Signing books at a Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books in San Francisco, no longer in business.
Do you still have an independent bookstore near you? According to a recent article in the New York Times, only 2000 independent bookstores are left in the US. According to an article in the New Yorker, independents now only sell 10 percent of all purchased books.
I’m helping with the demise, in my own electronic way. I have Amazon links in my text, there’s a “Currently Reading” Amazon link on the lower right. At least I’ve got the Indie link (independent bookstores) under my books.
As e-books become more popular and as the Internet makes it so easy for us to stay home and order online, we authors and potential authors still need independent bookstores for at least three reasons:
1. We still love a pleasurable place to browse real books, particularly the new photo-heavy cookbooks. It’s just not the same experience online.
2. We love to hear and meet food writers we admire.
3. We need a place to host us when our own books come out.
Speaking on food writing trends at another signing at Book Passage bookstore in the Ferry Plaza, San Francisco.
Right now I’m counting on events at independent bookstores to get the word out about my new edition of Will Write for Food (note: there’s no way I’m going to put a link to Amazon here). This past weekend I was on a food blogging panel at Book Passage, probably the San Francisco Bay Area’s largest independent bookstore, as part of a Travel and Food Writers’ Conference. I’ll be teaching a class on cookbook writing there later this year. Here are a few other events I’ve arranged:
- On August 21, I’ll be speaking at Omnivore Books in San Francisco, a food-centric bookstore, where Sean Timberlake of Hedonia will interview me about blogging. (Hey Bay Area folks, there’s a street food festival nearby!)
- September 14 I’ll be at Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks in Vancouver.
- And September 28 I’ll be back at Book Passage at the Ferry Plaza in San Francisco.
My local bookstore, A Great Good Place for Books, set up a stand outside the store to promote my book in 2005. Conveniently, her store is right in front of a Sunday farmer's market. That's CJ from my book group (middle), and her friend.
That's my mother-in-law, Janice Rubin, buying a copy of my book. You can tell it's 2005 because of the stand for "wild king salmon" on the right. No more in the Bay Area. Sniff.
I haven’t asked the owner of A Great Good Place for Books yet, but she would probably host me for the second edition as well.
When it comes to buying, I still purchase almost all my books from her. I just call up and place an order. (Sometimes I do my research on Amazon to get the title right!) The book arrives, ready for pickup, the next week. I don’t always pay full price either. Once I’ve spent $100, the bookstore gives me $10 off my next purchase.
So I’m suggesting: If you love to browse books, if you love to hear your favorite authors speak, and if you hope to have a signing at a bookstore one day: support an independent. Buy a book there this week.
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{ 22 comments }
It’s all about economies of scale and reducing costs of distribution nowadays.
The only independent book shops I’ve seen here in Kuching are ones selling second-hand books. Not in good condition, either. If you want new books, you have to go to big chain bookstores.
I haven’t been to Omnivore books yet. Hopefully it’ll still be there when we get back to the Bay Area.
I’ve heard the store’s doing well, Nate. So count on it being here.
How sad about no indies in your area, although I am a big fan of used bookstores.
I’ve always lived in a city that has a major indie bookstore (Cody’s-RIP, Powells, Bookpeople..loved that shop) and it’s easy to take it for granted.
I hate it that you can save a dollar or two on a book on Amazon. Seems to me the whole experience of perusing books in a bookstore, touching them, smelling them, etc., should be worth the couple of bucks. Shouldn’t it? But, like many things in our country, it’s about quantity not quality.
I wonder if writers lose money when their books are sold at discounted prices as on Amazon?
As far as I know, we do not. But there are reduced royalties when books are sold at Costco. I’ve read that Costo, Target and other stores like that are responsible for 45 percent of all book sales.
I think I can answer the question about author royalties.
Most major publishers base author royalties on suggested retail price. If a retailer chooses to discount, it won’t affect royalties. However every publishing contract has provisions for reduced royalties (sometimes dramatically reduced royalties) when books are sold at greater than normal discounts. Normally sales to Amazon don’t fall under these deep discounting provisions, but most of the sales to Costco, Target, and Walmart do.
So glad to see this post. I work part time at a local and very small independent bookstore. The community has been wonderful about supporting us instead of Amazon. Our inventory isn’t very large, but we can order just about anything. I love talking with our customers – something you can’t do on Amazon!
Dianne, if you’re ever in Maine, come visit and sign some books!
Thank you! Have never been to Maine and it’s on my list. Of course, once I sign the books, they’re considered defaced and can’t be returned.
I didn’t know about this. I live in India where buying books online is a growing trend. I do it because I do not have good bookstores where I live.
But most of us here buy books from bookstores. Convenience aside, there’s nothing comparable to spending time browsing through books or actually holding a book in one’s hands and reading it.
Sorry, count me as an enormous fan of online bookstores. I can barely remember the last new book I purchased in person. (Used bookstores, on the other hand, I adore, especially those that buy as well as sell.) I like the near limitless selection, the ability to pre-order, the 24-hour convenience; I like to preview texts online (thank you, Google Books) and read reviews. I experience no loss of quality when buying my books online. The independent, well-curated bookstore was never a reality for most suburban & rural readers in the US. (As for those coffee-table books, my excellent public library is my chief source.) Besides, B&M bookstores don’t deliver electronic content….
I am a fan of online too, from a research perspective particularly. I don’t see it as an either-or proposition.
Both my husband and I try to buy all of our books at our local, independently owned bookstores here in Nantes. There is one huge multi-media chain store and 3 small, independently owned bookstores in the center of Nantes (and Nantes is not a very big city). I am always pleased to see the small bookstores always packed with clients! And one of the bookstores often hosts book signings. But unfortunately I am forced to purchase almost all of my English language books on-line (yes, amazon) or buy them in Paris at the large English bookstore. I agree, it is vital to support the small, independent bookstores.
By the way – any plans for a book signing in France?
Ooh, I wish. My books are not even available in France, as far as I know.
That is cool that your small town can support 3 independents.
One of the biggest pleasures for me this past weekend in Corte Madera was spending so much time at Book Passage. It’d been a good while since I’d spent several hours just poking around a bookstore with few distractions, and the amount of inspiration it provided me both as a reader and a writer was marked.
Also, did you see this article in today’s paper? Interesting stuff: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/books/17indie.html?scp=1&sq=independent%20bookstore&st=cse
Lovely. I saw your shopping bag on Sunday (Cheryl and I were on a panel together). Hard to poke around and not buy.
Yes, someone tweeted that article to me. What a sad story!
Celia and Sam at Omnivore are terrific and they can order anything in addition to what their robust in-stock inventory. It usually arrives quickly. I believe they ship too!
We still have a great independent bookstore here in St. Petersburg, Fl. Haslam’s has been around for a couple of generations, occupies about a city block, carries all the latest new releases, they host authors personal appearances and book signings and have an enormous collection of used books on every subject imaginable – I always lose my husband in the art section. It is where we go always. If they don’t have a title in stock they can order it. When we travel I try to visit a local independent book shop. I have even started bookmarking them in my GPS. They are a great source for some local info books and it is interesting to see how or who different regions of the country put in their upfront displays.
Puddin’head Books opened 1 1/2 years ago in my suburb of St. Louis – now that’s a courageous bet against all odds! They did an excellent job with my book events. Another great foodie-centric bookstore (apparently one of only a few in the wolrd) is Rabelais in Portland, ME. I sold a disproportionately large number of my books through independents because I focused my tour on them. They also did a better job than the Borders and B&Ns I visited, outsellling by a factor of 2 or 3 on the night of the event.
Fascinating, Julia, about selling more at independent bookstores. Thanks for saying so.
Here in metro Detroit, there are very few independent bookstores I’m aware of that have really manged to hold on and survive. Those that do still exist are old-style, eclectic, artsy places that cater to a certain kind of reader, and they don’t usually carry schlock. I remember the days when you didn’t have to go more than a couple of miles to find an independent bookshop. Now, where I live at least, it almost seems that used book stores are having an easier time of it than regular retail bookshops. The used book shops still exist all over the place. Do you suppose this is not so much because of in-store traffic, but more due to the active online resale trade that those stores must engage in behind the scenes? I can’t quite figure out how they hang on. Though I mourn the demise of independent shops, I too am guilty of buying most of my books online, and I very frequently look for used books online; the prices are simply better than anything I can find by walking into any store and, sadly, price has become the bottom line in my purchasing decisions.
Ciao! This is such an important discussion. Dianne, I just bought a copy of your book at one of my favorite independent bookstores in NYC (they had your book featured in a special place by the register):
http://www.threelives.com/
My other absolute favorite independent cookbook/food book shops in NYC:
http://www.bonnieslotnickcookbooks.com/
http://www.kitchenartsandletters.com/
It’s so important to support these shops!
Un caro saluto,
Renée Restivo
culinary educator & consultant
http://www.soulofsicily.com
Thanks Renee. Kitchen Arts & Letters is at the top of my NY list!
I *love* to support and shop at local, individually owned, small businesses. For some reason, with books it’s just easy to shop online + my son’s school gets 7% back. I don’t know, there’s just something less personal about a book versus other goods that doens’t make much difference where I buy it? It wasn’t locally made, or grown…
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