New York Is Book Country No More

One of the celebrated posters announcing the book fair.

New York hasn’t been book country since the tragic day of 9/11,  in my opinion.  Because of the security risks, a tradition died.  Every year the city would have a street fair full of books, authors, publishers, and people wandering up and down a particular part of Fifth Ave in late Sept. Although the fair did try to reestablish itself for a couple of years, after moving to The Village, and then Central Park, it lost much of its luster and girth and finally petered out.

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Oh, How I Agree! Mostly.

My friend and superlative bookseller/bookshop owner, Maryelizabeth Hart, owner of The Mysterious Galaxy–with two locations now!–posted a link to this article on Facebook, and I just had to share! The article discusses what things an author who visits for an event or signing should do while there, and after leaving. Some of the points I’ve … Read more

What Makes a 'Good' Bookseller

This question has been around for a long time, and naturally I have my firm opinions about what qualities and tasks booksellers should focus on. I’ve had a variety of bookselling experience-particularly in Lorry’s Book Company because of its unique stock–a blend of new titles, older but non collectible books, and some things at the … Read more

A Scary Encounter With Stephen King

I don’t read Stephen King. Not because I don’t think he’s an excellent writer. He is. Too too good of a writer. I am one of those people who loves fictional murder because there is a structure, foul play occurs; clues abound; are investigated; characters throw around red herrings; the detective investigates and the murderer … Read more

Malice Domestic–Make Your Reservations: April 29 – May 1, 2011 at the Hyatt, Bethesda, MD

“Established in 1989, Malice Domestic® is an annual “fun fan” convention in metropolitan Washington, D.C., saluting the traditional mystery—books best typified by the works of Agatha Christie.” The annual soft boiled mystery convention is taking reservations for this year’s extravaganza. For those not familiar with Malice, it’s a fan and mystery author based gathering that … Read more

The Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore’s Upcoming Author Signings and Events

“Mysterious Galaxy is a genre store specializing in science fiction, mystery, fantasy, and horror.’ I like to inform readers, other booksellers etc, of upcoming events from indie bookstores. The Mysterious Galaxy has been a solid source for mysteries and science fiction for quite some time. Author events and signings are a huge way to increase … Read more