Stacy DeKeyser's Blog: Reading, Writing, and Chocolate, page 5
June 27, 2013
Hey, Barnes and Noble: I have the solution to all your problems!
So Barnes & Noble is in trouble, which is no secret. You can catch up a bit here.
As an author, I'm a bit nervous about the prospect of B&N going under. Which isn't imminent, or even sure. But still, when I see them standing on shaky ground, my own knees get a little jelly in them.
B&N has traditionally been so important in the book industry that they have the power to send publishers back to the drawing board (literally) to redo book jackets. Or so goes the scuttlebutt among authors. It's also understood by authors that if B&N chooses to stock your book, you can breathe a little easier, because chances are you'll at least sell your first printing. And if you're blessed with front-of-store or special table placement, you are gold. (And your publisher likes you, too, because they paid good money to put your book there.)
I don't know how true all of that really is, but it's an example of the power B&N has, and the respect it gets (however grudgingly) from the authors I know.
So to think B&N might some day no longer be around is a big deal. Especially when I consider that I miss Borders lots more than I thought I would.
But! Fear not, Barnes & Noble! Because I have the solution to all your problems, and it's so simple you'll smack yourself on the forehead.
Ready? Here it is:
Books.
Stock more. Lots more. Please, please, please get rid of all those toys and games and Legos, and while you're at it, forget the CDs and DVDs too. And put books there instead. Lots and lots of books of all kinds. Best-sellers are OK. But also, obscure titles from small publishers. Backlist titles and old favorites. Maybe (gasp!) even a few self-pubbed gems. Fill your cavernous stores with a jillion different titles, and tempt me. Make me swoon!
A bookstore should be a place of delicious discovery, where you can go and browse, and sit in a comfy chair (remember when B&N had those??), and find new books by authors you hadn't heard of before, and take them home and dive in.
B&N used to be like that. And it can be again. But now the books they sell are the usual, skim-the-surface offerings: best-sellers; familiar names. Boring, boring, boring. There are more than a few dozen authors in the world, B&N, and trust me: more really good books than can ever fit on a dozen bestseller lists. Why not, like, actually stock some of those?
Go ahead, B&N. Find your roots. Do what you're best at. Give us BOOKS.
As an author, I'm a bit nervous about the prospect of B&N going under. Which isn't imminent, or even sure. But still, when I see them standing on shaky ground, my own knees get a little jelly in them.
B&N has traditionally been so important in the book industry that they have the power to send publishers back to the drawing board (literally) to redo book jackets. Or so goes the scuttlebutt among authors. It's also understood by authors that if B&N chooses to stock your book, you can breathe a little easier, because chances are you'll at least sell your first printing. And if you're blessed with front-of-store or special table placement, you are gold. (And your publisher likes you, too, because they paid good money to put your book there.)
I don't know how true all of that really is, but it's an example of the power B&N has, and the respect it gets (however grudgingly) from the authors I know.
So to think B&N might some day no longer be around is a big deal. Especially when I consider that I miss Borders lots more than I thought I would.
But! Fear not, Barnes & Noble! Because I have the solution to all your problems, and it's so simple you'll smack yourself on the forehead.
Ready? Here it is:
Books.
Stock more. Lots more. Please, please, please get rid of all those toys and games and Legos, and while you're at it, forget the CDs and DVDs too. And put books there instead. Lots and lots of books of all kinds. Best-sellers are OK. But also, obscure titles from small publishers. Backlist titles and old favorites. Maybe (gasp!) even a few self-pubbed gems. Fill your cavernous stores with a jillion different titles, and tempt me. Make me swoon!
A bookstore should be a place of delicious discovery, where you can go and browse, and sit in a comfy chair (remember when B&N had those??), and find new books by authors you hadn't heard of before, and take them home and dive in.
B&N used to be like that. And it can be again. But now the books they sell are the usual, skim-the-surface offerings: best-sellers; familiar names. Boring, boring, boring. There are more than a few dozen authors in the world, B&N, and trust me: more really good books than can ever fit on a dozen bestseller lists. Why not, like, actually stock some of those?
Go ahead, B&N. Find your roots. Do what you're best at. Give us BOOKS.
June 26, 2013
Bookish trivia for today
Did you know that the little pointy finger symbol that appears whenever you hover your cursor over a hyperlink is the direct descendant of medieval illuminated books?
It was called a manicule, an index, a digit, and my favorite, a bishop's fist.
So there you go.
It was called a manicule, an index, a digit, and my favorite, a bishop's fist.
So there you go.
April 30, 2013
Missing Borders
For a long time I had a love/hate relationship with my neighborhood Borders bookstore.
Love: Books!
Hate: No indie store to balance the corporate-driven selection.
Love: Less than a mile from home!
Hate: They rarely carried the titles I specifically went looking for.
Love: Coupons!
Hate: What a mess that store was. Until a B&N moved in down the street, Borders was the only game in town, and they knew it. They didn't have to try, and so they didn't. Even after B&N opened, things didn't change much at Borders. Except they went out of business. Hm.
The store has been gone for over a year, but it didn't hurt much. There's always the B&N, which is better than nothing, though the lack of competition changed the B&N too. It became messy. The staff is indifferent. They won't (or can't) stock even a few copies of a local author's books, even when asked; even when the author explains she will be doing local school visits and kids WILL come asking for those books, and instead of ordering them from YOU and having to make a second trip back, they'll just go home and order from Amazon. Hm.
But still, I thought I could handle it.
Until last week, when the old Borders space reopened, as a HomeGoods store.
I have nothing against HomeGoods. Not sure any community needs another discount knick-knack store, but who am I to say?
Out of curiosity, I wandered in. And was surprised by a sudden feeling of loss. This huge space that once was filled with books, isn't.
It made me sad. Even though I had a love/hate relationship with Borders, at least that little piece of Earth was occupied by books. And now it's not. And I feel like my community is poorer as a result.
Love: Books!
Hate: No indie store to balance the corporate-driven selection.
Love: Less than a mile from home!
Hate: They rarely carried the titles I specifically went looking for.
Love: Coupons!
Hate: What a mess that store was. Until a B&N moved in down the street, Borders was the only game in town, and they knew it. They didn't have to try, and so they didn't. Even after B&N opened, things didn't change much at Borders. Except they went out of business. Hm.
The store has been gone for over a year, but it didn't hurt much. There's always the B&N, which is better than nothing, though the lack of competition changed the B&N too. It became messy. The staff is indifferent. They won't (or can't) stock even a few copies of a local author's books, even when asked; even when the author explains she will be doing local school visits and kids WILL come asking for those books, and instead of ordering them from YOU and having to make a second trip back, they'll just go home and order from Amazon. Hm.
But still, I thought I could handle it.
Until last week, when the old Borders space reopened, as a HomeGoods store.
I have nothing against HomeGoods. Not sure any community needs another discount knick-knack store, but who am I to say?
Out of curiosity, I wandered in. And was surprised by a sudden feeling of loss. This huge space that once was filled with books, isn't.
It made me sad. Even though I had a love/hate relationship with Borders, at least that little piece of Earth was occupied by books. And now it's not. And I feel like my community is poorer as a result.
January 27, 2013
My first Skype visit!
It was a great discussion with fifth graders from Waunakee Intermediate School in Wisconsin.
A complete summary of the experience is here.
I can't wait to do it again!
A complete summary of the experience is here.
I can't wait to do it again!
December 14, 2012
Book-a-Day Advent calendar: Dec 14
BC/AD: Christmas Poems
U.A. Fanthorpe
Enitharmon Press (U.K.)
2002
My favorite kind of poetry: short, clearly expressed, and evocative. Favorite selections of mine are "BC-AD," "Cat in the Manger," and of course "The Sheepdog."
Book-a-Day Advent Calendar: Dec 13
The Christmas Book
edited by Francis X. Weiser
Harcourt Brace
1952
"The story of the celebration of Christmas, the growth of its many customs through the ages to present day American festivities."
I found this at an antique store a few years ago for $3.
Weiser was a Jesuit priest born in Austria. He dedicates the book to "the memory of a cherished friend: Georg Von Trapp, 1880-1947."
(Von Trapp is better known as the captain father in The Sound of Music.)
Book-a-Day Advent Calendar: Dec 12
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
Hey: I was reading this book to my kids before it was a movie.
Book-a-Day Advent Calendar: Dec 11
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
Going a little farther afield on the holiday theme, but it's a favorite.
Book-a-Day Advent Calendar: Dec 10
When Cows Come Home for Christmas
Dori Chaconas
illustrated by Lynne Chapman
Albert Whitman
2008
You think you have crazy family holiday reunions? Ha!
December 13, 2012
Book-a-Day Advent Calendar: Dec 9
A Child's Christmas in Wales
Dylan Thomas
illustrated by Chris Raschka
Candlewick
2004
Originally published in Harper's Bazaar in 1950 (for $300), this has since become a classic.
