Friday Comment: In Defense of Author Events And The Conversation
Following the example of my friend and bookselling role model Amanda Lydon of Good Yarns , I recently set up a Google Alert to send me a weekly email with internet mentions of McNally Robinson. Amanda (who is hosting a NAIBAhood Gathering this Wednesday on "Community Value" for bookstores) knows the value of knowing what people are saying about you, and it's been interesting for me to track links to our new website and instances where the store's name pops up in blogs and online periodicals. It's not a perfect tool, and the mentions aren't always relevant, but it has led to some interesting trains of thought. I was initially pleased at a link Google turned up that contained the phrase "One of the most convivial book events I’ ve ever attended occurred last month at the McNally Robinson bookstore in SoHo ." But when I followed the link to this article in the New York Inquirer , it turned out to have the suprising title "Against Litera...