Notes: Schuler to Open Fifth Store; Textbook Rentals
Schuler Books & Music, Grand Rapids, Mich., plans to open its fifth
store, which will be at the site of the former River Bank Books & Music, according
to the Grand Rapids Press, which added that "Schuler is getting River Bank's inventory from River Bank's creditors as part of the deal."
"Nobody
thinks there's a gold mine down there," said Schuler's co-owner Bill
Fehsenfeld of the downtown Grand Rapids area. "I think the idea is to put
together a viable little bookstore. It's being put together in a way
where everybody feels comfortable that nobody is going to have a big
disaster."
River Banks Books & Music had opened in late 2005 and closed early this year (Shelf Awareness, January 6, 2007). The store was founded by Debra Lambers, owner of the Book Nook and Java Shop in Montague, Mich., and had benefited from redevelopment tax breaks and grants. Lambers said sales were not high enough to support the store.
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It's the time of the year for a newspaper stories about high textbook costs. The Raleigh News & Observer
goes beyond the usual reporting, researching the effect of the
University of North Carolina Board of Governors's decision earlier this
year for each UNC school to have either a book rental program or
guarantee that books for large introductory courses will be bought
back at a certain price.
The paper found that besides the mandated programs, "campuses are also
testing ways to help students save money. They're pressing professors
to choose books earlier so stores can acquire enough used copies to
meet demand. They're urging students to buy their books during the
state's tax-free weekend. And they're making plans to buy back more
used books and then resell them the following semester."
The paper looked at the rental programs at three UNC campuses,
particularly the one at Appalachian State, which was begun in 1938 and
was the focus of a presentation at this year's CAMEX (Shelf Awareness,
April 10, 2007). Although the faculty senate voted several years ago to
abolish rentals because professors say the system limits their choice
of books, the program continues and "now it's so popular it's a
recruiting tool for the university," the paper said.
At Elizabeth City State, one of the other UNC schools, with a rental
program, Pedro Holley, manager of the college bookstore, said students
are "thrilled to death" by rentals.
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The Intelligencer Journal profiles several used and rare bookstores in and around Lancaster, Pa.:
- The Book Haven, a former barn filled with 50,000 books and "20,000 other paper items," whose co-owner, Kinsey Baker, said, "This business doesn't fit the image of a pipe-smoking, laid-back proprietor who spends most of his time reading a book. It takes a lot of work and dedication."
- Chestnut Street Books, which reflects the interests of owner Warren Anderson: architecture, art, history, the Civil War and religion.
- Dogstar Books, which Brian Frailey began as an online book retailer. Although most of his business is still online, he opened this storefront in the past year because "he wanted to be involved in the community," the Intelligencer Journal wrote.
- Moyer's Book Barn, which is organized by "Dewey library categories and news clippings," as the paper put it. Owned by David Moyer, the store features "extensive engineering, technical and mechanical collections."
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Here's
a nice example of bookstore collaboration. Laguna Beach Books and
Latitude 33 Bookshop, the two general independent booksellers in Laguna
Beach, Calif., are jointly distributing the Southern California
Independent Booksellers Association's holiday catalogue as a November
insert in the local weekly paper the Independent.
"We are so pleased that a small city can support two independents, and
while we compete in some ways, together we offer residents the best
possible reading selection," Laguna Beach Books buyer Randy Kraft said
in a statement.
Melony Vance, general manager for Latitude 33 Bookshop, said, "We can
best encourage shopping at independent bookstores by being the
community's booksellers."
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An editorial in the Chambersburg, Pa., Public Opinion, headlined "We need
more bookstores in Franklin County," began with an appropriate Ray Bradbury
quotation: "You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get
people to stop reading them."
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Bless Me, Ultima by
Rudolfo Anaya is the 2007 Books on the Bayou choice, according to
the Houston Chronicle, which added that this is "the first novel by a
Latino writer to be selected for the 5-year-old citywide program that
encourages Houstonians to read the same book at the same time."
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The
mystery man who left three roses and a bottle of cognac every year at
the grave of Edgar Allan Poe in Baltimore, Md., turns out to have been
a 92-year-man and friends who led the fight to preserve the historic
site, according to the AP (via the Washington Post).
"It was a promotional idea," Sam Popora told the AP. "We made it up, never dreaming it would go worldwide."
Since at least the early 1970s, every year on January 19, Poe's
birthday, the man would appear at the Westminster Burying Grounds,
dressed in black, wearing a hat and scarf to hide his identity.
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Plagiarists
"For
the equivalent of just £1, residents of Shanghai can pick up a copy of
Harry Potter and the Chinese Empire," reported Scotland on Sunday. "The
novel blends Hogwarts characters, a bit of JRR Tolkien, and sheer
imagination to create the impression it is a genuine Potter novel. . .
.Rowling's ever-busy team of lawyers are already on the case, planning
cases in local courts and talking to the national authorities about
having the bogus Potter novels taken off the streets."
Majid Hamidzadeh, head of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance's book and book reading office, said his ministry saw no problem with the novel's contents: "The book bears the label 'Internet version' on its cover, and we are not concerned whether or not its contents are fake.'"
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How does a bestseller happen? At the Huffington Post, Tim Ferriss wrote a "case study" on the recent appearance of his book, The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.
"How
is this possible?" he asked. "How could a book from a first-time
author--with no offline advertising or PR--hit both of these lists and
stick for three months and counting? . . . Is it all luck? Not all.
Luck and timing play a (sometimes big) part, but it seems to me that
one can still analyze the game and tilt the odds in their favor. I
don't claim to have all of the answers--I still know very little about
publishing--but I've done enough micro-testing in the last year to fill
a lifetime. The conclusion, in retrospect, is simple . . . It all came
down to learning how to spread a 'meme,' an idea virus that captures
imaginations and takes on a life of its own."
Along with a great
meme strategy, Ferriss cited eyebrow-raising advice he received from other bestselling
authors in answer to his question, "What were the 1-3 biggest wastes of
time and money?" First on that list turned out to be "no book touring
or bookstore signings whatsoever. Not a one. All of the best-selling
authors warned against this author rite of passage."
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