crowdfunding | Let's Make Some Bookstores

I've been disappointed by the recent collapse of Borders, which took Waldenbooks down with it, after they helped demolish the independent bookstores. So now a lot of towns have no bookstore, chain or otherwise. I don't like this, and I've noticed a lot of other people expressing similar sentiments. I'm not an entrepreneur, so starting a bookstore is not really my thing.

What I am is a wordsmith and a very enthusiastic crowdfunder. So, I propose creating bookstores in fictional settings, and writing/illustrating/portraying bookstores (which may be fictional or real ones). You can do this in your own setting or someone else's. Some crowdfunded projects allow patrons to share in the worldbuilding. Others have prompt calls where you can request something you want to see.

For example,

kajones_writing offers opportunities to name characters or permanent structures in her various series. I established the bookshop Echoes of Alexandria in the Donor House setting. There will be a story to introduce it eventually.

Let's remind people why bookstores are wonderful. They have selections where you can browse the whole book. They often have knowledgable staff who will help you find what you need. They tend to be full of other people who love books. They may host author signings, book club meetings, and other literary activities.

If you've got a bookstore in your crowdfunded setting, or you're up for featuring them in a crowdfunding session, or you've requested one in somebody else's setting, or you've put one in your recent writing/art/whatever, please comment with details and a link if the material is online.

[EDIT 9/29/11] If you own or work at a bookstore, or still know of a local one that you love, please feel free to join the fun. Supporting extant bookstores is easier than building whole new ones! Thanks to

p_m_cryan for speaking up about her bookstore.

“If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Because it's bookstores that just got stripped out of a great many towns. Bookstores and libraries serve somewhat different needs; they don't do all the same things. Right now, I want to celebrate bookstores.

I have no problem with folks also celebrating libraries; I like those too. But in terms of affordability? A library card here is over $60. I can look in the junk box at a used book store and find a book for a quarter, occasionally free.

You PAY for a library card? That's a new one for me. Of course, it's probably due to lack of public support of libraries these days. :(
I think libraries do and have all the important things I associate with books...or would, if they had the funding. It's that lack of funding that makes me decide to drive more for one than the other.
Hrm. I have just had the idea to combine libraries and bookstores into one entity, and I like it, both in fiction (which I'm writing) and reality. I think I may go pitch the concept to my local libraries.

>>You PAY for a library card? <<

No, it's far out of our price range. But they do cost, around here, and some people have them.

>>I think libraries do and have all the important things I associate with books<<

I love libraries, but in a different way than bookstores. They carry a different selection. They actively discourage conversation, whereas a bookstore is a rather good place to chat people up. They may do book clubs, but generally not author signings, at least not the libraries I've known. And they don't sell books, which I prefer to own. Libraries are for refuge and research. Bookstores are for socializing and shopping.

>>I have just had the idea to combine libraries and bookstores into one entity, and I like it, both in fiction (which I'm writing) and reality. I think I may go pitch the concept to my local libraries.<<

Hmm. That could be interesting.

A library card here is over $60.

*has a minor heart attack*

In my neck of the woods, the only time I've heard of a public library charging patrons for cards is when they're not county residents - and it's a lot less than $60! (And they make several exceptions to that rule, too.)

Some public libraries just got hit harder by the recession than others, seems like. They're still hiring librarians in my county...while in my mother's hometown, ALL the branches got axed, leaving only the main library standing. :(

I'm in central Illinois. A lot of people here live in rural areas, including us. I think there's still a fee for town residents, just a lower one. But if you're outside of city limits -- not county, just the town line -- forget it. The fee is too high for the kind of people who live out here, mostly farmers.

And it's not just library services: quite a lot of things either won't serve rural territory at all, or only at a ruinously high rate. It's why we don't have a landline phone anymore, or television service, or garbage service. Nobody gives a fuck if people go without. There's a food pantry; it runs out of food. We're okay on that, but lots of other folks aren't. Some of this has been standard for a long time, but it's gotten worse over the years.

The whole middle of the state is just bled dry. It's maddening.

Let's Make Some Bookstores

Well...

Re: Well...

Re: Well...

no subject

Well...