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Beverly Hills Literary Escape

September 27, 2010 in award, book group, classics, giveaway, history, Literary Event, memoir, mystery, recommended reading, spirituality by Kim | 4 comments

I’m counting the days to this event!

Watch for a seismic shift in the literary landscape of Southern California next month.  No, it won’t be an earthquake, it’s the inaugural Beverly Hills Literary Escape, a unique weekend for literati.  This isn’t another festival where the attendee sits in the audience listening to a panel of authors and a moderator and then line up for a few Q & A, here the goal is for everyone to mingle and have conversations.  The organizers, Julie Robinson and Tyson Cornell, are striving to create an European cafe culture and Algonquin Round Table atmosphere of give-and-take between authors and readers.  Here’s the schedule:

I’m in a terrible choice bind about which events to choose for the lunches and afternoon lectures.  I can tell you this, I’ve never met a woman who hasn’t fallen in love with Lynn Batten after hearing him talk about Jane Austen.  I recommended both Ethan Canin and Susan Straight before and would love to hear them speak, but that could mean downgrading my groupie status with Lynn.   What could be better than having lemon cake with Aimee Bender, yet one of my favorite books this summer was Gin Phillips’ The Well and the Mine (if you liked The Help, run to the store to get The Well and the Mine).  I’ll be wallowing in the torture of deciding for awhile.

Two events are free:  An evening with Colum McCann author of Let the Great World Spin where he will receive the first Medici Book Club Prize (more on that in a future post) and a discussion with Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone. The prices for the remaining events vary and there are passes for multiple events. (Click here to purchase tickets.)  Readers of Bookstore People are entitled to purchase the lowest price passes and tickets for conversations by using the discount code LITERARY. There will be one private VIP event, a coffee with Joseph O’Neill, author of Netherland, on October 15th.  We have one ticket to the O’Neill coffee to giveaway, just leave a comment that you want it by 11:59 October 7th and we will pick the winner.

It looks like a spectacular event, don’t miss it!

Disclosure:  Kim is a Medici Founding Patron

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Linking Together to Survive Together

April 6, 2009 in bookstore by Kim | 1 comment

Independent Bookstores are Dependent on Community Support

Last month, a New York Times article noted that for an independent bookstore to survive, it had to offer more than books and have community buy-in.  Most successful independent bookstores, “whether explicitly or implicitly, have managed to get across the message that we need you, but you need us: A community that wants a vibrant downtown with a local bookstore that’s about books, and about something more as well, needs to support it.”  Keying off this article, I wrote about unique activities I’ve noticed in bookstores.  (Last week, Stories Bookstore and Cafe in LA announced that they have a bibliophile knitting group meeting there on Fridays.)  But, I also found several communities and bookstores working together to support the stores that enhance the community:

  • Capitola Book Cafein Capitola, CA started “Friends of Book Cafe,” a membership program with levels from $25 to over $200, each level receiving various benefits such as discounts on books, free coffee and tickets to events.  In a recent Central Coast article, co-owner Mayer-Lochtefeld said “if we can’t really rally our customers around us, then the store is absolutely at risk.”
  • Devoted fans of Village Books in Pacific Palisades, CA founded “Palisades Village Book Friends,” a non-profit to help the bookstore provide weekly author readings, act as host for other literary events and as a liaison with the local schools. 
  • Forest City, NC bent over backwards to make Fireside Books and Gifts welcome.  Shelf Awareness reported that the city closed an alleyway and redirected traffic from a drive thru pharmacy so the store can have an outdoor patio and event space, then provided an underground power line, utility hook ups, tax incentives and free advertising in the local tourism brochures.
  • Communication!  Linda Ramsdell of Galaxy Bookshop in Hardwich, VT informed her customers in an e-mail newsletter of her stocking strategy before she sent back a large number of returns.  She wanted her customers to know that she was going to survive and how.  As odd as it seems, not all customers fully understand the implications of buying on Amazon or at a big box. 
  • In an effort to get the message out, Indiebound encourages independent business of all types, but especially bookstores, to band together and help each other out.  Several independent bookstores have joined with other businesses to offer joint coupons and discounts to encourage shopping from neighbors.
  • Local citizens rallied to keep Clear Creek Books of Golden, CO open.  After hearing it was having trouble paying the rent, several local residents gave the owner, Craig Johnson, money to survive.  One resident wrote a check for $20,000.

On our Unique page, we’ve noted instances and practices of bookstores we’ve reviewed that benefit the community.  I almost always ask any independent bookstore I’m visiting how business is going.  Many times, it’s going just fine and when I ask how, the universal answer is “our community supports us.”

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Quick Updates

March 25, 2009 in autism, Literary Event by Kim | No comments

It’s Grandparents and Special Friends Week at school and Claire and I have family in town, so here’s a quick post with some updates:

I was interviewed about Bookstore People by Eco-Libris, check it out, then equalize your reading!

As discussed in my review of The Shadow Catcher by Marianne Wiggins, her fictional portrayal of Edward Curtis caused controversy because she paints Edward Curtis far darker than his fans perceive him.  Santa Monica chose The Shadow Catcher as its Citywide Reads selection this year.  Bruce Kapson, Curtis expert and scholar, will give a historical overview of Edward Curtis this Saturday at 3PM at the Santa Monica Public Library.

Both Claire and I joined twitter.  Follow us!  I’m BookstoreK and Claire is writemenow.

The Tournament of Books is continuing and I’m loving it!  Today City of Refuge knocked out 2666, but  popular vote returned 2666  to the zoombie round.  The review of the match up between 2666 and Steer Toward Rockwas brilliant in its use of an extended March Madness metaphor.  John Hodgman beautifully wrote his judgment of the Mercy v. My Revolutions competition.  The quarter-finals are over and we’re heading into the semi-Growing Up on the Spectrum: A Guide to Life, Love, and Learning for Teens and Young Adults with Autism and Asperger's Coverfinals. 

And in case you missed it, Claire’s book, Growing Up on the Spectrum: A (actually she co-wrote it) was published last week.  We’ll be having giveaways of the book, National Autism Month, in April.  Stay tuned!

Guide to Life, Love, and Learning for Teens and Young Adults with Autism and Asperger’s

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More than Books

March 23, 2009 in bookstore, Literary Event by Kim | 1 comment

Expand your Audience or Die

In an article about the closing of Second Street Book Shop, Peter Applebome of the New York Times noted that successful bookstores “are increasingly in the business of book events and real-world social networking as much as walk-in sales.”  I’ve noticed the same trend, in fact I’ve kept track of the different activities occurring in bookstores around the country over the last several weeks. 

A New Take on Activities

Bookstores forming partnerships in new ways in order to broaden their appeal.  Here are some examples:

  • Readers can order a signed copy of John Grogan’s Marley and Me books through Moravian Book Shop at any time, and with a little patience, even receive a personalized copy
  • Frank Talk Art Bistro & Books combines art, conversation and books including “Mix & Mingle Fridays,” an opportunity for wine, cheese, food and good conversation
  • My personal favorite:  Jayne Ramage moved a bed into The Watermill Bookshop and had a “bed in” for 24 hours, eating tea and biscuits and reading.  Annapolis Bookstore followed suit with its own bed-a-thon by placing a bed in the front window and inviting customers to curl up and read
  • Bookbeat converted a wall to cubicles that local artisans rent to display their wares, it also added a stage and provides music in the evening and many mornings
  • Sherlock’s Books and Cafe offers a stack of board games for customers and a music night where locals play for tips

Social Networking

As for social networking, it makes a difference, in just our little blog world, the number of hits increases when we review a store that is on Facebook or Twitters or sends out e-mails with links.  These stores use Internet methods to connect with customers and from our vantage point, people respond.  In fact, there is such a marked difference when our post is “twittered” that I started (follow me, I’m BookstoreK). 

At the regional ABA conferences around the country, booksellers are meeting to trade insight over social networking and learning the nuts and bolts of blogs, Facebook, My Space and Twitter.  Bookseller Blog has several articles on the why and how of bookstore technology.  Amazon doesn’t have to be the only bookseller to dominate internet ordering and buzz, handselling can be done over the Internet.

One good example is Booksmith.  Not only is it tech-savvy (I look forward to finding their updates on Facebook) but it helps that their customers are also “those who attend events sometimes record parts of the discussion and post it on blogs. Or . . . they Twitter that “I am at Booksmith and just found the greatest book.”

The New York Times article also stated that successful bookstores are those that integrate in their community.  I’ll be posting on that topic later.  Stay tuned.

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Can We Turn Over a New Leaf? The Jury is Out for Kitty Fane.

January 10, 2009 in book review, classics, Literary Event by Kim | 2 comments

Can We Change

I recently attended a literary lunch sponsored by Literary Affairs during which my favorite UCLA literature professor, Lynn Batten, deciphered The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham.  The book discussion became heated about whether or not the main character, Kitty Fane, actually changed over the course of the novel.  At the beginning of each year many of us take stock and try to tweak our lives, but how much do we need to modify before we feel like we’ve successfully changed?

img_04655th Avenue Books

I love discussing classics because I know the book, by definition, is a worthwhile read.  I carry a list of classics I’m going to read in the near future, so if I’m visiting a used bookstore I can look for it.  I found The Painted Veil at 5th Avenue Books in the Hillcrest neighborhood of San Diego.  The store is huge, over 40,000 books, and designed to make it easy to meander around.  The staff had the right touch of leaving me alone to discover and helping me find books. 

Shallow Kitty

I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read of W. Somerset Maugham’s writing, now including The Painted Veil.  Kitty Fane, the main character, is a beautiful and shallow woman who expected to marry well.  In reaction to her younger sister’s engagement, Kitty hurriedly marries Walter Fane, a medical researcher working for the civil service in Hong Kong.  She doesn’t love him; she doesn’t even respect him.  When he discovers that she is having an affair with the biggest cad in the colony, his love for her changes to hatred.  Walter tells Kitty Read the rest of this entry »

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