It’s not news that the bookstore business has been in turmoil for a decade or two. Everyone in the book business, in any capacity, knows that. Independent bookstores were slammed by the chains.
- 1. The chains were damaged by Amazon.
- 2. They are all damaged by e-books.
- 3. Mystery bookstores are closing all over the country.
- 4. While it did get significantly much tougher, the truth is that it’s always been a thin margin, tenuous business, and owners had to be smart, hard-working, nimble, AND lucky to make it work. And sadly even all that was not always enough.
As writers, and of course as readers too, this has to matter to all of us.
Lately there has been some evidence, or maybe just rumors, that it may be looking up at last. Here is good news from ABA. Some selected news banners:
▪ Independent Booksellers Continue to Add New Stores
▪The Rise of the Independent Bookstore
▪ Independent Bookstores Are on the Rise despite Digital Competition
I had the opportunity to talk to Otto Penzler and Ian Kern of the great Mysterious Bookshop, and it led me to wonder about the other independent bookstores in our far-flung MWA/NY region. Do most of us even know about the bookstores outside of our immediate turf, let alone how they are doing? I have a background in business research; I thought I’d do a small-scale study. Maybe our chapter membership would find it useful.
With the help of the always helpful and awesomely experienced book traveler, Jenny Milchman, I made a list of many booksellers throughout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. The plan was to interview them by phone or e-mail, their choice, and compare the findings.
I was not entirely surprised when the New York City stores never even responded to my query. The truth is that, in New York, there is a writer on every street corner, and unless you are either 1. a very big name or 2. you fit into their self-defined market plan, they do not seem very interested. Parsing what this means for MWA members is a subject for another time.
And I was thrilled that most of the contacted stores not in New York City said, “Sure. Let’s do it by e-mail.” Great. I love e-mail. In the end, most of them did not follow through, in spite of a few reminders. At a certain point I know it’s time to stop being a pest. (And if any of you bookstore owners happen to read this, and would still like to participate, I’d love to hear from you!) I don’t think this means anything except that they are busy and understaffed.
However, four very kind and well-informed bookstore owners said they’d happy to talk, and so we did. It was great. Thank you to Ashok Sanaker of Buffalo Street Books, Ithaca, NY; Marilyn Thiele, of Moonstone Mystery Bookstore in Flemington, NJ; Debbie Beamer, of Mechanicsburg Mystery Bookshop, and Glenda Childs of Doylestown Bookshop, both in PA. I hope to say thank you –and shop a lot – in person someday.
Do you want to know who shops there? How they’d like to be contacted by mystery authors? What makes a good event? How they’ve managed to stay in business? Would you just like the names of more bookstores? All that and more will be revealed. Watch this space for the details over the next two Mondays.
—Triss Stein