Bookweb.org, the website for The American Bookseller Association (ABA), has a story on how the recent storm that tore up the Pacific Northwest affected some of the regions new bookstores. Sounds like the worst physical damage hit Parkplace Books in Kirkland, WA tough every bookstore mentioned reported sales damage during and immediately after the storm hit. Though the story focused on only a handful of stores you can bet it is a good indicator for the whole bookselling community of the Northwest.
Speaking of sales damage- Publisher’s Weekly has an article titled “Year End Brings Indie Closings” Murder Ink in NYC, Dallas, Texas’s oldest African-American Bookstore Black Images Book Bazaar, Main Street Books in Pella, Iowa and Aliens & Alibis Books in Columbia, S.C. are all locking the doors for good. Unfortunately, the first quarter of 2007 will undoubtedly bring another wave of closures upon us.
And in case you missed this one earlier in the week:
The New York Times ran a story with this illuminating quote
“A new study finds that people with low self-esteem don’t seem to like it much when a story ends with a twist”.
We might never see a mystery end with a twist again or maybe this is the beginning of a new genre of mysteries – Shame Mysteries
Link to the study from Media Psychology