Solving Mysteries Every Day

Today, Sisters in Crime's "Booksellers and Librarians Solve Mysteries Every Day" event is taking place in libraries and bookstores across the nation, from Livermore Falls, Maine, to Honolulu, Hawaii. 

To support the project, a group of 21 SinC members volunteered to go into bookstores and libraries between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. local time to help those on the front lines of crime fiction - the very important people who help get crime fiction into the hands of interested readers. 

            "In honor of the 25th anniversary of the founding of Sisters in Crime, we are very pleased to be able to thank some of the people who work the hardest on the front lines of publishing by rolling up our sleeves and working beside them," said Frankie Y. Bailey, President of Sisters in Crime.

 The participating authors, bookstores, and libraries include:

          Frankie Y. Bailey, at The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany, NY

                      Gail M. Baugniet, at the Maikiki Community Library in Honolulu, HI

                      Charlotte Cohen, at the Santa Ana Public Library in Santa Ana, CA

                      Kathy Lynn Emerson, at the Treat Memorial Library in Livermore Falls, ME

          Barbara Fister, at Once Upon a Crime in Minneapolis, MN

                      Susan Froetschel, at the Takoma Park Neighborhood Library in Washington, DC

                      W.S. Gager at the Jackson District Library in Jackson, MI

                      Kathleen Heady at the Haverford Township Free Library in Havertown, PA

                      Lee Kelly at Barnes & Noble in Marietta, GA

                      Molly MacRae at the Jane Addams Book Shop in Champaign, IL

                      Robin Murphy at the Sharpsburg Library in Sharpsburg, MD

                      Chelle Martin, at the Sadie Pope Dowdell Public Library in South Amboy, NJ

                      Denise Osborne, at the Mid-Continent Public Library, Raytown branch, in Raytown, MO

                      Bernadette Pajer, at the Uppercase Bookshop in Snohomish, WA

                      Karen Pullen, at McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, NC    

                      C. L. (Cheryl) Shore, at Bookmamas in Indianapolis, IN

                      Mary Stanton/Claudia Bishop, at Murder on the Beach in Delray Beach, FL

                      Lane Stone, at the Charles E. Beatley, Jr. Central Library in Alexandria, VA

                      Susan Van Kirk, at the Warren County Public Library in Monmouth, IL

                      Kathryn R. Wall, at the Beaufort County Library, Hilton Head branch, in Hilton Head Island,

                           SC

                      Tina Whittle, at The Golden Bough in Macon, GA 

           “We know that, in their efforts to help readers find the right books at the right time, booksellers and librarians solve countless mysteries every day,” SinC member Jim Huang, the coordinator of the event and a former independent bookstore owner, said. “This is our opportunity to thank them in a tangible way—and to find out what the publishing world is like from their perspective.”

            Onsite reports are coming in throughout the day from SinC member authors working in bookstores and libraries. The information they send will be posted on Twitter, Facebook and blogs throughout the day. 

            SinC has a Facebook page for the event at www.facebook.com/SistersSolveMysteries. On Twitter, SinC is using the hashtag #sisterssolve.

            In addition, SinC's more than 3,000 members are gearing up to support the "Solving Mysteries Day" event by going into libraries and bookstores today to personally thank the booksellers and librarians they find working behind the counters and in the stacks. 

            We hope your Saturday errands today will include a stop at a bookstore or library. And, afterward, we hope that you'll let us know how the visit went.

 

                 

   

      

Use all of your Borders Bucks this weekend!

By Kathie Felix

The remaining Borders bookstores will accept Borders Bucks for purchase discounts through Sunday, July 31, 2011, only.

The Borders Bucks program has ended. Shoppers enrolled in the program cannot receive Borders Bucks credit during the chain’s liquidation.

Borders gift cards will be redeemable throughout the liquidation process, which is scheduled to end in mid to late September at most of the chain’s existing stores.

For many readers, a nearby Borders store brings back a wealth of memories of great reads, a reintroduction to lost classics and exciting new reading discoveries. In honor of those vanished days, I took a stroll through the Borders in my neighborhood to take what may be my final look at the place that once was my second home.

It was difficult to see the old store underneath the trappings of the closing sale. This week, the shop décor was accented by countless large neon orange and yellow signs announcing discounts of 20 to 40 percent. (Most of the books on the shelves were discounted 20 percent.)

The cashiers were very busy, even though employees were unable to look up information on titles or authors for customers. As might be expected, no checks are accepted at the register these days -- and no returns will be accepted.

The mystery/crime fiction section was still in relatively good shelving order. It was fairly easy to find a copy of The Big Dirt Nap by Rosemary Harris and We’ll Always Have Parrots by Donna Andrews, a couple of the titles that I’ve been meaning to pick up for quite a while. They may turn out to be my final Borders purchases.

I spent more time than I intended wandering through the store and wondering about what might make the ultimate last Borders purchase. During my browsing, I found the Biography section in perfect order, despite several shoppers in the area. I wondered briefly if biography readers are tidy people – or if the sale’s shoppers were just not interested in biography.

I’m not sure I’ll be back before the store closes. It was a sad experience.

Do you have plans to get to a Borders store some time soon? What do you expect to buy as your final Borders purchase?

Spring Reading

By Cathy Pickens

It’s springtime, and a mystery reader’s fancy turns to good books. Okay, no requirement that it be springtime for that to happen. A hard-core reader doesn’t need much of an excuse.

Which leads me to my question: What books have you bought from an independent bookstore lately? We began a focus on independent bookstores in the late fall, following the lead of SinC member Dana Stabenow. Inquiring minds would like to know what you’ve added to your reading list—and where your favorite independent bookstores are!

For my list, I recently had a wonderful visit with the Friends of the Library in Clemson-Central, South Carolina, a real old-home week for me. Tricia Lightweis of Booksmith in Seneca took care of book sales. Her staff members are great friends of local writers and great sources for good reads.

At Park Road Books in Charlotte this week, I bought Murder in Italy (about the Amanda Knox case) by Seattle writer Candace Dempsey and The Brain That Changes Itself, featured on PBS’s The Brain Fitness Program. [Store owner Sally Brewster and I agreed that we needed to know how to be kind to our brains, to make up for past abuses.]

So where have you been? What have you bought? Let us in on some good secrets!

Cathy Pickens, the national president of Sisters in Crime, is the author of the award-winning Southern Fried mystery series featuring South Carolina attorney Avery Andrews. The most recent title in the series is Can’t Never Tell.

Reading Without Borders

By Barbara Fister

The long decline of the Borders bookstore chain has been painful to watch. The impact on the book industry of their bankruptcy won't be easy to deal with, either. Though its market share had been falling, Borders still sold a lot of books to a lot of people.

I live in a town too small for any chain store to bother with, but since I'm only 75 miles and a phone call from two of the best mystery bookstores in the universe (Once Upon a Crime and Uncle Edgar's, both in Minneapolis) I haven't felt deprived. But I'm mourning the Borders I knew.

I will always remember the day I achieved nirvana in Ann Arbor. I was attending an intensive multi-day event at a conference center in nearby Ypsilanti and, after a few days trapped near a highway cloverleaf, several of us escaped into town to find a bit of civilization. Our conversation over a great Indian dinner was enjoyable, but what really blew me away was walking into an awesome bookstore. It seemed to have endless shelves filled with an amazing selection of books. I was working on a book about third world women writers at the time and was amazed and pleased to find so many of their books on the shelves, even those published by obscure small presses or imported from abroad. Whatever I looked for, it seemed to be there, along with an inexhaustible supply of books I didn't know existed but was delighted to discover. Though it was called "Borders," it seemed to transcend them.

Years later, John Baker, editorial director of Publisher's Weekly, told me the golden days of independent bookselling weren't all that golden, that the chains that were being blamed for killing the indies had increased the geography of reading by providing bookstores to communities that had never had them before and bringing more titles to more people than ever before in history.

A Brief for Bookstores

Though e-books are capturing people's imaginations right now, as well as a growing (but presently still small) market share, a traditional bookstore offers inspiring opportunities to browse and discover books, a chance to meet authors, a place to hang out while surrounded by the smell of paper and the silent hum of words, an endless number of stories yet to be discovered.

Borders will be missed by readers in the communities losing their stores. I personally believe we will always want some books on paper and will need bookstores to help us discover books we knew nothing about, and to support those beliefs I plan to tithe myself by spending money where my heart is -- though perhaps "tithe" is the wrong word for something that brings me so much pleasure.


Barbara Fister is the author of the Anni Koskinen mysteries. The most recent title in the series is Through the Cracks. She is an academic librarian and serves on the SinC board as Secretary.

Shopping Guide to Indie Mystery Booksellers

By Kathie Felix

The Independent Mystery Booksellers Association (IMBA) offers an online treasure trove for mystery book shoppers at www.mysterybooksellers.com.

The Association’s web-based gift-finding tools include features that pinpoint the location of independent mystery booksellers, suggest the perfect gift for a mystery fan, offer bestseller lists by member store and provide links to authors who support the IMBA.

The site's interactive bookseller map includes contact and driving information for independent member booksellers in the U.S. and farther north – from Murder on the Beach in Delray Beach, Fl. to Whodunit New & Used Mystery Books & More in Winnipeg, Canada.

The gift guide provides store links to a range of possible presents on the mystery-related side, as well as some intriguing altruistic possibilities. You could help offset the environmental impact of a mystery reading addiction by funding a tree planting for a book lover (10 trees are priced at $10). Or, you might consider matching your book purchases by giving a book to a child in a developing country (5 native language books are priced at $25).

The mystery-themed gifts include “Another Month, Another Mystery” (a mystery mailed each month, targeted by type or style), games and puzzles, signed books, gift baskets and themed mugs, bags, clothing and more.

After browsing a while at mysterybooksellers.com, you could create a gift list that would make Santa proud.

And, while we’re talking gifts, what do you recommend this holiday season for a mystery/crime fiction reader?

Buy Indie, Pass It On

Mystery Loves Company
Oxford, Maryland

Sisters in Crime member Dana Stabenow led the cybercharge today on her blog to “buy one book from an independent bookseller” and spread the word about what you bought and where you bought it.

As Dana says, the big digital and brick-and-mortar bookstores are great, but if everyone buys one book from an indie today, those stores have a much greater chance of being with us next year.

Here at the SinC Blog, we’re glad to join the “buy a book from an indie today” chorus. And we’d love to hear what you bought and where you bought it – and anything else you want to tell us about your favorite indie. We love to talk about indies and we know that you do, too.


SinC president Cathy Pickens started off her holiday season with a stop at Park Road Books in Charlotte, N.C., where she picked up “Lie After Lie” by Lara Bricker and “Operation Dark Heart” by Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer.

I began my own gift shopping with Mystery Loves Company, based in Oxford, Md., and the purchase of “The Penguin Who Knew Too Much” by Donna Andrews and “Dame Agatha’s Shorts” by Elena Santangelo.

After finding out about Cathy’s selections, though, I’m thinking I just may have to call Park Road Books or Mystery Loves Company for a copy of “Lie After Lie.” It sounds interesting.

See how this works?

It doesn’t matter what day you read this blog entry; we hope you’ll buy one book from an indie and tell us about it. Although, be warned, no one that we know has been able so far to limit themselves to a single book purchase (including Dana).

And, if you need help in finding an indie, go to IndieBound.org where you’ll find a search engine that can locate an independent bookseller in your area.

So, tell us: what did you buy from an indie today?

By Kathie Felix

IndieBound: Shopping at an independent bookstore this month?

By Kathie Felix

Many of us will be making some significant book buys this holiday season. Before the shopping begins, however, it might be a good idea to think about what our upcoming book purchase decisions could mean in the greater scheme of book retailing – and in terms of retailing in general.

The independent bookseller members of the American Booksellers Association (ABA) are poised to lend a hand in this debate. They are sponsoring a community-focused movement that brings together booksellers, readers, independent retailers, local business alliances and individuals “with a passionate belief that healthy local economies help communities thrive.”

The initiative, known as “IndieBound,” encourages support for local “indie” businesses that bring dollars, jobs, diversity, purchasing choices and taxes to local communities.

According to the IndieBound program, $100 spent locally keeps $68 in a community – while $100 spent at a national chain keeps only $43 close by. In addition, the project points out that independent businesses create jobs within a community, bring in tax money that is reinvested locally and donate to charities at more than twice the rate of national chains.

The IndieBound effort has its own website – www.indiebound.org – offering a variety of online tools, including a search engine that can be used to locate nearby bookstores and other independent retailers.

I tested the system with a search linked to my zip code and turned up a list of 30 booksellers within 100 miles. Before the search, I thought I knew all I needed to know about the local indies, particularly since SinC member and independent bookseller Mystery Loves Company is a frequent partner in local SinC events. After the search, I came away with the idea that a gift certificate from a shop that specialized in cookbooks might provide a cookbook-collecting friend with the perfect holiday gift – and would include the chance for a couple of shopping trips in a revitalized historic district. Even better, for the publishing industry, I wasn’t planning to buy this friend a book-related gift before using the IndieBound search engine.

The IndieBound program also offers an opportunity to link a website to specific books or independent bookstores. Participation as an IndieBound affiliate includes referral fees for sales; participants may link to book titles without joining the affiliate program (and without earning referral fees).

In addition, the website features links to an Indie Next List of great reads recommended by booksellers, an Indie Bestseller list, an Indie social networking community and Indie gear.

Now that you know how easy it is to find an independent bookseller anywhere in the country, you can help the indie effort by spreading the word about IndieBound.org.

And, today, let's talk indie. Tell us about your favorite independent bookstores.



Kathie Felix is a journalist and editor with a background in public relations. She has been on the front lines of bookselling as an in-store bookseller and a manager at the nation’s two largest bookselling chains – and has always considered a job at an indie to be the ultimate bookstore assignment. And, yes, she’s currently at work on a mystery or two of her own.

The Booksmith: A Conversation with an Independent Book Seller, Part 1 of 2

By Linda Lovely

Independent bookstore statistics appear to tell a story that’s all gloom and doom. Over half of the 5,000 indie bookstores open for business in 1991 had closed by 2009 and their share of market slid from 31% to 12%. Yet many survivors flourish. How?

Tricia Lightweis, who opened The Booksmith in Seneca, SC, in 1989 with her husband, Alan, thinks constant re-evaluation is the key to indie success. In a recent interview, she talked about indie survival strategies, relationships with authors and readers, changing technology and the bookstore’s role in the community. Here’s Part 1 of that interview:

Give us a little history first. What prompted you to open The Booksmith?

This is our 21^st year in the same Seneca, South Carolina, shopping plaza. I’d already opened an International Deli in this plaza. I opened The Booksmith for our four children. I was an avid reader and so were my children. The nearest bookstore was 50 miles away, and I was taking my children to the library twice a week. If I felt a need for a bookstore for my children and myself, I figured plenty of other parents would appreciate one, too. When we opened in 1989, we were 100 percent focused on books.

How has The Booksmith changed?

We expanded the Booksmith and doubled the square footage 10 years ago. We also began selling book-related sidelines. At that time, our book-to-sideline ratio was 90% - 10%.

After the inclusion of a U.S. Postal Service contract unit into our facility, we realized that Booksmith needed to diversify and increase the sideline inventory to appeal to non-readers. We noted that placement of this new inventory should surround the immediate postal area and the walkway entrance. We also incorporated the immediate area with our Regional & Travel book genres hoping they would appeal to everyone.

The change was not applauded by some of our book-purist customers. One woman screamed that Booksmith was no longer a bookstore. I explained to her, if I showed her our inventory and sales reports, she’d see that books still represented 80 percent of our business.

The visual impression can be misleading. If you’re going to survive in business, you have to constantly challenge yourself – reevaluate and change your business model to reflect current buying trends. It appears that bookstores that haven’t offered diversification are struggling the most.

Any comments on changes in book formats and technology?

We now offer e-books on our web site. We’re onboard with the new technology. In the future, when Sony or other providers produce an e-book reader geared to the independent world of bookselling, we’ll be right there with them. We will not offer the Kindle, which uses a proprietary format.

While there’s been talk about print-on-demand machines in bookstores, I don’t think you’ll find them outside of major cities for many years to come. The cost is simply too high.

Paper books aren’t going to disappear. Many readers – myself included – still want physical books they can hold in their hands. But the format has changed. In 1989, 100 percent of our paperbacks were mass market. Now it’s just the opposite. Large-format paperbacks rule.

The Booksmith [www.thebooksmith.com] is a member of the Southeastern Independent Booksellers Association (SIBA), The American Booksellers Association (ABA) and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE).

Award-winning author Linda Lovely writes romantic suspense novels featuring “smart, sexy heroines caught up in danger-packed situations that require them to partner with equally smart, sexy men.” Her novel, "Counterfeit," is a finalist in the Romantic Suspense category of the 2010 Golden Heart contest sponsored by the Romance Writers of America.


Photo courtesy of The Booksmith.