This is truly the
era of push button shopping. We can peruse the virtual shelves of AMAZON and
find recommendations and even peek into books and, with the flick of a finger,
have that book in hand in as little as day or two. Or, quicker yet, immediately
on a e reader.
But if we only hunt
for books from our armchairs, the wonderful bookshops that invite us for
signings, create worlds of magic on their shelves, and provide a home for our
writing…will disappear.
I want to devote
this post to the celebration of the independent bookstore. What a loss to us
all if the corner bookstore closes its doors. Think of your own childhood and the great offerings from
the local bookstore. Libraries and bookstores are the gateways to magical
worlds.
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| (from Reuters & International Business Times) |
This is not to say
the AMAZON does not play a big role in our modern writerly lives. The ratings,
the sales info, the author pages…these are important and give us reach. And I,
too, have been an AMAZON book buyer. While living in Egypt, sometimes the only
option for getting books is ordering from AMAZON. For us, through the American
University in Cairo, we can get books sent through the New York office. I was
thrilled to find new bookshops opening in our neighbourhood in Ma’adi, Al Kotob
Khan: http://cairobooklore.blogspot.com/2013/11/image-by-mpm-cc-by-al-kotob-khan-book.html and Diwan: http://www.diwanegypt.com/ but if the book I need is not on the shelf at
Diwan or Al Kotob Khan (where I had the honour of attending a reading by poet
Thomas Healy), I have to press that button at AMAZON since there is no way to
be sure it will arrive otherwise. As a family,we try to plan ahead and, for books not
immediately needed (or needed within a few weeks since delivery to Egypt is not
a rush job) we send a list to The Children’s Bookstore in Baltimore http://www.thecbstore.com/ and they hold those books for us until we
come back for summer leave. We bring bags of books back to Cairo with us at the end of
every summer.
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| Al Kotob Khan (from CAIRO360) |
So what can we do
as authors and readers? We can think of that brick-and-mortar bookshop first.
Call and see if the book you want is there. I figure, yes, it often is a small
percentage more costly, but I think of it as a gratuity to the bookshop folks who are
there to talk books with those of us who love them.
If you have books
on shelves out there, make sure you’re listed with Indiebound.
http://www.indiebound.org/
It’s easy to
register and find your bookshop, for readers and authors, both. And, when you
do school tours, find a nearby bookstore (or ask the school) and have them
supply the books for sale, either for signing, while you’re there, or to be available before you come. I am
supporting my new Young Inventors Guild book (The Ravens of Solemano…) and, at a recent school visit in
Westchester, NY, The Voracious Reader http://www.thevoraciousreader.com/ supplied the books, at the school and then at the public library where I spoke in the
evening.
Let’s celebrate our
local bookshops. What is your favorite place to peruse? Share a name, a
memorable event, a ‘thank you’ for hosting a signing, or simply a link!
