Archive for the 'bookselling' Category
A report from the field
Comments(3)I just overheard a customer who asked for a book (The Anglo Files, which we did have in stock) and then change her mind, because she has a Kindle, and would prefer to buy it that way. But I still have not actually SEEN one of these mythical machines! Anyway, she bought a lot of other dead-tree format books that are available on the Kindle, but all PBs. So at least in my store, the Kindle/e-book reader is not the death of books, but the death of HC. (Which, quite frankly, I’ve been wanting for years.)
And I can’t get it together
Filed under: book links, book news, book thoughts, bookselling, meta |
Comments(3) There’s a blog post I started a few weeks ago but never finished that became more relevant in the last few days, because when reading Shelf Awareness Tuesday morning, I learned that Chelsea Green is selling its new book about Obama, Obama’s Challenge, via Amazon 2 weeks before the book will be available to box stores and indies. The article notes, “The ironies and oddities of this situation are striking. One wonders why a publisher that prides itself on progressive politics and sustainable living–which usually includes buying local–made an exclusive agreement with a company seen by some as the biggest threat to local bookselling.” In fact, according to the ABA’s Book Buyer’s Handbook, Chelsea Green describes itself as a “publisher of works dedicated to the politics and practice of sustainability.” And this is where my languishing blog post jumps in. Take it away, languishing blog post:
I read a lot of what would probably be called “progressive” blogs. Feminist blogs, liberal blogs, environmental blogs, and so on. And one of the things that has always bothered me is that these blogs seem to lean very heavily on Amazon and the chain stores. Many are Amazon affiliates and when linking to new books, link to the Amazon page. But I wasn’t driven to say anything about it until I read this post on Feministing.
They quote the Bitch magazine blog in saying: “And [independent feminist publisher South End Press is] in trouble, because Borders is in trouble, and the unfortunate thing about the publishing business is that the actual producers of actual content are generally at the mercy of retailers and distributors when it comes to our financial survival.” The posts suggest subscribing to the press directly, so that you receive the books at your home from the press, a “community-supported publishing program” that I think is an excellent, if partial, solution.
But I have another one. What if these independent presses and independent bloggers, all devoted everyday to changing so many aspects of the system we live in, thought about changing their reliance on chain and internet bookstores? I read many blogs devoted to pointing out and changing unconscious racism, sexism, ableism, cisgenderism, etc–how about adding pointing out and changing unconscious capitalism? Corporate monoliths by their nature will always do what is best for their stockholders. However, as an independent bookseller, my primary goal must always be to keep the doors of the store open, but I can assure you that supporting independent feminist presses is also on my list of things to do.
However, I understand why these progressive bloggers, for all their love of local communities and independent presses, don’t do it. Independent booksellers have, for the most part, done a bad job keeping up on the internet. I love the ABA, and I am excited about IndieBound (obviously) but we need to start sprinting to get our E-commerce up to par. No, above par. There are many people who don’t link to ABA E-commerce sites because they don’t know we exist, don’t know they can also have an affiliate program with E-commerce, etc–and that’s another kettle of fish altogether, this failure of our community to reach out to and make knowledgeable the opinion-makers of the internet (especially as these people are increasingly writing books, as well). But there are also people who might link but don’t because the site is not as user-friendly, fast, or well-stocked as Amazon. Period. There have been times that I haven’t been able to link to my own E-commerce site on this blog or in my weekly e-newsletter because the book I’m looking for isn’t there. And while I have the option of calling to bug somebody to fix it, 99 out of 100 bloggers are gonna walk away after that happens once or twice.
Technologically-oriented folk are used to having a powerhouse of a book website at their disposal, and we need to make a better one if we want to keep playing. Period. I am dying to write an email to my 50 favorite bloggers and say, “Hi! I read your blog everyday, and I’m asking you to consider also affiliating yourself with independent bookstores across the country. Not only would doing so benefit me and my fellow indie booksellers, but it will also benefit communities across the country. As you may be aware, independent businesses are important for communities in the following ways: x, y, and z. And furthermore, indie bookstores in particular are good for this, that, and the other thing. So won’t you please consider?”
I think I’ll be able to send that email soon. I know the folks at ABA and IndieBound are working their asses off to get us back on the internet playing field. I just hope that 1. they’re designing an interface that, like Amazon’s, is equally useful to the tech n00b and the professional blogger and that 2. it comes soon, so I can send that email.
If the IndieBound campaign has shown me one thing, it’s that when you remind people of why indie stores are awesome to visit and great for the community, the majority of the time, they are incredibly receptive. Sure, there has been a little backlash, and some people simply don’t care. But most people are excited to have a tangible way to incorporate this whole “local-independent-sustainable-green-&etc” thing they’ve been hearing about. I have lost count of how many times in the last year people have said something to me about the fact that they specifically want to support my store because it is local and independent–a sentiment I didn’t hear much when I first started here 5 years ago. So I’m confident that we finally reach out to the intarwebs community, they’ll be receptive in similar percentages. I’m just getting an itchy trigger finger about doing so.
Thanks, languishing blog post! As for Chelsea Green; well, I don’t have much nice to say, so maybe I shouldn’t say it at all. I found Bookdwarf’s post on the subject to be particularly awesome, especially “And will they please stop talking down to us like we’re luddite idiots? This means you Jennifer Nix and you Margo Baldwin.”
Except this one thing I’d like to get off my chest: “I hate to tell you, indie booksellers, but this isn’t just about business.” Yeah, maybe not for you! Must be nice! It is for me. At the end of the day and the end of the election, I’m still going to be a bookseller, and I’m still going to want to be in business. I’ll personally be a lot happier to be in business under an Obama administration, but I’m still going to be a bookseller if McCain wins. (And here I resist the temptation to make a joke about how long ANY of us will be alive under that circumstance. Well, I sort of resist the temptation.)
However, with this decision, a small indie publisher is effectively saying to the world at large: “Hey everybody! We believe in sustainability, but we think that Amazon is the best way to release IMPORTANT books–not those pesky indie stores with all their individual buyers and branches! Indie stores are good for some things, but it’s definitely NOT getting the word out to liberal-minded book buyers in a timely fashion!”
That makes my store, and all indie stores, seem impotent in terms of cultural relevance. And as I noted above, I’m willing to admit that maybe we’re not the most relevant institution at the moment. But damn, this sure would have been a great opportunity for a publisher interested not just in the politics but also the PRACTICE of sustainability to give the sustainability of local communities a nice little push, by providing indie stores with a book that we know we can sell. We know who to sell it to. We know their names and they trust our judgment when it comes to books, and that will push your message further than any 25% discount.
I’d also like to point out that contrary to popular belief, there actually DO exist customers who refuse to shop at Amazon, no matter how fancy the buzz. I know they exist because I see them a lot. Said customers have a massive amount of overlap with customers who are interested in books from a “publisher of works dedicated to the politics and practice of sustainability.” Especially a book about Obama! Let me set the scene: my store is literally a block up the street from Obama headquarters in my area, Obama had a drink in my favorite bar during the PA primary, and the store is frequented by Obama supporters. It’s a shame that it will be weeks until I can sell them a book they’d be interested in, especially because I hear tell that this book “is too timely and important to be left out of the national political conversation this fall.“
Event photos
Comments(1)Photos and photo sets! First, from last Saturday’s cookbook tasting event for Screen Doors and Sweet Tea, which is great. Here’s a photo of Head Buyer and Bookavore (I am the one dressed up as a 50s housewife for the day, complete with pearls):
You can see the rest of the set here.
And here’s my favorite picture from last night’s midnight release for Breaking Dawn:
She hadn’t quite finished Eclipse but was almost done by midnight! Another I love:
That’s right, that shirt says Cullen on the back. We wanted the bobbing for apples to take place with vampire fangs, but you try finding 50 pair of vampire fangs in August (if you have been too shortsighted to order them online and don’t realize how hard it will be to find them until 3 days before your event). You can see the set for the party here. How were everybody else’s midnight releases?
Links and bits
First, blogs recently added to my reader and sidebar:
Norlight Lit Life: Just started by Northern Lights Books and Gifts, in Duluth, MN. I’ve been emailing with John of Northern Lights and he seems pretty awesome so I think this blog will be, too.
Zeitgeist: Just started by Bookazine. <3 Bookazine, <3 the idea of this blog and hope they keep it up.
Corpus Libris: I can’t even describe this blog, you just have to go look at it. I saw it last night and since I came into work this morning, have been on the look out for a book I could use for a picture!
Also: I cannot go to Bookstream’s TitleWave event on Monday because not only is it Musikfest (groan), but Janis Ian is doing an event here from 1-2pm, so it’s all hands on deck. But Mid-Atlantic-area booksellers reading this blog should! Free baked goods, people! Also, Princeton is home to my favorite ice cream shop in the world. And you get to hang out with booksellers, which is second only to a good night’s sleep in terms of recharging.
Finally, a fascinating book that I finished yesterday after being handed it by Head Buyer: Ghettonation: A Journey Into the Land of Bling and the Home of the Shameless (59).I’m not linking to her site because it only links chains, but you might check that out too. Basically, Cora Daniels is theorizing that the “ghetto mindset” has infected every corner of society, all classes, races, etc. And she makes a great case. Further, the book is just plain fun to read. I would definitely recommend it; pick it up and read any random piece, you’ll definitely want to read the whole thing. Also reading at work: Comic Book Tattoo, a collection of short comics based on Tori Amos songs. Which I had to order in, because that is a book aimed straight at my heart. I’ve been reading pieces here and there, though, and I have to say a number of them have been disappointing in one way or another. But enough of them have been good that I will probably end up getting it. It really is a stellar collection of writers and artists, and obviously the source material is solid, but I’ve been kind of bored by some of the stories, or they’re too short. On the other hand, it’s been really cool to see which direction people have taken many of the songs. So, I’d recommend it for Tori fans–lawd knows they’re legion–but I’m not sure how other people will respond.
Suggestions wanted
I have a FAQ to hand out to local authors, but I find that the format doesn’t work at all. So I’m starting something new: a “do’s” list. No don’ts. Well, there are don’ts, but I’m structuring this to be as positive as possible. I’m pasting my current list here, and would welcome any additions or comments. And lest anybody think I’m over-the-top here, I have only included suggestions that would have helped at least 3 people. In other words, at least three people had to make a mistake for me to include it here. I think every event coordinator in America will back me up. Et voila:
Derived from the many event requests we receive, here are some do’s about asking an independent bookstore for a signing (guaranteed to work for the Moravian Book Shop, almost guaranteed to work for any other indie bookstore), and making that signing as good as possible:
- Do show us that you support independent bookstores—if you want us to support you, we want to know that you’re supporting us! Include a link on your website to www.indiebound.org, the website for locating your local independent bookstore, or link directly to your favorite indie store. (Not sure why we think indies are a better choices for communities and for authors? Check out this link [NB: I will be inserting a link here later].) Do not advise us that your book can be purchased at Amazon, Borders, or Barnes & Noble, or their websites. As a matter of company policy, we do not purchase from our direct competition, and we don’t like being told to do so.
- Do spell everything correctly, including spelling the title of your book consistently. This also includes spelling my name correctly. It’s a very common name, spelled correctly everywhere on our website and on my business card. Keep in mind that this is the first contact I’ll have with you as an author, and if your email/letter has multiple mistakes, I’ll assume your book isn’t any better. One or two typos are human and won’t kill an application, but multiple mistakes will, every time. I go out of my way to respond to every application, but I’ve had a few that are so bad that I wouldn’t even respond.
- Do be aware that it’s even odds that a woman will be the one reading your letter or email. “Dear Sir” no longer cuts it here in the 21st century.
- Do let us know about your great reviews and publicity! Don’t be afraid to talk yourself up; if you don’t do it, who will?
- Do be ready to self-promote when you do the event, as well. Everybody from bestselling authors with publicists from major houses, to self-published authors with a debut book, have to do it. Sitting at the table and reading a book will not sell your book. Avoiding eye contact will not sell your book. Being friendly, talking to people as they walk by, and being ready to answer questions will sell your book. If you’re not comfortable with this, maybe an in-store event is not the best way for you to promote your book.
- Do be ready to provide your book to the store if you are self-published or published by a print-on-demand company. We do not buy directly from xlibris, PublishAmerica, AuthorHouse, or other similar companies because of numerous problems we’ve had with them. We will offer to buy them from you at a 40% discount, on a returnable basis, which is standard for the book industry.
What do you think? Booksellers, what would you add? Authors, what else do you want to know?
Cory Doctorow
Today, YA book group spoke with Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother. The conversation actually ended up being as much about politics as books, but if you’re read Little Brother, that probably won’t come as much of a surprise. Below, some selected quotes from the conversation (thanks to Cory for allowing me to re-print them; I have done minimal editing for the sake of comprehension and flow):
On reading and writing YA:
“My favorite author has always been Daniel Pinkwater, whose Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars may just be the perfect YA novel (though he also has a YA novel called Young Adult Novel that gives it a run for its money). However, I started writing YA after some of my writer pals got into it and showed me how much fun it could be — and how cool it was to have young readers, who engage with text in a way that adults rarely do, using it as both a guide to how the world works and something to argue with when it doesn’t match their views and experiences. The first one to help me see this was Kathe Koja, whom I got to know when she was writing “splatterpunk” graphic horror novels like THE CIPHER. She gave it up to write YA — actually let the horror books all go out of print, which I think is a real shame — and had nothing but good things to say about the experience (plus her fiction kicked 11 kinds of ass). Then my friends Justine Larbalastier and Scott Westerfeld (they’re married) started writing YA too, and they were clearly having a high old time at it — we stayed with them in Australia while I was passing through on a lecture tour on our way to Tokyo just as Justine was finishing up her second or third book, and we had all these great talks about what made YA fic work and how it was different from writing for adults.”
When we asked how writing YA is different than writing for adults, he linked to a recent essay he wrote for Locus Magazine (very good, definitely worth reading), and quoted from it:
“Writing for young people is really exciting. As one YA writer told me, “Adolescence is a series of brave, irreversible decisions.” One day, you’re someone who’s never told a lie of consequence; the next day you have, and you can never go back. One day, you’re someone who’s never done anything noble for a friend, the next day you have, and you can never go back. Is it any wonder that young people experience a camaraderie as intense as combat-buddies? Is it any wonder that the parts of our brain that govern risk-assessment don’t fully develop until adulthood? Who would take such brave chances, such existential risks, if she or he had a fully functional risk-assessment system? So young people live in a world characterized by intense drama, by choices wise and foolish and always brave. This is a book-plotter’s dream. Once you realize that your characters are living in this state of heightened consequence, every plot-point acquires moment and import that keeps the pages turning.
And also:
“Risk-taking behavior — including ill-advised social, sexual, and substance adventures — are characteristic of youth itself, so it’s natural that anything that co-occurs with youth, like SF or TV or video games, will carry the blame for them. However, the frightened and easily offended are doing a better job than they ever have of collapsing the horizons of young people, denying them the pleasures of gathering in public or online for fear of meteor-strike-rare lurid pedophile bogeymen, or on the pretense of fighting gangs or school shootings or some other tabloid horror. Literature may be the last escape available to young people today. It’s an honor to be writing for them.”
This is a long conversation, so I’ve posted the rest of it after the jump. Read on for his thoughts on Obama, American politics, and the three crucial things teens need to do if they still want to have rights when they become adults: Read more »
IndieBound in pictures
Sorry for my continued absences. I’m still getting the hang of having a second job in my schedule (although barista is not a bad job to add to bookselling–I’ve been selling books while serving coffee!) But I did definitely want to post about how my store has been promoting and using IndieBound. Monday and Tuesday of this week we changed the windows to promote, changed one of our main display tables to echo the windows, and changed the BookSense Picks table to the Indie Next List table. I’ve also started explaining all the ins and outs of the changes to each bookseller in the store individually, and so far the response has been GREAT! I couldn’t have hoped for a more excitement and acceptance.
So, here’s a picture of the EAT SLEEP READ window to whet your appetite:
And here’s the link to a Flickr set of pictures from the last two days: IndieBound photos. Enjoy, and feedback VERY welcome. I’ll keep updating our progress with IndieBound as it occurs–my next step is to start playing with and using the Identity Manager. What has your store done with IndieBound so far, or what are you working on?
In-store update
Lots of goings-on here in the store. We’re gearing up to finally have a sizable manga section and expand our graphic novel section (YAY!), so I’ve been working on those opening orders piecemeal all day. Suggestions welcome; so far my order is based around the most popular series. This expansion is being accompanied by a big floor and shelving move in the kids’ department that will probably take the better part of the month to get completely done. And we have a ton of great events coming up, including a midnight release for Breaking Dawn, the latest Twilight book, and a big big big children’s author in October.
On top of all this, I thought it would be a great time to start up a weekly e-newsletter from the store, to go out every Tuesday morning. Head Buyer named it The Bookmark, which seemed overly simple to me at first, but it has since grown on me. We’ve been shocked by the great response! I thought people were so sick of email that we’d have half the list unsubscribe, but we’ve only had a few people drop it. And surprisingly, we even had people ask to be added to the list. In a personal triumph, I even got an email from a customer saying how impressed she was! So, definitely worth losing a piece of my Monday. I’ll gladly add you to it as well–just email my work email (stephanie at moravianbookshop dot com).
O yeah, and I think I almost understand co-op, thanks to Melissa Lion and a boatload of prompt and brilliant sales reps. Melissa kindly provided her notes from her days in co-op, which helped settle a lot of random questions I had. Thanks Melissa! Then I wrote an email to all my big reps Wednesday, and by Friday I had heard from almost everybody at least once–giving me more information and ideas, answering my questions, and being excited for me that we’re finally doing it. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 my sales reps!
Link of the day, sent from NAIBA: an intriguing article by Nicki Leone, a former/current bookseller, on her idea of the perfect online bookstore. Very intriguing for those of us looking to the future decades of bookselling.
In an attempt to catch up the books I’ve been reading, here are some recent lunchtime reads, one sentence each:
57. Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron (FSG, 2007). YA fiction. A sweet and captivating story that is as quiet as its protagonist but also just as powerful.
58. One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding by Rebecca Mead (The Penguin Press, 2007). Hahaha, this was my staff pick for my newsletter last week, so I can just cut and paste its description here: “Now that we’re in the thick of wedding season, Mead’s book makes great reading for anybody planning or attending a wedding. She looks at how the wedding industry grew to its current size (over $160 billion a year!) and what weddings mean in modern-day America. Her writing is funny and well-researched, with fascinating information like the fact that there are occasionally rivalries between Las Vegas wedding chapels, and that the diamond engagement ring didn’t become traditional until after World War II. This might not make a good wedding present, but you could slip it to the mother of the bride or the maid of honor!” Let me just add that if you are trying to convince somebody to elope, rather than have a wedding, this would be a good choice.
59. The Facebook Book: A Satirical Companion by Greg Atwan & Evan Lushing, illustrated by Aurora Andrews (Abrams Image, just out). I mean, this is pretty funny if you use Facebook, which I do; not sure if it would make sense to the other 85% of the country. But then, it’s not supposed to. (Why, I remember when my college had to sign a petition to get ourselves on Facebook! And then we had to walk to dinner barefoot in the snow uphill both ways! And then we all felt silly when the whole world could get on Facebook without any trouble 18 months later! I’m just never sure who will buy a book like this, because though it’s funny, I don’t think I’d read it again. On the other hand, I wasn’t sure who would buy The Truth About Chuck Norris, and we’ve sold 75 copies of that since November. So clearly I know nothing about the appeal of novelty books about the internet.)
I swear I’ll blog the rest of the great unread masses soon. It’s just that when I get home from work, I prefer to read books, rather than write about them. Which probably explains why I have chosen bookselling, rather than book reviewing, as a career.
Hark!
I disappeared! I currently don’t have internet access at home, so I haven’t been able to update (I haven’t even been able to catch up on blogs!) But today, I brought my laptop into work so that I could update on my break, because I wanted post some links that have been sitting on my computer, and also to put up the pictures from Idlewild Books.
Okay, three quick links:
1. Another winner done on Jezebel’s Fine Lines feature: A Wrinkle in Time. Loved this, and was pleasantly surprised to see that many of the lines and scenes from the book that are burned into my brain were burned into many other brains.
2. A great article by Ma Jian on Chinese-American relations. Okay, maybe this is not immediately book-related, but I’m really looking forward to reading his new book, and it’s sort of about freedom of expression.
3. From Kash’s Book Corner, a brilliant article that starts: “Buying new books for the store, the crux of my job, can be an exercise in absurdity and futility. It’s an antiquated, inefficient system that hardly takes into account the invention of the personal computer and completely ignores the existence of the internet.” It only gets better from there. Great reading for fellow buyers and for folks who want to understand why the book business is the way it is (well, maybe not UNDERSTAND why, but at least understand the crazy).
Last Friday, I went on another Book Buddies expedition, this time to Idlewild Books. This issue of Shelf Awareness has an article about it. You might have seen an article about the store in PW, or on BoingBoing. After the cut, pictures of the store–they have great pictures on their website, as well, but I just had to take some of my own because I love the space. Also, a cat picture!
Great advice
Jennifer of Books, Inc., aka literaticat, answers the question What advice would you give to someone just starting their first job at an independent bookstore? Her answer is not only good advice for new booksellers, but a good reminder for veterans:
“I get a lot of dreamy-eyed people telling me how jealous they are that I get to work in a bookstore. ‘Imagine!’ they’ll say, ‘all that time to read!’
Um, not really, unless you are in a failing bookstore.
My advice is, don’t read at the counter, don’t stare off into space, be self-motivated and find things to do if you aren’t busy with customers (make cute displays, shelve, dust, etc) - greet customers, make an effort to figure out what the neighborhood is into. Learn at least a couple books in every category that you can handsell, even if it isn’t something you normally read - you always want to give the impression that you are intimate with every part of the store, even if that isn’t exactly true. Be confident, people like buying things from experts, you are an expert. Get used to being poor.”
