Well... That's awkward.

"Have you read this?"

"No but I've heard it's really good."

"What can you tell me about this one?"

"Not a lot. I haven't read it myself but have spoken to a few people who have and they loved it."

"Do you even read?"

"...."

Ok so that last one never really happened. But the other two happen, saddly quite a lot. And it is awkward. When someone asks you to give a recommendation for a specific book and honestly, you've never seen that book in your life :/

Worse case scenario: you lie and give some rushed feed back based on what you can glean from the synopsis on the back. (Also happens more than it should.) 

Even worse case scenario: it's the author of that book trying to be sneaky O_O (has happened once. Lucky I wasn't the one helping them. )

The sad truth is: we can't read everything :/ and that's not from lack of trying. In my store alone we carry 30,000 books. That means that, from the day I was born, I would have needed to read 3.5 books... A day. Every day. Not including the 500 or so new books published a day (that number has gone up dramatically with self publishing.) 

Well... Frankly, that's a lot. 

I do read a lot. I promise. Making my way through 5 books right now, one of which is a non-fiction. Beat that! (Here is a little cartoon of my pain)

If someone were to come in and say "can you recommend a book that's great for _______" I can normally ramble off 10-15 books that I have read. :) be proud. I know I am. 

So yes... Don't think poorly if your bookseller has never heard of a book. Chances are it is just sitting in the pile next to their bed at home. 

Must read!!

So as most of you know, I am not the biggest fan of the Evil Empire of Amazon. (And this is, of course, an understatement. I am, in fact, not a fan at all, let alone just not the biggest one.) Recently, they have been trying to strong arm Hachette (a publishing office) into accepting their terms of sale. Amazon is refusing to sell these books in rather childish ways, such as having the book up but removing the BUY button, or even better, having an automatic redirect to a DIFFERENT book (Both actions bring back childish remembrance of saying "look but don't touch" and "Are you SURE you want a cookie when you could have this CARROT!"). The unfortunate point being, that if Amazon wins, they will be the ONLY ones who get any sort of money. Where as the book binders, publishing house, printers, and AUTHORS have to fight over what's left. Think of it like someone taking your cookies, saying they will return with adequate compensation for the cookies (this person is also carrying around a thesaurus), and the eating them all. Followed by the only compensation you receive was that they assure you, the cookies were REALLY good.

Now this article (which I am in the process of figuring out how to link it :/ ) is a great answer to the AMAZON question: "Where do we get books if not from online O_O?"

Well, read this article, and you'll have an answer.

Also, sorry for the rant... Really don't like amazon. BOOK STORES FOR LIFE!

Also Happy Fathers Day :)


LINK (haha! figured it out):
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/culture/how-to-shop-in-a-bookstore?%3Fsrc=rss

June 10,2014

A new job!

No, I'm not quitting the books store :). But I DO have a new job IN the bookstore... well I say job... more like they allow me to continue doing something that I randomly started doing anyways.
It is now my great privilege to draw on a chalk board and dry erase board in the kids section of our bookstore!!! Frankly I can't think of anything else I would better suited for. Sadly there isn't a lot of call for a illustration background when working at a bookstore... Which you would think isn't the case.

Bookstore = creative
Creative = Art like stuff
Art like stuff = Illustration....

I'm pretty sure my math is right.

But that's not the point. Now I have the opportunity to flourish and to show off my skills with chalk and dry erase board markers :).

So each one is taken from a children's book (Or at least that is the aim. As you can see, there is a JRR Tolkien quote here too.)

This one sadly only lasted about 3 days. It looked as though the colors excited a small child. And the only way to relieve said excitement was to make sure all the colors were destroyed. That's ok though. These weren't meant to be permanent.    

 I think this one by Roald Dahl might be my favorite so far.

 People in the store were pretty impressed that I could draw typewriter font.

I'll keep posting them as I make more. And hopefully newer and greater ideas will keep this practice going for a good long while. 

 

Busy

I know it's been a while since my last post. However, school is now out for summer which means it's nothing but me and my bookstore for the next few months. :D 

It's also the return of our busy season. 

I know I've made comments in the past that people usually like rainy day bookstores, but not NEARLY as much as they like summer bookstores. We go from maybe 40 or 50 customers a day to maybe 200, all because it's nice out :). Which I appreciate. A busy bookstore is a happy bookstore. 

Right now I'm sitting on the bench right outside our front door (I'm opening ad walked a little fast to get here) and I'm a bit jumpy at the prospect of so many people showing up, and it's only a Tuesday!!!

And it is quiet... I mean yes there are sounds of cars going by and a few people walking, but it's cold and crisp and peaceful. I know inside it's going to be unusually warm and there will soon be a bustle of buyers with bundles of books. 

Hoping that soon there will be more situations to blog about. This post is just to let you know I haven't forgotten about you. 

Books 4 Life. 

Thinking about writing, through writing

Something that will always be synonymous with being an indie bookseller is a fascination with anything dealing with the written word. Whether it be writing our own breakout novel, letters (because yes, those still are a thing), or journals that get a little prosaic at times. If any of you walked into a REAL bookstore, which does not include big chains of bookstores as I’m still in doubt as to if any of them actually read -_-, then nine times out of ten you are going to find most of the employees consider themselves, not only avid readers, but avid writers.

I’m no exception. The ability to craft words into real meaning, real emotion, is a gift in and of itself. But the pleasure that goes with it. The reading a sentence that you just scrawled down and feeling it ring in your ears because life could never be truer than that sentence right there… addicting. Being able to say things better when writing them than speaking them, however, is a huge downfall for me. I get in an argument: “Wait, and let me grab a piece of paper!” A friend needs advice or needs to be cheered up: “Hold on, I’ll I.M. you in a second with an answer.” I need to explain something in a presentation: “Let me write this down first to organize my thoughts.” Writing is easier. You can always backspace and erase, and delete that sentence that you REALLY want to send to someone… but know it really is a bad idea.     

I appreciate that not everyone is going to feel the same. Writing is also very intricate and time consuming. People generally don’t have time to think out and type the sentence “I would, of course, accept the invitation to your blue-hippopotamus bonanza.” To make sure it sounds OK. It’s much simpler to just let it fly out your mouth and hope for the best. And frankly, why wouldn't you want to say that out loud a few times a day, anyways?

But my point being, writing is by far a way of life. More specifically it is my way of life. I will always find it more comfortable to write to someone what I’m thinking in a letter then attempting to do it face to face. (This is not to say that I am uncomfortable with talking face to face with someone. It just takes me a much longer time to organize my thoughts if it’s without a keyboard or a fountain pen.)

That was the point, all thought it wasn't a very good one. Recap: Booksellers are in general also writing enthusiasts (I have no met all of them so I have yet to verify). I am one of those writing obsessed ones. I think much better when I am typing than when I am speaking. We all need to have blue-hippopotamus bonanzas. That is all.