I tried to purchase the latest Stephen King this weekend. At an honest to goodness real live indie bookstore in N. Jersey. They were out of stock. Out of stock!! After my mouth stopped its jaw dropping, the bookman explained he couldn’t keep it in the store, that it’s an original paperback and not in […]Read More
Some tips from the Pros on how to operate a successful bookshop.
On a visit to Logee’s greenhouses in Connecticut, we happened across a bookstore called Wonderland. It was night, we were looking for a place to eat, so only glanced at the window and its shadows within, deciding we would make a trip back into town the next morning to check it out. We did. It […]Read More
Two Weeks Before the Opening of Swan’s Fine Books… It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Sound familiar? Have you ever heard the old saying, if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans? I’d worked hard to draw up a wonderful timeline of everything that needed to […]Read More
Among the powers wielded by a bookshop owner is the authority to unite on the shelf what could never be united in life. At Circle City Books this week two of the most valuable books that have come my way were paired in a forced marriage that might still set the heavens aflame. Last fall […]Read More
Murphy’s Loft Bookshop
Murphy’s Loft, Mullica Hill NJ. This was my third experience in this laid back book and ephemera store. I visited years ago, and then a few months back, right after the original owner retired, and her son (grandson?) took the reins. Unfortunately, his mother decided to rid herself of half the inventory, so he let it […]Read More
“Collect books, for as ye stow, so shall ye read.” This is the new motto of Circle City Books. I started thinking about epigrams several weeks ago when a woodworker happened by, peddling free-standing sandwich-board signs. I bought one put it on the sidewalk in front of the store. On one side I put […]Read More
I should be sorting books, pricing them, perfecting window displays, figuring out where to advertise, how much to spend, and doing my taxes. But instead I am reading “Public Finance in Ancient India,” by K.R. Sarkar? Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Really, Sarkar? Didn’t everyone read that by sophomore year?” But, let’s face it […]Read More
Little Davids Take On Amazon Giant
So a few independent bookstores decided to sue Amazon and the major publishers who made a devil’s deal to control e-books. From the Huffington Post: “Three independent bookstores are taking Amazon and the so-called Big Six publishers (Random House, Penguin, Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan) to court in an attempt to level the […]Read More
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