Subculture Spoken Here! (Hint: They read! You can sell them books!)

by Jas Faulkner Fifteen years ago I was browsing in the graphic novels section at Media Play, a now-defunct retailer in Madison, Tennessee.  I had just picked up a trade paperback of Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles, when a young girl who had stepped up to look through the same shelves said, “That’s a good one.” … Read more

Reel Entertainment

by Jas Faulkner

sense-and-sensibility-1995-dvd-cover-1School has been in session for nearly two weeks and Sam and Tab have already hosted their first “Page to Screen” night based on what the kids are reading in class.

“I thought you had those all the time,” I said.

“Oh, we do. But the ones during the school year work a little different from the ones we have in the summer.  We get to pick out our own movies and have giveaways when there’s no school.”

I’ve seen their giveaways. Rather than one expensive thing that everybody covets and only one person gets, they tend to find something they can afford to give to anyone in attendance who wants it.  At the end of their events the crowd leaves with books, bookmarks, and other goodies in hand courtesy of Magnolia Square Books and The TikTok KitKat Cafe.

Of course there is always something the girls and George ask in return.  Sometimes it’s an hour or two everyone’s time for some consciousness raising about diabetes or the environment or aging or fitness  or even a little dose of stealth sensitivity training.  Sometimes the cost for an evening of film, talk, books, and biscuits is a bag of empty recyclables that are loaded into the back of George’s van so he can take them to the recycling center in Jackson the next day. 

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Resolution Reading

by Jas Faulkner 

The covers of the books in the window of Sam and Tab’s book store featured well-toned abs, beautified, decluttered homes, language lessons, and a few self-help titles.  For a characteristically grim touch, Sam dragged out a skeleton and had it seated in one corner of the window display reading Jim Fixx’s “The Complete Book of Running”.

Being the kind of person who will spend time looking at the titles on shelves in pictures, I sent Sam’s IPhoned photo to my email to get a better look.

“What you don’t see,” she said, “is the sign next to the cash register that says we’ll give them a coupon for half off a used book if they sign a promise to not bring them in for trade during the months of February or March of 2013.”

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The Wonder Of the Computer

As I sit staring at my screen, it occurred to me how for granted I take the advent of the computer in my life. Up until the late 90s, I didn’t own a computer. I couldn’t type, still can’t, but I fake it. I don’t understand how a computer works, could never write whatever it … Read more

Facebook and Customer Communication

This week Circle City Books and Music became the unexpected recipient of more Facebook attention than Tom Cruise’s date registry. Does that sound like an exaggeration? I suppose. But when, on Wednesday, the turnstiles started clicking faster than I could keep up, that’s how it seemed. We created our Facebook page August 1 and after five weeks, thanks to a large and indulgent family and several friends,  31 people had “Liked” us; fewer than one per day. Then Wednesday hit and in the space of about six hours 27 new people, mostly strangers, were added to our “Like” roster.

There is a lot about Facebook that I don’t understand. How is it that for weeks virtually no one had visited the Circle City page, then, all of a sudden, cascades of new people appear on the site? I know 27 people won’t exactly crash anyone’s server, but for us it was a 2700 percent increase in daily traffic. If your 401K had that kind of one day increase, you’d notice it. But does it mean anything? Are these future customers or are they the inhabitants of the online world and, as such, Amazon shoppers? And where do they get off calling this thing a ‘book’? A book is a tangible object with a finite and measurable mass; Facebook is the opposite of that.

In any case, after the initial shock wore off, I tried to take advantage of this apparent interest in our store before these disembodied souls had time to dissolve into cyberspace never to be heard from again. I posted a community survey, asking the community to tell me what they like to read. What genres, what books, what authors. This is something that couldn’t have been done 30 years ago when I was last in the bookselling business. But if 30 people tell me now, as one respondent already has, that they want “science fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy and horror,” that will certainly change my approach to book buying.

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Five Family-Friendly Bookstore Events

This is a Guest Post by Maria Hughes of childrensbookstore.com

Hosting activities and events at your bookstore can not only help promote literacy, it can also generate valuable business for your store, and establish you as a community place. There are a myriad of events and activities you can host, but if you’re out of ideas and all the activities you’ve been hosting seem to be a bit stale, here are a few more fresh, kid and family-oriented ideas that will help promote literacy and help you grow a customer base for your business.

 Host a Costume Party

If a popular book such as Harry Potter or The Hunger Games is coming out, a great event to host would be a costume party. You could also hold this event around Christmas or Halloween to go with the holiday season. If you have crafting books or books on making costumes, make sure you display them prominently before and during the event. Pass out flyers and perhaps provide some refreshments, and your party will be sure to start generating some buzz. Encourage a recitation contest where the children act quote lines from their character.

Host a Theatre Production

Although this is a rather ambitious idea, it may seem more daunting than it actually is. If you are interested at all in hosting a theatrical event, you may try starting out small, with perhaps a puppet show or even just an open mic for monologue or dialogue performers. Be careful that open mics don’t get off track though; make sure all performers know that the content of their pieces must be family friendly.

If you do decide you can handle hosting a play (you can decide how technical you make the event, based on your space limitations and other resources) you might charge or ask for donations to give to a local literacy or child-care charity. This is both a great way to get people into your store, and a wonderful way to raise money for charitable organizations.

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Public Relations After an Event

We all think about invitations and press releases and publicity before a bookstore event, but what about afterward? Politicians call it “taking care of your base,” and it’s good manners as well as good business. You probably have an e-mail list from which you issue invitations to your bookstore events. Pay attention to everyone who … Read more

Selling Furniture? A Nice Bookshop Option

We all realize the straits independent bookshops are in. Print books can only finance the store so far. Many stores have opted to offer toys, gift items, some have opened a coffee shop within. So, with this in mind, why not utilize some of the pieces books and other items sit upon. If the piece … Read more