Ever since I was a child, I've been a Mets fan. No matter where I go, no matter how much the team where I'm living deserves to win, I'll always be a Mets fan. It's just the way I am. Period. You don't back out on your friends, in time of need. And you don't forget where you came from. Or the things that built your character.
Technology may change, but that doesn't mean we should stop believing in print books or the places that sell or offer to lend them. Places like libraries, bookstores and other literary groups and such.
Change is hard for everyone, but bookstores can survive, if they play their cards right.
I'm extremely happy to report that a new independent bookstore is slated to open in Astoria, Queens, NY!
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Jeanne Noonan/for New York Daily News |
Unfortunately, there are some bookstores that
I will quote some of the article:
Art and Susan Bachrach relocated to Taos from the Washington, D.C., area in the early ’80s and promptly opened the doors of Moby Dickens (the name was Art’s idea, Susan says). Susan and her friend, Jerri Glover, cleaned out the north room of the historic John Dunn house in 1984 to make way for Moby Dickens’ first books.
Over time, the bookstore expanded to included the west side of the house and the upstairs. The store sought to carry a wide variety of titles, with an emphasis on regional topics and local authors. The store also includes a selection of rare and out-of-print titles.
Susan says the decades spent surrounded by the works of great writers were downright blissful. “It has brought us more joy than you can imagine,” Susan says. “I love to put something into people’s hands that I know they are going to enjoy.”
Susan says Moby Dickens sought out employees who had a deep love of books and of reading, and who showed an eagerness to share that love.
Just over a year ago, the Bachrachs “quietly” put the business up for sale. Art died in late 2011, and Susan says running the store “wasn’t any fun without him.”
The business was advertised only enough to attract the right kind of buyer, Susan says — namely a buyer who would continue to run it as a book shop. “My greatest fear was that someone would come along and say, ‘I’ll pay you twice what you’re asking and I’ll have the moving van in here tomorrow to clean this place out,’” Susan says.
Moby Dickens was a labor of love for the Bachrachs, who opened the shop after Art had retired. It wasn’t a scheme to supplement their savings. “Do not run a bookstore if you’re looking to make $1 million,” Susan says. “Just try to break even. Those are the good months.”
In the last few years, running a successful book shop has become even more challenging. Online retailers offer titles at rock bottom prices, and the rising popularity of eBooks poses a direct threat to shops like Moby Dickens. Susan doesn’t mince words when asked about these new mediums.
“You wash your mouth out with soap,” she says at the mere mention of the word “Amazon.”
Well ... okay, but maybe you needed to fight fire with fire. Hmm?
And you want to hear the really
Nobody's fooling anyone here. It's not about the books or the readers, anymore, is it?
I never thought I'd see the day when a bank cared more about doing the right thing than authors.
Now ... before you
Thank you!
And now here's a poetry reading from Oscar Wilde!
PS: Please keep your eyes on this blog. I'll be making an announcement
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