Ballad of the independant bookstore, or, buy local.: seanan

Ballad of the independant bookstore, or, buy local.

All right, so here's the thing:

The American economy sucks right now. You know it, I know it, the guy who changes money at the airport knows it, hell, my cat knows it (the number of pre-approved credit cards Lilly receives in the mail has declined sharply in recent months). This means we're eating out less, going to fewer movies, and yes, buying fewer books. Tragedy. And when we do buy books, well, it's much easier to just give in to the retail therapy when it's three clicks on Amazon and no actual inconvenience, as opposed to going out and going shopping in an actual retail environment. We all do it. I do it, Bob over there does it, I'm pretty sure Lilly does it when I'm not home.

But.

Especially right now, with people's disposable income dwindling as rents and utility costs continue to rise, we really need to remember that our retail dollars also go partially to buy the places that we spend them. I buy all my comic books from Flying Colors Comics and Other Cool Stuff because I adore having a large, diverse comic book store within a short bus ride of my house. Could I get many of those same comics off the rack at Borders? Yes, but there are even more that I couldn't. I would never have discovered Hack/Slash, The Boys, or Finder if I was confined to the chain stores, and that would make me sad.

My local genre bookstore is The Other Change of Hobbit, practically a Berkeley institution. It's everything I believe a bookstore should be -- full of aisles made of shelves, hidden treasures, out-of-print books, and bookstore cats. (Two loaner cats, Clearsword and Patch, and two newly-acquired, formerly feral kittens, Trouble and Sam.) The staff knows their material, and can argue the merits of cover artists, short story collections, and the 'plot vs. porn' divide in current urban fantasy happily, for hours. It's a bookstore run by book people. And no, you won't get 30% or buy one get one free if you shop there...but you'll be able to find twenty-year-old paperbacks, make special order requests, and get recommendations for authors you might not otherwise have heard of.

Please, if you can, take your business to your local stores. Go to Other Change, or to your local equivalent thereof. When the economy is bad, it's these little stores that feel the hit first and hardest, and if we lose them now, we're unlikely to get them back. The super-stores make it too difficult to get established, and the little stores are the places that will keep your favorite author's entire back catalog on the shelf, arrange for signings, throw book release parties, and generally encourage your community.

You'd miss them if they were gone.

Also, as a side note that I couldn't find a way to naturally tangent into: when making small purchases at your local stores, try to pay cash when you can. Small stores can pay anywhere from 4% to 8% on credit card transactions. That may not be a big deal when you're getting more sales, but when sales drop off, that little bite can add up in a big way. Every little bit helps keep the stores that support our genre open and ready to welcome a new generation of readers. And that's awesome.

bayushi

October 1 2008, 15:43:08 UTC 8 years ago

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I actually buy the vast majority of my books at Half Price Books.

seanan_mcguire

October 1 2008, 15:45:41 UTC 8 years ago

I adore HPB beyond all reason. It's very, very dangerous to me that I live near two of them.

autographedcat

October 1 2008, 15:53:23 UTC 8 years ago

I addressed this subject in an essay back in 1998. I wish it wasn't still mostly as relevant today as it was then.

October 4 2008, 06:19:05 UTC 8 years ago

As do I, honey. As do I.

snowcoma

October 1 2008, 15:59:04 UTC 8 years ago

I frequently wonder why chain bookstores even exist in a town that contains Powells. 'Cause, well, three story, city block-sized, warehouse-ian home of new and used books.

Borders just doesn't compare (and they never have Gothic Beauty in stock, even when they're supposed to, the fuckers).

October 4 2008, 06:19:32 UTC 8 years ago

Probably because some people are scared of Powells, and just want their bookstores to be less threatening (and less likely to devour their children).

dr_zrfq

October 1 2008, 16:29:48 UTC 8 years ago

I second the motion. I just wish there were a decent locally owned bookstore in this corner of the FedroSplat. (McKay's is only *used* books and CDs and is 12 miles away.) For games and comics there's Game Parlor.

gorgeousgary

October 1 2008, 18:59:54 UTC 8 years ago

Of course, if all else fails, one can just resolve to buy all new SF/fantasy from one's friendly neighborhood con book dealer.

I do that with Larry Smith. Who has stocked at least one book on his table with me in mind. (He was right--I bought it.)

8 years ago

October 4 2008, 06:20:01 UTC 8 years ago

At least a lot of good niche bookstores do mail order. Other Change definitely does, as well as special orders and used books.

redushab

October 1 2008, 17:15:41 UTC 8 years ago

I wish my town HAD a good local bookstore. x_X
And I intend, when I'm in the Bay Area for Christmas, to visit those that are left. I'm still saddened by the demise of Cody's.

October 4 2008, 06:21:02 UTC 8 years ago

That is the problem with blanket scolding (and why I try never to do it). My little sister lives in a city with no bookstores. Damn right she buys from Amazon.

Hooray for visiting the Bay Area bookstores! Remember, Borderlands has the freaky naked alien suede gargoyle kittyface.

kyleri

October 1 2008, 18:16:49 UTC 8 years ago

As the owner of a small business, Seanan, thank you!

October 4 2008, 06:21:11 UTC 8 years ago

Very welcome!

supersniffles

October 1 2008, 21:01:03 UTC 8 years ago

If you can't pay cash, try to pay debit, the fees on it are small or none to the store. My LYS (Local Yarn Store) said they noticed a marked increase in profits they got to keep when they started accepting debit transactions.

October 4 2008, 06:21:28 UTC 8 years ago

Oh, good one. I didn't even think of that.

princess_kessie

October 2 2008, 01:45:05 UTC 8 years ago

*wistful*

I *wish* we had corner bookstores. We have (a) Borders, Angus&Robertson (demonspawn conglomerate who publicly announced they would not carry small-name (read: low-profit) writers - ie, most of what I want to buy) and Dymocks (not quite as sucky, but limited stock at any rate). There are a small handful of independent bookstores (mostly niche market) up in the city - but at an hour away, they're hardly local or convenient.

*pout*

October 4 2008, 06:22:07 UTC 8 years ago

What you can do is look into good genre/niche stores and dealers who do mail order. Some of them may have ways to lower the postal rate, to keep the markup from getting too crazy.

Also, plan to stock up heavily at WorldCon. ;)

aiglet

October 2 2008, 02:46:25 UTC 8 years ago

It may also be worth mentioning at this point that quite a few "local" bookstores do a thriving trade in mail order (Powell's, I'm looking at you here), or might be induced to mail something to you in return for a cheque if you were sufficiently nice to them (OCOH probably falls into this category, especially if it's something you really want).