Ask Indies

Ask Indies, an effort by dozens of independent booksellers on Twitter to share our knowledge, went live this week. Just ask a question about books, add the #AskIndies hashtag, and booksellers will respond with recommendations, ideas, and opinions. Every book page on IndieBound.org now has an Ask Indies button which links to a simple twitter form so you can also ask your questions directly from the site. The book’s URL and #AskIndies will be entered automatically.

As Paige Poe, IndieBound's outreach liaison, observed, "Ask Indies really came from booksellers who were looking for ways to use social networks to connect with readers, and make those ways new and interesting. So many booksellers are on Twitter, more of them every day, and Twitter's immediacy fit the idea perfectly. It allows indie booksellers to publicly display exactly what makes them such great curators: their knowledge and expertise. And hopefully it's fun for everyone involved."

Not tweeting yet? Check out The Little Book of Twitter.This handy little guide tells you everything you ever needed to know and more.

Books for Health

My son dropped me off at the store this morning on his way to the doctor. Nothing serious, he just smashed his thumb – 4 days ago. Typical mother, I wanted to take him in and hold his hand while he was examined. Typical 20 year old, he didn’t want his mother any where near him. After close to three hours he was back at the store giving me an update. THREE HOURS!

Suddenly I was grateful that he didn’t need me with him. Who wouldn’t rather sit in a bookstore for three hours than a doctor’s office? Oddly enough, shortly after having this thought, I found myself on Book Exposure’s blog reading a post by historical fiction author Jessica James titled 5 reasons why visiting a bookstore can be good for your health.

Ron Hogan of Galleycat pointed out the fact that reading a book helps you feel better about yourself and now Jessica helps us to get into better physical shape by visiting a bookstore. Luckily I spend all day everyday at a bookstore. I shouldn't have to spend three hours in a doctor's office any time soon!

Learning to Drive

I am the parent of two teenagers learning to drive. The youngest has had two broken bones and needed stitches from three separate biking accidents. Last month he flipped a jet ski and last week he was run over by a skid loader (which explains my absence from the store on Thursday afternoon). This is a kid I’m supposed to hand over the car keys too?!?

It is no wonder I assumed Velva Jean Learns to Drive would be a horror story. Which is why I shifted it to the bottom of my to read pile numerous times. I have nothing against a good horror, I just prefer the kind that aren’t quit so realistic. Truth be told, if it weren’t for an email or two from Laurie, an associate publicist at Plume (Thanks, Laurie!!) I probably would have put off reading this novel by Jennifer Niven indefinitely.

In reality, there is little about Velva Jean Hart that resembles my son other than the fact that they both have big dreams (my son to survive the summer, Velva Jean to become a big-time singer in Nashville). Growing up in the 1930’s, Velva Jean held on to that dream until, as a teenager, a more practical dream, to fall in love, becomes a reality. Can she have it all – be a singing star at the Grand Ole Opry and be the obliging wife Harley Bright, a bad boy turned preacher, expects her to be?

This first novel of Jennifer Niven gave me new insight into what learning to drive really means, both literally and figuratively. There may be some terrifying moments along the way, a few injuries, a fender bender or two, but it also opens up a whole new world. It’s about getting behind the wheel and taking control. Now I look forward to sitting in the passenger seat with my son and being involved in this one small way as he discovers how to live out there.

Are Publishers making a deal with the Devil?

Michael Norris, senior analyst at Simba Information and editor of the Book Publishing Report believes so and he’s not alone. The Populist article, Death of the Category Killers by Stacey Mitchell, describes how the specialty chains (category killers) that grew in the 1990s and early 2000s and bankrupted thousands of independent businesses are now losing ground to giant mass merchandisers. These mass merchandisers can make a book a best seller just by putting it on their shelves. Publishers have found this power irresistible and now spend much of their resources supporting these big box stores.

“Publishers don’t realize it, but they are backing themselves into a corner if more bookstores continue to close,” Norris contends. “If the balance of power shifts to a couple of big retailers … publishers are going to find they have no relevance or power.”

These stores only carry a select number of titles. Customers are more likely to pick up a tube of toothpaste as an impulse buy than a second book, making it impossible for new and diverse authors to be discovered. In other words, consumers will be able to pick up the new Patterson or Roberts but what about Tana French or William Young ?

What happens if the big boxes suddenly decide to reduce or eliminate the space devoted to books and replace it with higher margin items? It wouldn’t be the first time. In 2003 one of these stores sold toys at a loss for the holiday season and became the top toy seller. We know what affect that had on smaller and independent toy stores. Now this mass merchandiser is cutting the toy shelf space in half. This could put many manufacturers that depend on the box stores out of business since they have fewer competing retailers left. If the same steps were taken in the book market, will authors, publishers or independent book stores survive?

This will not be an issue for those that read one or two books a year by a best selling author, but what about the rest of us? Can you imagine not being able to browse the shelves for that hidden treasure – a book you remember reading as a child or a novel by an as-yet-to-be-discovered new talent?

Unthinkable!

Not the Norm in Wisconsin...Honest!

Attention customers:

I read a mystery book by a popular author and I didn’t approve. There was a MURDER involved! How shocking! Therefore, I am eliminating all mystery books from the store immediately. I am also demanding that the library do likewise. I ask that everyone that currently has a title from this genre in their possession to join us in a public book burning to wipe out these types of books from our fair city.

Ridiculous, isn’t it?


This is basically the stance a couple in West Bend is taking. They objected to some of the content in the young adult section of their local library, so they petitioned the library board to remove the books in question. The city council voted against renewing the terms of four library board members for dragging their feet on the issue.

By time the library board met, both sides of the debate had collected more than 1,000 signatures backing their position and dozens of residents spoke at the meeting. Thankfully, the board voted unanimously to keep their policies the same.

This dispute caught the attention of four Milwaukee area men who filed a claim against West Bend calling for one of the library's books to be publicly burned, along with financial damages. The men claim their mental and emotional well being was damaged by a book at the library.

The librarians should most definitely be fired.

How dare they force this couple from West Bend and these men from Milwaukee to read the books in question!

Oh wait, they didn’t.

Shopping Local is Green

If you follow this blog, you have heard me rant plenty of times about the importance of shopping locally. The creative folks at a fellow independent book store, The Regulator Bookshop in Durham, North Carolina, have created a much more fun way to spread the message that shopping local is green.


Thank you Tom Campbell and friends!
If you don't know where your closest independent bookstore is located, check out the

Indie Store Finder on IndieBound.

Let's Make History!

On Tuesday the National Book Foundation announced that in 2009, for the first time, the public will choose The Best of the National Book Awards Fiction. National Book Awards is celebrating their 60th year by presenting a book-a-day blog on the fiction winners from 1950 to 2008. The blog, which runs from July 7 to September 21, started with Nelson Algren's The Man With the Golden Arm and will end with Peter Matthiessen's Shadow Country.

Writers connected to the Foundation have been sent ballots with all 77 books listed. They will select three. The top six vote getters will make up a short list, which will be announced on September 21st. Between September 21th and October 21st we have the opportunity to vote for our favorite on the Foundation’s web site. Each unique email address will be entered into a sweepstakes for two free tickets to the National Book Awards Ceremony and Dinner and two nights in the Marriott Hotel near Wall Street.

What books do you think will make the cut?