books in the wild

Went out last night and heard a little music from the Acme Tribute Band, that was fun. Mixed my alcohol though. Not so much fun, especially on a salad. I also donated a copy of my book to the Juniper library and promised to come back and do a fireside talk whenever they ask. That would be fun.

I also had a long talk with the bookseller, the only one in Grand County. We talked about the state of publishing, indie vs publisher, how small bookstores are struggling, people coming in and taking pictures of barcodes on the back of books so they can order from Amazon. It's my feeling these niche shops are important to our industry. Avis has a website on which you can order any book. Her discount isn't as deep as Amazon of course, which she told me apologetically, but I said I'd be ordering books through her. Grand Lake is my home (one of them) and I want the town whole and healthy. A bookstore is essential to that. Besides, her store is adorable and has cookbooks! Yay!

I am, as usual, on the fence. I like reading onscreen on my iPad and I like reading actual books. I like my wallobooks in my office.

I love that people can toss their books out into the world and see if they stick, but I'm also annoyed because by far most of them are flooding the market with underpriced drivel and driving down prices for good books.

Sigh. It's complicated and tough to get ahead in the industry. But then, it's always been that way. There's one thing that hasn't changed.