The Written Nerd

It has come to my attention recently -- when sending out events emails, calling publisher customer service, inquiring of publicists, talking to my friends, etc. -- that virtually the entirety of the publishing industry takes some portion of the month of August off. Next to that week between Christmas and New Year's, it's probably the deadest time of year in the echoing offices of the publishing houses. And gosh darn it, I think this bookseller needs to get in on some of that lack-of-action. So I'm declaring the month of August a hiatus from The Written Nerd. Half of my readership is somewhere in the Hamptons or the Caribbean or Canada anyway (ha, or the roofs of their non-air-conditioned apartments -- who am I kidding?) I've got big plans for September, but I feel it's gonna be a really good thing for me to take a little time off in the meantime. I'm not going anywhere myself -- but loafing in the grass this morning in Prospect Park, I couldn't think of...

My thrice-weekly email from the fabulous folks at Brooklyn Based was both exciting and chagrining this morning: a new bookstore in Brooklyn! With comic books and art installations by great local comics! That I'd NEVER HEARD OF before! Desert Island (dude, also a great name), according to BB, "is one of those places that shines in the consumer retail rough. Proprietor Gabriel Fowler opened the Williamsburg store in February of this year, with nothing more than a bank loan, a small community of artist friends, and a desire to share some o f his favorite comics, zines and books. Fowler grew up around indie record and comic shops in Florida, which “were the only exciting places to hang out in a cultural wasteland.” Powered by his professed “obliviousness” of the weak bookselling market, Fowler built and decorated the store entirely by hand, with a few key installations from his friends: Marie Lorenz, who made a delicate and intricate paper chandelier, and Chris Patch, who ma...

As you may know, I spent a brief but producctive stint working for BookStream , an independent book wholesaler for the northeast and mid-Atlantic regions. It's a company staffed by smart, passionate, book-savvy folks, and dedicated to raising the level of discourse and profitability across the book industry. To that end, BookStream geniuses Carolyn and Ken have once again cooked up a fabulous TitleWave event: author readings, staff picks, lunch, and free galleys! They've got some fabulous authors lined up for the August 4 event in Princeton, NJ. It's almost a mini-trade show or Winter Institute, and a chance for booksellers to get a look at the books coming out in the next season and learn how to sell them better. I've included Carolyn's press release below with all the details. I'm encouraging all of my colleagues to go, to support BookStream's efforts, and to take advantage of this chance for professional development. And there's no arguing wit...

Okay, heads up! I know it feels like the part of summer that will go on forever (and thank goodness for that, on an at-last-gorgeous day like today after a week of rainy 90 degrees). But the fall is on it's way, and there are a couple of major events coming up you'll want to know about. Emerging Leaders Night Out, NYC: IndieBound! On Tuesday, August 19, at 7 PM, Emerging Leaders NYC -- which welcomes young people in bookselling and publishing in the greater New York area -- is hosting a new Emerging Leaders Night Out. That means you come, you drink, you chat with passionate book folks your age, you learn some things, you make new friends. And at this one, you'll learn more about IndieBound , the ABA's buy local revolution. We'll have lots of IndieBound materials available for everyone, and for booksellers who RSVP, free IndieBound t-shirts! These are just for booksellers, and you've got to get in touch fast in order to get your t-shirt at the gathering. Th...

Readers, forgive me, for I have slacked: it's been over a week since my last post. Summer lethargy and typical busy-ness means things may continue like this for a while, though I've got chronicles of publishing panels and NAIBA board meetings to report. In the meantime, here's a little rec for your short-attention span summer reading. The Book of Other People edited by Zadie Smith (Penguin paper original, January 2008) Anthologies are typically hit and miss, but when you've got Zadie Smith and all her friends writing short stories that are each a character sketch, it's hard to miss. My favorite "other people" are (of course) David Mitchell's insufferable/funny/sad matron looking for love, and Jonathan Lethem's savant/otaku/eccentric Perkus Tooth (whom I'm told features in his upcoming novel). Wonderful for dipping into over a period of time, and for the beautiful/creepy Charles Burns cover.

So it's happened at last: the independet booksellers of my city -- erroneously considered extinct by some, occasionally considered competitive by each other, often considered a powerful, untapped resource by a few Pollyannas such as myself -- have formed an alliance. The Independent Booksellers of New York City -- IBNYC for you acronym lovers -- declared itself an official organization at a meeting on June 26, and set about using their collective smarts to work together for good. IBNYC has no formal legal structure -- our dues and financial admin is being handled by our regional association, NAIBA, under the good supervision of Eileen Dengler. (Hopefully this will mean that more NYC booksellers become NAIBA members!) What we have the potential to do is to make our voice heard, and educate New York publishers and consumers about the existence and advantages of independent bookstores in their town and their neighborhood. There are some committees making this happen now: working on a...

The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie (Penguin paperback, 1991 reissue) Agatha Christie is my guilty pleasure, though I secretly think she's got a lot more serious stuff going on than is commonly acknowledged; if I ever go back to grad school I'll write about her sly sophistication about class conflict, ageism, xenophobia, etc. This Hercule Poirot case, involving a series of murders in alphabetical order, takes on class assumptions, the fine line between homicidal mania and just being a bit nutty, and some unexpected romance as well. Read in an afternoon, then ponder or discuss. A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie (Signet paperback, 2001 reissue) Another sign of my weakness for Christie, this mystery celebrates small town life while skewering it mercilessly. It's also yet another instance of the impossibility of guessing the culprit -- I once read Christie would write the novel almost to the end, decide who was the most unlikely suspect, then go back and "fr...