Booksellers and Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Board Members emeritus Maggie Freitag and Leigh Ann Giles undertook a spectacular Pacific Northwest bookstore tour. For their first leg of the trip, see here. For their second update, click here. This is a third and final write-up. Day 5 Chelan, WA Mile 702 We woke to the view …
Day 2 Wednesday March 25 We woke Wednesday in misty Astoria wondering what day it was. The numerous bookstores we visited on our first day on the road made it seem like it must be well beyond the actual 24 hours spent so far. Assured by our …
Seattle Mystery Bookshop, which moved to its current location at 117 Cherry Street in downtown Seattle in 2005, will be moving back to its previous, smaller space at the end of August 2014 (this month). They’ll still carry a wonderful selection of mysteries (and since they have such great relationships with authors, many autographed copies). …
Does your local indie bookstore have the Kids’ Next Indie Next list? Most do! It’s a quarterly newsletter compiled by the American Bookseller’s Association, with recommendations from booksellers all around the country. The Spring Kids’ Next List just came out, and Washington booksellers are well-represented. Hooray, us! To see the full lists, click here. Below, …
Three or four times a week a new salesperson comes to town, or it’s a rookie school donation seeker, or, occasionally, an unhappy gift recipient. They casually stroll in, survey the assembled staff and customers, and when their eyes alight on the old tired-looking guy in the corner they will step up and ask, “Are …
I am a bookseller. I scour Publishers Weekly, Shelf Awareness, endless catalogs, Facebook, and Twitter for booksy news. I spend endless hours before and after work striving to be a better bookseller. In addition, belonging to bookseller’s trade organizations has put me in the company of people who love what they do, have learned things …
Years ago I was driving in the Bay Area and saw a sign for “Gas ‘N Jeans.” It was an old filling station and the owner had converted the service bays into an apparel showroom, so customers could top off their tanks and shop for pants in one convenient stop. I’ve always liked the dual-purpose …
Ten years ago, when we gathered at Elliott Bay Book Company in Pioneer Square in Seattle to toast the store’s 30th anniversary, owner Peter Aaron said he would see us all at the 40th anniversary party. This weekend, at Elliott Bay’s new home on Capitol Hill, hundreds of booksellers, authors, and community supporters gathered for …
This Tuesday, April 23, is World Book Night. World Book Night is an annual celebration dedicated to spreading the love of reading, person to person. Each year on April 23, tens of thousands of people in the US go out into their communities and give a total of half a million free World Book Night …
I was thrilled and honored to learn that I had received the Lifetime Achievement from the independent booksellers of the Northwest, joining other writers whose work I have long admired, such as Ursula le Guin and Alexandra Day. And I have greatly enjoyed getting to know many of you booksellers (and your wonderful bookstores) over …
