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| Photo Credit: Openclipart.org |
The Fool’s Illusion
has finally made its appearance in its first brick-and-mortar bookstore! I
delivered two copies to The Avid Reader in Davis Wednesday afternoon to be sold on consignment.
Why purchase books (not just mine but in general) at a
brick-and-mortar store when you can simply do that at online stores such as
Amazon? With online shopping you don’t have to leave your seat in front of your
computer or you can shop from anywhere using your mobile device. But, more than
any online bookstore, independently owned brick-and-mortar bookstores bring their
local communities together and promote those communities’ authors. The money
that goes into the community business revenue keeps the local bookstore in business which is a meeting
place for both authors and readers alike who can discuss their favorite books
in a real time and space setting.
The locally owned bookstore is a kind of literary town hall
that gives the community an opportunity to meet its authors. It also introduces
local readers to a new book of their favourite genre, a book produced in their
very hometown or area. In addition to this, it helps local readers meet each
other face to face in a way that may be harder or less intimate to do online
where, like with us authors, billions of readers the world over are competing
for recognition even if unintentionally. Purchasing at your locally owned bookshop
(at least when it comes to area authors) creates possibilities for a fan base to
spring up in your community, a fan base that isn’t just a following of the
author but a sub-community of local fans of the book’s genre itself. For example,
in a similar way Harry Potter or The Hunger Games has created a sci fi or
fantasy fan base on a nation-wide level through the chain bookstore, a local
author’s book of either of those same genres can do the same on a local level
through an independently owned bookstore.
I’m not saying that online bookstores are inferior to local ones.
The more distribution of books there is, the better not just for their authors,
sellers, distributors or publishers, but for the world’s readers to access them.
Online book distribution gives readers easier and better access to authors and
their work that may not be so easily accessible through local or even big chain
bookstores. While online book distribution brings the world’s readers together,
local book distribution does the same with local readers. Plus, simply the
presence of an area author’s book in a locally owned bookshop reflects and
perpetuates the local culture, particularly in the arts.
Fool’s Illusion will
eventually reach many other bookstores in the Sacramento area. I’ll keep you updated on
that. Meanwhile, if you missed out on The
Fool’s Illusion first anniversary giveaway, don’t despair. You can still
purchase the ebook version for only 99 cents at Amazon. But I wouldn’t wait too long. By Wednesday of next week (October
1st) the ebook version rises to at least $2.99!
Until next time . . .
I agree with you about local book stores. We have one B&N left and I wouldn't be surprised if it closes within a year or two. I love browsing books in real life rather than online.
ReplyDeleteIt's so much more engaging when you can browse books in real life rather than online. It provides a greater experience in getting out there and experiencing the literary environment and culture rather than simply mouse-clicking more or less passively through books on a website.
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