The Passage - On sale today

“It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.”

Keep It Local

I am continually impressed with the imagination shown by so many of my fellow independent booksellers. This video from The Regulator Bookshop in Durham, NC is just one example.

Enjoy and remember to support your local independent bookstore or neighborhood business.



Hat tip Paige Poe

Love Your Small Bookstore Month

Hey, friends and neighbors

Will you help give Paragraphs and South Padre Island a little national exposure? I could use your help. Do you want to help get the Island known for something other than Spring Break in March? Read On..

From Indiebound.org

Author Joe Hill has officially declared March Love-Your-Small-Bookstore Month.

In a couple of recent blog entries, he's talked about how important it is to shop at your local indies. The best part? All the comments from like-minded indie fans! Always great to read.

And to get even more people excited, he's throwing a contest: March-is-love-your-Indie-Bookstore-Month: The Contest.

From Joe:

How to Play: Go to a local independent bookstore. Buy something. Save the receipt. Send a photo or scan of the receipt to this address: indie@joehillfiction.com. Make sure either your e-mail or your receipt includes the name and phone number of the bookstore in question.

There is still time. And if you have already purchased something at Paragraphs this month, come in and I will be happy to print a new receipt.

A Bookstore Quote

From Shelf Awareness:

"I am keen to preserve what is good in life, and that is often at odds with what is most profitable in life. Leaving aside the price arguments about supermarkets, bookshops have, or should have, a special place in our culture. We need books, and books are best browsed in the energetic peace of a small store where the owner loves reading, just like we do. . . . Books are for everyone. Culture is for everyone. There is no need to apologise. No need to explain. The small bookshop where you are always welcome is an essential part of life."--Jeanette Winterson in the London Times.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

The True Cost of a Book

The Wall Street Journal had an interesting discussion in The Juggle section about how people meet their book needs. When dealing with hectic schedules while trying to meet the obligations of work, home, and family the readers related their feelings about the value of public libraries, when and where they buy books, and the relative importance of books in their lives. Below are a few of their comments.

I’ve found that I don’t really save all that much money by cutting out book buying. The problem is that if I don’t have a book to read, I’ll start looking around for other types of entertainment that are usually more expensive. A book costs between 8 and 30 dollars, and generally will keep me entertained for 5 to 15 hours, depending on the length. By contrast, a movie is $12 and only keeps me entertained for two and a
half hours (rentals are a little cheaper, but still not as cost-effective as a book). (emphasis mine)

Books are like baking soda in my house - we always keep a supply on hand.

Yeah, I could choose to rise and go to bed with the sun, hand dip my water from a well, and read only the Bible. I’ve chosen to pay for a few luxuries instead.

So no one here shops at an independent bookstore? Browsing in local bookstores as a child and in college made special memories and we seek out shops when we travel now. Their owners may reccomend something we’ve never heard of and the shops
have a sense of place that B&n or Borders lack.

Our house is also overflowing with books.Yeah, it is in need of culling every once in a while. But it is part of who we are as a family.

Hasn’t anyone read the studies directly linking books in the home and academic success? Both our kids benefited from this “literacy-rich” environment and achieve well above their peers who do not read for pleasure. We love the library and visit regularly, especially for audiobooks. But books at home are a must. And my daughter’s perfect critical reading score on the SAT was a bonus ;-)

What an interesting topis - guilty as charged on books - I spend 100-200 a month on them and rarely do I re-read. I do donate those that aren’t “keepers” but I tend to keep them. The decorate my living room walls. I like having them around. My only rule is that I don’t buy entertainment reads in hardcover.

For people who love buying books, I encourage you to share that love with children. I think buying books for kids is money well spent. My grandmother has frequented the same local bookstore going on 20 years now and always gave her grandchildren several well-chosen (with the help of the store-owner), hardcover books for Christmas. She made them extra special by writing a message inside each book about why she thought we would enjoy it. Many of the books exposed me to ideas and cultures I would have otherwise known nothing about. I now have a large collection of beautiful children’s and young adult books that I cherish and can’t wait to share with my own children some day!

I love libraries but rarely can make it these days due to my schedule. Therefore, though I am frugal in other areas, I buy books without guilt. If there is one thing I’d like my consumer dollars to support, it’s writers! I do wish there was an independent bookstore near me rather than B&N (I work in midtown Manhattan).

Via ABA Omnibus

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Shop Online at Indie Bookstores/Paragraphs

I have been searching for a way that my readers, on the island and off, can shop online at an independent bookstore until Paragraphs opens. Originally, I looked for a way for Paragraphs to sell books online even though the brick and mortar store would not yet be open. I couldn't really put that together but at an IndieBound workshop I found a temporary solution.

Paragraphs is now an affiliated store recognized by other independent IndieBound member bookstores. By clicking on the IndieBound.org logo in the sidebar you will be supporting Paragraphs as well as an independent bookstore located within an area covered by the zip code you designate. Any of these stores will ship your chosen title to you and would welcome the opportunity to compete with Amazon.

Give it a try and let me know how it works. Be the first to patronize Paragraphs, even if it is in a roundabout way!

SPI - IndieBound?

I attended a workshop,this morning, sponsored by the American Bookseller's Association, telling us about all the exciting things that are happening with the new IndieBound program.

For several years, the ABA sponsored a marketing program for independent booksellers called BookSense. The idea behind BookSense was to harness the collective wisdom of member bookstores in making recommendations to readers and to have a greater influence in the publishing world.

Well, the time had come to spruce up the program and apparently as the Madison Avenue types reviewed what was happening in the marketplace, they discovered that the concept of supporting local businesses and independent retailers was a growing trend and movement. There has been a distinct shift away from and a general disenchantment with the big box and chain retailers.

So the new brand IndieBound was born. Initially this is still primarily focused on bookstores but the aim of the program is to allow other types of independent businesses to become linked-in to the program so the consumer can more easily locate and support his or her local shop or at least buy from an independent retailer.

The exciting part is the materials the ABA is making available. They are easily reproduced - they suggest we practice what we preach - at any local print shop, such as Toucan Graphics to name one. But the best part about these professionally designed marketing pieces is they can be easily modified and used as part of a town wide Buy Local - Support Your Independent Business program and did I mention they are free - at least with a membership to the ABA (and Paragraphs is an ABA member bookstore so we will have access to any and all of the materials).

Wouldn't it be great to see the Indie businesses of SPI come together and cross promote one another as part of a Buy Local campaign. It could also be expanded to include Port Isabel, and the nice part is the advertising and marketing materials are top of the line, with modern graphics, professional artwork and totally customizable and remember they are free to use.

I think this would be a wonderful way to invite tourists into our small businesses and maybe divert some attention away from the T-shirt shops. Buying from Indies is a national movement and I believe it meets the South Padre Island vision, if we can work together to take advantage of our uniqueness.

Of course, the other piece is to encourage independent businesses instead of focusing on bringing chain stores to the Island. Hopefully, as the development in the entertainment district at Amberjack's is brought online, this will be a consideration. I would really hate to see us trying to become another shopping mecca with Saks, Starbuck's, Bubba Gump's Shrimp, and Barnes and Noble, when we can have the same quality but provide a more unique experience by promoting and encouraging our own brand of specialty shops that better represent our own distinct community.

I have said it before, on the forum and on my blog, I believe that the first step in attracting repeat tourists is continuing to develop a community that we find it a joy to live and work in, and then to welcome our tourist friends by treating them as an important part of our local community. The trend for many travelers, is to find places where they feel part of the crowd and where there is a sense of local individuality - as opposed to the mega-resorts where everything is standard fare and it becomes difficult to determine whether one is in Maui or Hilton Head. I only hope we are wise enough to recognize this market instead of seeking those who prefer the "it's Monday this must be Maui" visitor who is seeking the nearest chain retailer for the perfect Coach handbag or Gucci watch.

Sounds Familiar

The latest issue of Bookselling This Week profiles the Book and Cranny bookstore in Statesboro, Georgia, and parts of the article sounded pretty familiar. Campbell's discussion of the resources she used to prepare for opening her bookstore are the same ones I am using. Since they are celebrating their first year in business this April, following in their footsteps can't be all wrong.

My FabJob Guide is full of post-it notes, looks like a highlighter rainbow, and has numerous dog-eared pages as well as a few dog-chewed corners.

Bookselling This Week: The Book and Cranny Fills a Void: "Deborah Campbell. 'I was tired of having to drive an hour and a half to buy a book.' The former Lucent Technology engineer had hoped that someone else would fill the general bookstore void, but she said, 'I waited long enough to realize I had to do it myself.'

Campbell then took a year to formulate a business plan, studied ABA resources on BookWeb.org, downloaded a copy of the FabJob Guide to Become a Bookstore Owner, and worked closely with the local small business development center."

From the Book and Cranny Website:

Now, you aren't forced to drive to other cities or go online to find the book you want. Come in and browse -- enjoy the feel, the smell, the pleasure of searching for the latest titles, the best-selling authors, the book you didn't know you wanted until you saw it on the shelf!

We have a very exciting collection, everything from the newest bestsellers to old favorites. And if you don't see what you're looking for on the shelf, we can order it for you -- no extra charge. Most special orders arrive within 2 - 3 days (some may take a bit longer, but we will tell you up front). We receive book shipments almost daily during the week, so there is always something new for you to check out!

South Padre Island, this will be available to you, too, before the end of 2008.