Borders is closing....what are you gonna do?

The publishing world is all up in arms because one of the major booksellers, Borders, is closing. We knew this was coming. They closed a bunch of stores a while back.

Is this the beginning of the end? Will Barnes and Noble and all the other brick and mortars close up soon too???

No one knows for sure. But what I do know for sure is that I am going to keep doing what I'm doing and getting my name and my books out there. That's all I can do.

Obviously, it was not profitable for Borders to remain open. If they'd been selling books...they wouldn't be closing now.

Yes, it is sad. And many look at this as writers and publishers losing tons of sales. I just don't see it that way. People will go to other stores. And even if every single bookstore on the planet closed right now, would people stop reading books?? No! They'd just buy them online, whether they still opt for paper or go digital.

Are we losing the browsing buyer..I guess, in a way. But they are not going to stop reading either. They will just have to "browse" some other way...isn't that what Goodreads is all about?

And let's talk a minute about the avid readers who do not own computers and do not go online, the reader who likes to browse the bookstores and take home the ones that appeal to them. Well....as an author, I am going to do my best to reach them too, whether it be by library talks and book signings, ads in magazines, radio, local tv..... And don't they say word of mouth is your best advertisement? If I write the best book possible and people like it, people will talk about it and the non-internet readers will find out about it.

Borders closing is not the end of the world. But it is a reminder that the publishing world is changing very quickly and we absolutely need to prepare ourselves for more closings like this.

Totally made my day!!

As an author who is just starting out, sometimes it's really, really, REALLY hard to know if your work is being enjoyed (and, um, purchased). My royalty statements are not showing what I hoped they would at this point...and some vendors do not report sales until months after. As of my last royalty statement, I hadn't received a dime for print sales for A Bitch Named Karma even though it had technically been for sale since August.

But then I get an email like I did today:

"I just wanted you to know I asked for your book for Christmas. Our local Barnes & Nobles was sold out & said they can not keep them in stock. They have been selling like hotcakes

Congrats on your success!"

This was from an internet friend I met in an online message board community. She's from somewhere in Ohio. So somewhere in Ohio, lots of people are buying, and hopefully enjoying, my book!!!!! This is what i live for as an author. It's not so much the money, it's this.......this feeling. Knowing that people are out there reading my book. And loving it!!

Bookstores need carts or something!!!!

I was out and about the other day...food shopping, other miscellaneous errands, one of which included a stop at my local Barnes and Noble.

I love book stores, as I'm sure all writers do.......I walk in and immediately feel at peace. Gleaming covers smile at me...their bindings fresh..unbent. I could easily spend hours walking up and down the aisles, admiring cover art, reading blurbs on the backs and checking the insides too. Oh how I wish I had mega-millions so I could just buy every book I wanted!!

I feel inspired when I'm there too...proof is staring at me from every angle...it IS possible to get published and have your book sitting on the shelf with all the others!!!! I usually wish I had my laptop with me so I could snuggle up in one of the nail head trimmed chairs and write and write all day long.

But this trip to B&N was not a very fun one. I had my son with me and unfortunately I only had our double stroller with us and it was buried behind several bags of groceries and other things in our mini-van. No way I could have gotten it out...well...with my sanity still intact anyway. So I took him by the hand and went in. I sighed as I walked past all the tables and the Bargain section...one of my favorite stops in the store. I bee-lined for the children's section to get what I needed. (My daughter has a birthday party to go to and I had another children's present to give. I got both kids Toys R Us gift cards but needed something to go with...so I decided on getting them both an early reader book to go with the GC.) So anyway, my son is almost 22 months and wants to touch everything and run around and I know that if I let go of his hand for two seconds, he will run amok. I manage to sit him on the floor by the early readers. I browse while he also "browses" and yanks books out from their places. I try as quickly as possible to find one girl book and one boy book then clean up my son's mess. (My apologies to the workers of the Children's section at B&N...none were put back where they belonged.) We leave the section and I sadly dash past all the books I wish I could look at and get in line. The clerk asks me if I have a B&N rewards card thingy..I tell him yes but I can't dig for it in my purse. I know that if I let go of my son, he will take off. I pay with my one free hand and we leave.

But if Barnes and Noble had carts with a kid seat......oh yes...I would have been able to spend a ton more time in there!!!