost just 30 cents.
You have made the bookstore a wonderful and vibrant place, joining us for chats about your favorite books and special events featuring notables such as Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison, Pulitzer Prize winners Robert Caro and Richard Russo. So many great writers both local and worldly like Mary Higgins Clark, S.J. Rozan, Ted Conover, Thomas Cahill, Ann Packer, Pete Hamill, Chang-rae Lee, Frank and Malachy McCourt, Phyllis Chessler and Alan Dershowitz. We’ve hosted special evenings at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, The Riverdale Y, An Beal Bocht and Palombos. New York Yankee greats Yogi Berra, Derek Jeter, Paul O’Neill, Don Zimmer, Joe Torre, and David Wells, and even the irrepressible Edward I. Koch (four times!).
We have celebrated local authors well known and unheralded. As muggles we embraced Harry Potter and his perilous quest, and banded together defiantly to observe Banned Book Week each year. As children you delighted in our costumed story time characters and over time even brought your own children to marvel and listen. Generations have grown up among our shelves and developed a lifelong habit of reading
Regretfully after 38 years of service to The Bronx, Paperbacks Plus will be closing its doors. We have been honored to serve you as the borough’s only full service general interest (very) independent neighborhood bookstore. As a final farewell, everything (books, cards, games, puzzles, audio books…and even the store) at Paperbacks Plus will be 20% off beginning Wednesday, May 14. NOW is the time to find those Book Club Awards, store credits, and gift certificates that you’ve been using as bookmarks or have squirreled away in sock drawers. Redeem them NOW to take special advantage of our Farewell Sale.
Thanks to you, this little bookstore has thrived in The Bronx, and we have cherished the times we shared over the years. Join us as we close and say goodbye.
Fern, Carroll, Stasia, Ray,
Liam, Brian, and Courtney
I've never been to Paperbacks Plus, because I am a lazy New Yorker and rarely make it up to the Bronx. But I've met Fern, the owner -- she was one of the founders of the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association, and a very independent person indeed. She gave me a ride home from a NAIBA meeting once and shared stories about running her store -- it's been a long journey.
According to Shelf Awareness this morning, the store is closing primarily because Fern is ready to retire -- she's keeping her accounts open, possibly doing offsite sales, and open to the possibility of selling the store to another. SA also quotes her as saying, ""I have no regrets. I've met so many wonderful people in this business. It's been a passionate part of my life."
If you can, make it up to the Bronx soon to pay your respects. That borough will miss its only indie.
Lots of fascinating book news in the world today... of which the below is but a tiny, arbitrarily selected portion.
AM New York has an article on a new Brooklyn bookstore I have not yet visited: Babbo's Books, a few blocks away from me in south Park Slope. Despite the article's incredulity about an indie bookstore opening and staying open, the shop seems to be doing well on a small scale, and proprietor Leonora Stein has ideas for making it better. A field trip seems in order!
In the indie-bookstore-makes-good category, a coalition led by ABA president Russ Lawrence of Chapter One Books has been influential in keeping Wal-Mart out of their Hamilton, Montana community. After watching the documentary The High Cost of Low Price I'm even more impressed by their efforts, especially since they admit not everyone in town was convinced Wal-Mart was a bad thing. But check out the Wal-Mart exec's explanation of the pullback for classic villain-retreating-while-proclaiming-victory...
Title Page TV is back with a new episode of their author interview podcast -- this one features David Hajdu's intriguing-looking comics history The Ten-Cent Plague, as well as Mary Roach's already much-loved sex science book Bonk and others. Not sure when I can sit for an hour to watch the whole thing (and now I have to go back and watch Episode 2 since Sloane Crosley AND Keith Gessen are reading at our store), but now that I'm down to just one job maybe I can actually take a lunch break...
Speaking of comics commentary, Matt Blind at ComicSnob.com has a very thoughtful post on an issue on the minds of many in the book industry: what's going to happen now that Borders is up for sale? He's done his research and has both some careful analysis and some "raw opinion", and his list of links at the bottom makes this a great place to go to get some insight on the matter.
For more thoughtful commentary, you can hear my bookstore coworker (and novelist) Cheryl Sucher on New Zealand radio here. Cheryl's married to a New Zealander and energetically involved with her adopted homeland, and she's got a great take on subjects as wide-ranging as our governor's recent indiscretions, the presidential race, and the most commonly stolen books at indie bookstores.
For a bit of laugh, check out the winners of the annual competition from British magazine The Bookseller of the "oddest title competition".
And if I can take a moment to love on something totally old and un-hip: this year marks the 100th anniversary of the first publication of Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. Margaret Atwood has a great reflection on the book's enduring popularity here. While I can see why some Canadians like George would feel a little eye-rolly about the whole Anne thing by now, I'll recommend not only the first book but the whole darn Anne series. I read those books straight through every summer from when I was about 11 to when I was 15 or 16, living through a whole life from orphan to beloved child to college girl to teacher to wife to mother, and even her children's adventures in World War I -- the last possible Anne story, it seemed to me, as the world just got too different after that, and uglier. I wrote a paper in high school defending Montgomery as a "literary novelist," though I'm not sure I would agree with that now -- as Atwood admits, the characters are mostly static, and the novels are more like fairy tales or romances than novels: the classic outsider who becomes the hero, wish fulfillment and fantasy. But, she adds,
This [wish fulfillment] is one of the reasons Anne of Green Gables has had such an ongoing life, but this in itself would hardly be enough: if Anne were nothing but a soufflé of happy thoughts and outcomes, the Annery would have collapsed long ago. The thing that distinguishes Anne from so many "girls' books" of the first half of the 20th century is its dark underside: this is what gives Anne its frenetic, sometimes quasi-hallucinatory energy, and what makes its heroine's idealism and indignation so poignantly convincing.
As one of those lonely, bookish kids, Anne opened up the world for me; gave me aspirations to virtue as well as self-creation. There were ugly things in the world, and difficult people, and things that you couldn't do anything about; but there was also deep friendship, and moments of beauty, and if you were lucky, as you got older, strings of happy ordinary days "like pearls slipping off a string." I can't quite do justice to the story; as with most things that influenced one strongly as a child, my feelings about it are strong but incoherent. But if you or some girl you know hasn't read the first book, pick it up with an open mind, and see if it doesn't have a kind of power, of imagination, and of the joys of ordinary life, and of old-fashioned unselfish love. Sure, it's a fairy tale -- but those are some of the most powerful stories we have.
For every story like this:
"A Thirsty Mind bookstore/wine bar in Lakeway, Texas -- an affluent suburb of Austin -- is closing March 28. The store was opened in November 2004, and co-owner Pam Headrick said that while Thirsty Mind broke even each month, it would've taken another year for the store to become profitable. "With the economy as bad as it is, we just didn't have the luxury to put more money into the business," she said....Headrick said that opening a combination bookstore and wine bar posed unique challenges....there were the ‘regulars.’ “Some customers would come in each afternoon for a drink,” said Headrick. “This meant that almost every afternoon I was hosting a party. There days you just don't feel like it.”
... there's a story like this (thanks to Shelf Awareness for the link):
"Come May — give or take a few weeks — Skylight Books will open a second space right next door in the 1934 building at the corner of Vermont and Melbourne avenues, promises general manager and co-owner Kerry Slattery....Unlike the development pressures facing Doug Dutton's store and the high-end retail rent at South Coast Plaza, Skylight has "a supportive landlord who is offering us the space for a fair rent," she says. "Ours is a walking neighborhood," she explains. "People are going to other shops and restaurants, the movies. I don't know that there are that many places like that any more around the Los Angeles area."
On the one hand, an unexpected clientele and general economic squeeze puts the kibosh on one bookstore; on another, a great location and supportive neighborhood mean another one is expanding.
And, despite gloomy economic forecasts, there's also this:
"Bookstore sales in January started off the new year nicely, rising 4.7% to $2.3 billion from $2.2 billion in January 2007, according to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. By comparison, total retail sales in January rose 3.9% to $343,938 billion."
Okay, it's not so fair and balanced -- I'm firmly partisan on the optimist side of the aisle. I think one day we might even get a majority. Congratulations, bookstores -- keep up the good work!
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:
"Most writers believe in independent bookstores. But is a belief in past worlds enough to bring them back to life? The answer is yes, if author and store owner Louise Erdrich has anything to say about it.
The renowned author of "Love Medicine" and "Beet Queen" opened BirchBark Books in 2001, while independent booksellers everywhere were closing. The 800-square-foot shop, on a quiet street in Minneapolis' Kenwood neighborhood, is a proper book lover's hideaway, with reading spaces, a knowledgeable staff and a lovingly handpicked inventory.
Naturally, it has been losing money since the day it opened."
"Naturally," huh? Thankfully, several booksellers, including Erdrich, take the journalist to task for not only the tone of the article, but a number of factual errors and misquotes. The first commenter expresses my primary objection, and if you'll allow me to take off from there, here's my rant:
When a restaurant closes, it doesn't usually occur to anyone to say, "well, that's because people just don't go to restaurants to eat anymore," or "this just reflects the sad decline of the food industry, and we should all be better people and go out to eat more." More likely, their comments reflect on what might have caused the failure of this specific business: a less-than-prime location, poor business planning, sub-par service, unexciting food, or just bad luck. Yes, everyone knows that lots of restaurants close -- but lots also open. Success and failure happen on the individual business level, not on the industry level -- there's no shortage of restaurants, and many still provide wonderful experiences while remaining profitable ventures.
So
why, I ask you, is it that whenever a bookstore closes, it's because bookstores are a thing of the past, and no one buys books or read anymore, and those who do buy their books online, and if we were all better people we would support those quaint indie stores (whether or not they're doing a good job)? And why, when a new bookstore opens, is it seen as a wonderfully naive venture, suitable for Don Quixotes or those who have money to "prop up" such a business? And why, when a bookstore is successful and has been around for 3, 10, 30 years, is it always a surprising exception to an otherwise sad state of affairs?
I've been lucky enough to be the subject of a couple of interviews lately (I'll let you know when they run) because of my
PowerUp win, and I chortle secretly at the chance to "spread the gospel" to interviewers about this widespread misapprehension. One reporter asked me flat-out why I thought it was a good idea to open a bookstore in Brooklyn, when everyone knows independent bookstores are on the decline.
"Actually, that is incorrect," I said, and talked for a bit about the 115 new stores that opened last year and the 97 the year before that, about the drop in indie booktore numbers in the 1990s when chains and big box stores rose to prominence, but the rising numbers since then as new indie bookstore owners, savvy about the new realities of retail, open and prosper.
"Wow, I guess the 90s was when I stopped paying attention," said the admirably humble reporter.
It's a new world, and not in the way you often hear it. Click
here for a publisher talking about having his eyes opened by the resurgent indies at Winter Institute. Tom Hallock of Beacon Books writes:
"Like any good publisher I had come to Winter Institute to promote our books and authors. I came away in awe of the vision, values and commitment that are transforming this organization and its members. In finding their place in their local communities, they have also found their place in the world --and we are all the richer for it."And here are two booksellers who express my point even better. Karl Pohrt of eminent bookstore Shamen Drum
writes on his MySpace blog about witnessing a frustrating presentation about "the future of books":
"The speakers talk about their "fierce attachment" to the "lovely culture" of books, using words like "old" and "charming" and "enchanting". They talk about their "deep affinity for the physical book" and mention the smell and feel of books. They talk about the "bittersweet aspect" of what is about to happen.
Then the vocabulary switches and the beloved old uncle is hustled off stage. It is "inevitable" that the vast majority of reading will be done on digital devices. The speakers say things like "Kindle is really pretty cool" and "on-line social networks will have to substitute for the pleasure of bookstores" because we're going to have to "forget about bookstores, they're not going to be around." Instead of lamenting this loss, he tells us "we should focus on the positive side." Oh, maybe some small independent bookstores might still survive as gathering places for people who love the physical book.
The reason this bothers me is that if an audience takes the speaker too seriously, it will establish the boundaries for what people imagine is possible in their futures. I don't think this is such a good thing."
And on the
Rediscovered blog, Bruce has discovered and been inspired by Andy Laties'
Rebel Bookseller (one of my own inspirations), and he quotes his somewhat counterintuitive response to conventional wisdom:
"The point is, you can focus on the fact that your independant bookstore is doomed and then let this reality prevent you from launching the thing. Or you can focus on your doom and use this foreknowledge to help you plan for your business's reincarnation.
That's what the Buddhists call death energy. Every moment, you think about your possibly imminent death. This gives you the courage to take chances. After all, what's the point in fear or delay? You might not live ten more seconds" (p. 33)
As Karl concludes (in a quotation from a book of poems), "The world you have to live in is / The world that you have made." Not to get all
The Secret on you, but the way we think about things affects the way they are.
Some bookstores fail. Some bookstores succeed. But the indie bookstore business is not doomed, not at the moment. Restaurants still exist because people gotta eat, and they love eating well and in a beautiful place. And books are like food, aren't they? Hooray for the bookstores that feed us well.
I'd love to hear what you think -- your own stories of misperceptions, exceptions, or change. Do comment if you have the time.
By: Jessica Stockton,
on 1/30/2008
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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.
Okay, it's a small increase, and a short-term trend. But it does seem to me to challenge the idea that things are just eternally spiraling downward for the book industry, and especially for bookstores. Note that "under Census Bureau definitions, bookstore sales are of new books and do not include "electronic home shopping, mail-order, or direct sale" or used book sales." So this is just brick and mortar stores, with sales this year better than the year before. Hooray!
Friday I'm in Poughkeepsie at BookStream (and keep an eye out for some cool announcements from there soon!) I'll be back with some book reviews on Monday. Happy reading!
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?
Based on the stories I've been discovering this week, clearly there is!
Do you have any good stories? What are your hopeful signs for the new year?
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."
Feels good, doesn't it? Especially that first bit. Another blow to the old doom-and-gloom, no-one-reads-books, no-one-buys-books brigade.
Case in point: I have on my desk at work a copy of the NEA's newest study, which, while it undoubtedly points up real problems in education systems, always irks me with its apocalyptic, hopeless language. If/when I get a chance, I'll read through it and share some thoughts.
In the meantime, if you haven't yet, be sure to listen to "One for the Books," a segment from NPR's On the Media. It covers elements of the contemporary book landscape from Oprah to e-books, and though booksellers have probably heard much of it (and more) already, it's nice to wrap your head around the whole picture. I'm grateful just for the opening salvo:
"The new media are thriving, the old media are dying. That seems to be the theme of our program from week to week to week. But of course it's much more complicated than that. Because increasingly, the old and new are merging into each other. This week, we're devoting the program to the oldest of old media: books."
Not either/or. Both/and. Let us have podcasts and print, e-readers and indie bookstores, bread and roses. It's not too much to ask.
"The first narrative is about my trip to Vietnam as a young woman (I was 24). The second narrative is about my childhood with my father, who was a tunnel rat in the war. The third narrative follows my father's recollections of his time in Vietnam ... The hardest part of putting all of these sections together was in finding transitions that worked, and making the narrative flow naturally ... I would often spend hourse working on a transition."
That's Danielle Trussoni describing the awsome task of writing her memoir, Falling Through the Earth. She's our special guest this week, sharing how she created this award-winning book.
Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web publishing.
Jason Boog:
You father's war stories are so vivid. How did you turn hours and hours of tape-recorded conversations into gripping, nearly first-person stories? Any practical advice for aspiring writers who want to turn interview materials into vivid stories?
Danielle Trussoni:
I think that the first thing to understand (from a writer’s point of view) is that nothing in this memoir is direct transcription from a tape. Continue reading...
"They steered the boy through the holes and tunnels until they could see the pale light of a sleeping chamber. Wehn they were almost to the surface, my father paused in the darkness, as if held back by a kind of gravity. Years later, in the dim light of Roscoe's, he would tell me that he felt a pain he hadn't felt before, the pain of something inside himsefl dying. He knew he had lost part of himself underground that day. What remained climbed up to the sunlight, and the rest of his life."
That’s a clausterphobic climb through the memories of Danielle Trussoni's father, a soldier who climbed through mazes of tunnels in Vietnam.
In her recent memoir, Trussoni turned her father's stories into a crisp, vivid narrative--you can read the results for yourself in Falling Through the Earth. The book examines her troubled childhood, where she struggled with divorce, poverty and her father’s demons from the Vietnam War.
Today, Trussoni shows us how she shaped her father's stories into an award winning book (one of the New York Times’ top ten books of the year). Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web publishing.
Jason Boog:
This memoir depended on a vast amount of research about a piece of history that you did not experience first-hand. Any advice for a fledgling writer looking to conduct this kind of research? Continue reading...
"I blew on the joss sticks, and the ends fired orange. The rich, sharp smoke blanketed the base of the altar. I felt clumsy as I leaned forward, over the wooden steps that led up to the Buddhas, and stuck the sticks of incense into the sand of a clay pot, all three at once. They stayed for a moment, wobbled, and then fell over. When I tried to extricate them from the mess of smoke--so many sticks of incense burning with prayers--I singed my knuckles. Trying again, I pushed one stick in at a time. This time, they stayed."
That's Danielle Trussoni describing her fumbling, beautiful epiphany in a Vietnamese shrine--part of her memoir, Falling Through the Earth. She's our special guest this week, exploring her long journey to publishing this first, award-winning book. Today, she teaches us how to cope with our little failures.
Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web publishing.
Jason Boog:
You wrote an unpublished novel before writing your memoir. What's the story behind that struggle? How did you deal with the frustration/anxiety/let-downs of being a fledgling writer?
Danielle Trussoni:
I wrote a novel about Vietnam. Continue reading...
“When Dad spoke, the bar became quiet. Vines slithered up the bar stools; tunnels opened at our feet. And Tommy Goodman, my father’s tunnel-rat friend, a man I learned to imagine from Dad’s war stories, pulled up a seat next to us and rested his head on the glossy surface of the bar … Before I knew it, they would be gone, two boys headed out to the war. I trailed behind, mopping up blood with cocktail napkins.”
That’s a hallucinogenic passage from Danielle Trussoni's memoir, Falling Through the Earth. The book examines her troubled childhood, where she struggled with divorce, poverty and her father’s demons from the Vietnam War.
This week, Trussoni will show us how she turned a lifetime of memories into a vivid, living document. Today, she explains how she survived the grueling process of finishing her first book—surviving rejection and personal struggles to make this award-winning (one of the New York Times’ top ten books of the year) book a reality.
Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web publishing.
Jason Boog:
You overcame some tough odds in your small town to become a writer--what motivated you to write in a childhood where writing was not encouraged? As an adult, you must have struggled as a fledgling writer, economically and time-wise, how did you balance your life responsibilities and writing life?
Danielle Trussoni:
It is really weird that I wanted to be a writer, considering where I came from. Continue reading...
"My father cleared his throat. He was quiet for a moment, and I suspected that he might be gearing himself for some confession, a bit of self-reflection about how the war had changed his life. But he gave me a devious look--half love, half malice--and flicked my notebook with his finger. He said, 'I gave that war to you.'"
That's a few lines from Danielle Trussoni's memoir, Falling Through the Earth, a memoir exploring how the Vietnam War affected her father and her family. Writing like this is a difficult project--Trussoni actually wrote and scrapped an entire book before creating this memoir.
She survived the process, in part, thanks to her friends at Memoirists Collective--a group of non-fiction writers who supported each other through the whole writing process, from editing room to the readings.
Today, Trussoni also talks about the work and friends she made at The Iowa University Writers' Workshop in my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web publishing.
Jason Boog:
You attended one of the finest MFA programs in the United States. How did the MFA experience help you shape this book and your style? Are there any downsides to MFA programs? What do you recommend for fledgling writers considering applying for MFA's right now?
Danielle Trussoni:
I would absolutely recommend going to a MFA program.
Great links. I'm surprised Santa Barbara doesn't have more indie bookstores- I've been there a few times and it seems like the perfect place for that.
It DOES seem like the perfect place -- they generally love their local stores and keeping things small-towny-yet-glamorously-hip. Although the rent is ridiculous. There is a huge Borders right across the street from a good-sized Barnes & Noble downtown. Perhaps one day Greenlight Bookstore will have a West Coast offshoot... :)
-Sarah