Fighting the last war...

Generals, it's said, always fight the last war.

They create the Maginot line because of their experience with trench warfare, and they don't see the blitzkrieg coming.

In hindsight, the music industry probably tried too hard and for too long to protect the existing platforms for music -- CD's, etc.

But I'm afraid that the book (and comic) industry is taking the wrong lesson from this.

I think music is music, and I don't think the method of conveyance matters that much.

I believe that books have an inherent quality that can't be completely reproduced by e-books.

I won't go into all the differences -- I wrote a blog a year or two ago that went on for dozens of differences; let's just say, I think there is a substantial difference. The medium is the message.

I recently listened to my first book on a CD (our bookstore roadtrip); PETER AND MAX, by Bill Willingham. Actually, though, it was read by Wesley Crusher from Star Trek (Wil Wheaton). He put the nuance in the phrasing, the emphasis on the words.

It was more in the way of a performance, than reading.

I enjoyed it, O.K. But I still very much prefer to read books with my own interpretations.

E-books are as different from paper books as T.V. is from Movies. I still prefer to go to the theater to watch movies...

This difference, I believe, is worth protecting and fighting for. It's too soon to throw books under the bus.

Despite the last war -- that the music industry fought -- I believe we should fight a more rear guard action; fend off digital as long as possible. Make concessions only when we have to.

But, you know, I'm probably the only guy in country that feels that way.

There are indeed lessons to learn from the music industry; one of them, I believe, is that performance will not -- in fact -- completely replace the revenues lost from recordings. The concert tours last year apparently sucked.

I know I'm not going digital, no matter what. If that means I get put on the ice flow to drift away, so be it.

Over reacting to e-books.

"So you appear to have gone from a view that ebook readers will not have a sizeable impact for many years, to one of dramatic impact upon not only the new book market but the used book market as well."

RDC asks (pesky fellow).

I don't know that I've changed my mind. I think the end of my career is dovetailing nicely with the new paradigm, in that I'm not interested in doing digital, and if I'm forced to do digital, I'd rather bow out gracefully.

But this was assuming that it would be a natural process; that is, if everything stays steady.

I'm getting a little worried about that.

Over the course of my career, I'm used to seeing problems ahead that no one else sees. I'm used to being the most pessimistic person in the room; other retailers and distributors and publishers often seem blind to dangers I see coming around the bend.

Maybe it's just getting concentrated doses through internet sites, but it seems to me that I've become the most optimistic retailer (distributor, publisher) in the room. I think, left alone, that digital will slowly take a bigger and bigger piece of the pie, but as a retailer I could make adjustments as it happens.

I'm getting concerned that I may not have much choice in the matter; for a couple of reasons.

1.) That the infrastructure for the comic and book business is not strong enough to hold together despite the drop being in -- what for me would be a survivable -- 10 to 20% drop range.

After all, bookstores have had decades of blows from the likes of Barnes and Noble and Borders to absorbed, followed by at least a decade of Amazon, and in the same process getting hit by the chainstores like Costco and Walmart. This e-book thingy may be the final blow.

I depend on the publishers and distributors to survive. I can't sell product if it isn't being made, or if it isn't being processed and shipped.

2.) That The Powers That Be, those larger entities further up the food chain from me, will panic and institute changes that are destructive the business.

A little history here. In the early 1990's comics had their own little bubble -- actually a huge bubble in their own little world. When sales dropped off the face of the cliff, Marvel panicked.

They somehow reasoned that the drop in sales was because the distributors -- and ultimately, the retailers -- weren't doing the job. Instead of seeing the bubble for what it was -- an unrealistic sales balloon -- Marvel decided that they could re-inflate the bubble if they had their hands on all the levers --publishing, distributing, and direct contact with retailers.

It was a total disaster. It set into motion a series of events that just compounded an already dire situation. When all the dust settled, there was one surviving major distributor (Diamond), there were less than 3000 comic shops left (out of 12,000), and....not coincidentally -- Marvel was bankrupt.

What I wish every major player would consider is the concept of: "Do No Harm." Sometimes you just absorb the blows, and you don't make it worse with sudden, drastic moves.

That's what I'm worried about now; that the major publishers and distributors will over-correct, set into motion events with unforeseeable consequences, and replace a weak but functional situation into a weak and broken system.

I know no one wants to get caught behind the change curve, but I'm beginning to fear over-reaction more.

More books for the rest of us...

One aspect of e-readers that I haven't heard anyone talk about -- maybe because only a used bookstore owner would think it -- is the possibility of a flood of books on the secondary market.

What happens when e-reader owners empty their library? We've already seen it happen a couple of times.

I don't believe there is a shortage of books in the world. In fact, I think there is a huge surplus. I think this is due to the mass market and the internet and the thrift stores.

At least at first, I think this surplus of books is only going to increase.

The first thing that will change, in my opinion, will be the willingness of used bookstore owners to actually buy books cash. The "Powell's" model, if you will. They will get overwhelmed with sellers who will never again be buyers.

I think the surplus has already affected the "trade only" stores. Some of them are still clinging to life, and some have added unwieldy dues or fees to their trade policy. But it's possible now to get any book you want for mere pennies, if you scout the thrift stores and garage sales, which you can then trade for the books you really want.

The response to this flood has been, and this will only increase, is to be ultra selective which books they'll take in. I've mentioned before, I think this is counter-productive; that it gives a "no" message, and only makes the customer go elsewhere.

It may seem strange that a store that extends credit to half the price of a book would gain more customers than a store that let's you trade straight across --but, if the store that only trades is not accepting the majority of books coming in the door, and the trade for half credit is accepting most books that come in the door; well, I believe the store that accepts books and extends generous credit will actually seem like a more open store.

Plus, they actually make money.


Here's another thought. Eventually, the flood will recede and -- hey, paper books may be actually harder to find. Which will bring us full circle back to value and rarity.

The world is an ironical place, you know?

Downtown Comings and Goings.

Di Lusso Coffee on Bond has been closed the last couple of days. I suppose they could be on vacation, or perhaps renovating. Anyone heard anything?

UPDATE: According to The Source, the sign says Closed for "Unforeseen Circumstances."

Meanwhile, there is a new wine shop opening in the space that Glass Symphony was in; called
D'Vine.

NEW BUSINESSES DOWNTOWN

D'Vine, Wall St. , 2/9/11.
Let it Ride!, Bond St., 1/29/11.
Gatsby's Brasserie Bar, Minnesota Ave., 1/8/11
Tres Jolie, Wall St., 12/20/10.
Caldera Grill, Bond St., 12/7/10
Bond Street Grill, 12/7/10.
Perspective(s), Minnesota Ave., 11/20/10
Toth Art Collective, Bond St. 11/20/10
Boken, Breezeway, 11/20/10
Dalia and Emilia, Wall St., 10/3/10.
Antiquarian Books, Bond St., 10/3/10.
Giddyup, Minnesota Ave., 10/3/10.
The Closet, Minnesota Ave., 8/11/10.
Showcase Hats, Oregon Ave., 8/11/10,
Red Chair Art Gallery, Oregon Ave. 7/13/10.
Earth Sense Herbs, Penny's Galleria, 7/12/10.
Mad Happy Lounge, Brooks St., 6/2910
Common Table, Oregon Ave. , 6/29/10.
Looney Bean Coffee, Brooks St. , 6/29/10.
Bourbon Street, Minnesota Ave., 6/22/10
Feather's Edge, Minnesota Ave., 6/22/10
The BLVD., Wall St. , 6/13/10.
Volt, Minnesota Ave. 6/1/10.
Tart, Minnesota Ave. , 5/13/10
Olivia Hunter, Wall St. 4/5/10.
Tres Chic, Bond St. 4/5/10
Blue Star Salon, Wall St. 4/1/10.
Lululemon, Bond St. 3/31/10.
Diana's Jewel Box, Minnesota Ave., 3/25/10.
Amalia's, Wall St. (Ciao Mambo space), 3/12/10
River Bend Fine Art, Bond St. (Kebanu space) 2/23/10
Federal Express, Oregon Ave. 2/1/10
***10 Below, Minnesota Ave. 1/10/10
Tew Boots Gallery, Bond St. 1/8/10.
Top Leaf Mate, 12/10/09
Laughing Girls Studio, Minnesota Ave. 12/7/09
Lemon Drop, 5 Minnesota Ave., 11/12/09
The Curiosity Shoppe 11/5/09 25 N.W. Minnesota Ave, Suite #7.
Wabi Sabi 11/4/09
Frugal Boutique 11/4/09
5 Spice 10/22/09
Cowgirls Cash 10/17/09
***Haven Home 10/17/09
Dog Patch 10/17/09
The Good Drop 10/12/09
Lola's 9/23/09
**Volcano Wines 9/15/09
Singing Sparrow Flowers 8/16/09
Northwest Home Interiors 8/5/09
High Desert Frameworks 7/23/09 (*Moved to Oregon Ave. 4/5/10.)
Wall Street Gifts 7/--/09
Ina Louise 7/14/09
Bend Home Hardware (Homestyle Hardware?) 7/1/09
Altera Real Estate 6/9/09
Honey 6/7/09
Azura Studio 6/7/09
Mary Jane's 6/1/09
c.c.McKenzie 6/1/09
Velvet 5/28/09
Bella Moda 3/25/09
High Desert Gallery (Bend) 3/25/09
Joolz
Zydeco
900 Wall
Great Outdoor Store
Luxe Home Interiors
Powell's Candy
Dudley's Used Books and Coffee
Goldsmith
Game Domain
Subway Sandwiches
Bend Burger Company
Showcase Hats
Pita Pit
Happy Nails
(Fall, 2008 or so).

BUSINESSES LEAVING

Di Lusso, Franklin/Bond, 2/9/11.
Earth Sense Herbs, Penny's Galleria, 1/2/11
Marz Bistro, Minnesota Av., 12/20/10.
The Decoy, Bond St., 12/7/10.
Giuseppe's, Bond St., 12/1/10.
Ina Louise, Minnesota Ave., 11/3/10.
Laughing Girl Studios, 10/21/10
Dolce Vita, Bond St, 10/21/10
Diana's Jewell Box, Minnesota Ave., 10/15/10.
Lola's, Breezeway, 10/8/10.
Oxygen Tattoo, Bond St., 10/3/10.
Great Outdoor Clothing, Wall St., 10/3/10.
Volcano Vineyards, Minnesota Ave., 10/3/10.
Subway Sandwiches, Bond St. 9/2/10.
Old Bend Distillery, Brooks St., 6/19/10.
Staccato, Minnesota Ave. 6/18/10.
Showcase Hats, Minnesota Ave., 6/1/10 (Moved to Oregon Ave., 8/10/11.)
Cork, Oregon Ave., 5/27/10.
Wall Street Gifts, 5/26/10
Microsphere, Wall St. , 5/17/10.
Singing Sparrow, Franklin and Bond, 5/15/10
28, Minnesota Ave. and Bond, 5/13/10.
Glass Symphony, Wall St., 3/25/10
Bend Home Hardware, Minnesota Ave, 2/25/10
Ciao Mambo, Wall St. 2/4/10
***Angel Kisses 1/25/10 (Have moved to 'Honey.')
Ivy Rose Manor 8/20/09
***Downtowner 8/18/09 (moving into the Summit location)
Chocolate e Gateaux 8/16/09
Finders Keepers 8/15/09
Colourstone 7/25/09
Periwinkle 6/--/09
***Tangerine 7/21/09 (Got word, they are moving across the street.)
Micheal Cassidy Gallery 6/15/09
St. Claire Coffee 6/15/09
Luxe Home Interiors 6/4/09
Treefort 5/8/09
Blue 5/2/09
***Volcano Tasting Room 4/28/09** Moved to Minnesota Ave.
Habit 4/16/09
Mountain Comfort 4/14/09
Tetherow Property 4/11/09
Blue Moon Marketplace 3/25/09
Plenty 3/25/09
Downtown Doggie 3/25/09
***King of Sole (became Mary Janes)**
Santee Alley
Bistro Corlise
Made in Hawaii
EnVogue
Stewart Weinmann (leather)
Kebanu Gallery
Pella Doors and Windows
Olive company
Pink Frog
Little Italy
Deep
Merenda's
Volo
***Pomegranate (downtown branch)**
Norwalk
Pronghorn Real Estate office.
Speedshop Deli
Paper Place
Bluefish Bistro
(Fall, 2008 or so.)

Ever heard of Jack Shandy?

He is, I believe, the inspiration for Jack Sparrow.

ON STRANGER TIDES, by Tim Powers, came out in 1988. It had pirates and zombies and all kinds of cool stuff.

Powers was way ahead on the Pirate Curve (or the Zombie Curve, for that matter.)

I don't know how it came about, but the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean is entitled, On Stranger Tides; so either they felt guilty about stealing the concept, or they had bought the rights before, I don't know.

But I do know this is one of the funnist books I've every read. (I give up -- funnist is a word).

Powers is a magic realist, a fabulist of the first order. For all you beer guys out there, THE DRAWING OF THE DARK is a great fantasy involving the brew. He was way head on the Beer Curve.

ANUBIS GATES was the first Steampunk novel I ever read, I think before the term was even coined. He was way ahead on the Steampunk Curve.

I'm not as enamored of his later ghosty books, though they involve the ghosts of famous people, but...the early books are fantastic.

Bookstore roadtrip, Pt. 2

We parked our car on the outskirts of the Ashland downtown core, and started walking.

We popped into a coop art gallery, which happened to be clerked by the artist who's art we noticed the most-- who had done some funky cow and cat pictures. I wanted to buy one, but just before that, I'd purchased an orange citron necklace and earrings for Linda (her Valentine's Day gift.) So we picked out a magnet with one of her skinny cows on it, instead.

Had a nice discussion comparing downtowns.

Next place we hit was Bloomsbury Books. Nice place, nice selection. Clerk informed us that they were the only "real" new bookstore in town, and I'd have to say after wandering around the rest of the day, that I agree with her.

Which begs the question; how does Medford/Ashland rate #3 in the country for bookstores unless they are including used bookstores -- or they were including any store that was listed as carrying new books, of which there were four or five, but none of them really carried significant amounts.

These surveys probably are pretty superficial.

I will say, however, that Ashland has a plethora of used bookstores. Got to be one of the most per capita in the country. We found 5 just wandering around, and another in Talent, and I know there were more we didn't find, not even counting Medford which we never got to.

We went upstairs in Bloomsbury and had brunch in their coffee bar.

When we drove through the downtown the night before, I commented that I thought it looked more posh and upscale than Bend, but in walking around, I changed my mind. It had a more funky feel than downtown Bend, which I liked. Maybe a bit counter-culture; not as many high end restaurants, clothing stores, galleries or jewelry stores.

We next popped into a record store, called the Coop, where the guy informed me he'd been in business for 37 years....later, it turned out that he started down in Cal, then moved to Ashland in the last decade, and had only been in the downtown location for a month or so.

It was most eclectic selection of music Ive ever seen; lots of jazz and blues and vintage music -- he was playings 50's blues when we walked in.

I asked him what the "Best" independent rock CD that was out there, and he recommended the Decemberists. "Sold," I said. While picking it up, I saw the latest Cake CD (a group I only knew about because one of my guys had brought some of their music to the store), and I grabbed that, too. The owner saw he had a live one on the hook and he recommended Iron and Wind, which I also bought. (I mentioned, haven't I, that I liked to take the clerk recommendations if I think they know what they're doing...)

He warmed up to me after that, and we chatted about business. He knew about Ranch Records and asked me about their layout but I couldn't tell him (I send one of my guys down there usually when I want to buy something...)

This is how I buy music, sporadically, but in bunches.

One of the main goals of the trip was to visit More Fun, which is owned by Scott who I talk to fairly regularly on the phone. He was one of my inspirations to carry independent comics and to up my selection of graphic novels, in that I figured he was in a small tourist town and was succeeding, so maybe I could too.

He has a more funky counter cultural independent feel than my store. I've often wondered if I'm making a mistake trying so hard to "mainstream" my store, especially since I seemed unable to convince any locals I'm mainstream at all. My theory is that I'm getting regular folk off the street and I need to make my store appealing to them, but maybe I should just let my freak flag fly.

We spent an hour or so comparing notes, and Linda wandered off the visit some of the nearby gift shops. I tracked her down, and we continued our hunt for bookstores.

Part 3 soon.

Bookstore roadtrip, Pt. 1

Linda and I went on one of our bookstore roadtrips.

I was commenting to Linda the difference between the north and south route up I-5 and up Hwy97,

To check out bookstores on 97, we'd see the one used bookstore in Klamath Falls, the two in Bend, the one in Redmond, and....that's it? New bookstores, the one in Sunriver and two in Bend, and....

Whereas, the same number of miles on I-5, we could visit the bookstores in Ashland, Medford, Grants Pass, Eugene, Salem, Roseburg, Portland, and any others. Dozens and dozens.

Oh, I left out the used bookstore in Chiloquin. I'm always amazed that this exists and that it is so full of books. We drove by at first to see if it was open. We saw the old owner in the doorway, with all the OPEN signs, so we turned around and pulled in.

The owner was gone, lights out. It was cold....a kitty came in and hopped up on the table and lavished furry attention on us, but ....no owner. We waited some more, and finally left.

"I think the old guy turned into a cat," I said. "He's a shapeshifter."

Linda just shook her head.

I've often wanted to just disappear when I see some customers coming, but I've never quite had the guts. (I'm joking, of course, but Linda wanted to be sure that everyone understands she doesn't feel the same way.)

We drove on to Klamath Falls, and checked out the used bookstore there. Basin Books, I believe. I took a book and a half with me on the trip, knowing that I'd be seeing so many bookstores that I'd probably be buying a bunch. I struck out here. The organization was a little confusing. Sometimes I think stores can have too many categories, or slicing the categories a little too finely. Mysteries seemed all over the store. Authors I think of as mystery writers, in regular fiction and vice versa.

However, this happens, as Linda and I well know.

It was busy, being a Saturday, and I believe the only bookstore there other than a Borders Express, which we also dropped in on.

Gave me the feeling of 'second place' to a Barnes and Noble --it was a smaller version, but still...didn't quite have as classy a feel.

We took the mountain cutoff to Ashland, and arrived in time to grab a room at the Stratford Inn.

Woke up the next morning with a crook in my neck; which means either I was really, really tired or the bed was too soft. Linda liked the amenities -- a coffee bar, a nice breakfast nook. There was a rugby team staying on our floor, and when I saw one of the guys getting on the elevator with a case of beer, I thought, "oh, oh." But they quieted down or moved somewhere else after about 10:00.

I pulled out the Yellow Pages and found what looked to be at least a dozen bookstores...some were obviously in Medford, so I didn't write those down. Instead, we drove around and tried to scout out the stores on the busier streets. It being a Sunday, we figured there might be a few bookstores open on Sunday in the downtown. (As I mentioned the other day, Medford/Ashland is the third most vibrant bookstore scene among metro areas in the U.S.)

We found Rogue Books and The Book Exchange, both closed. Peeking in the window, they were pretty typical inventory; Book Exchange signs and floor layout more of an industrial feel, and Rogue Books, being in a renovated old firestation, more of a neighborhood bookstore feel.

I also peered in Fun-a-gin games, which was impressively packed with games -- more mainstreamy than I would have thought (I guess I expected a bunch of exotic euro games). Could see they had cases and cases in a backroom; I think they do a lot of mailorder and discounting...)

It being nearly 10.00, we parked the car downtown Ashland and started walking. Turned out, we had a whole day of bookstore visiting to do....

Obliquely unsatisfying.

Some of the better written and more thoughtful blogs I read -- are also unnecessarily oblique.

I think they're trying to be sophisticated and subtle. Rife with inside knowledge and wink, winks.

I just want to shout, "Say what you mean!"

Very passive aggressive writing. Snarky, nudging, and "don't we insiders all know better...."

I see this mostly in the comics blogs -- I don't know, maybe they're overcompensating. I think they're also trying to become moving targets, because the comic blogosphere can be brutal.


One of the best blogs I read is Big Picture, an economics blog by Barry Ritholtz, which is straightforward, clearly written, personal and humorous, insightful and informative -- all at the same time.

Most of the other economic blogs I read are useful, but after reading them for awhile, you start to realize they have quirks. Mish's is weirdly anti-union; Naked Capitalism has a kind of inferiority complex; Calculated Risk has become less personal and more analytical over time.

Of course, I don't want anyone criticizing MY blog, but I'm just a little feller; these are the big boys and girls, and I figure they can handle it....

Having faith in books.

There is a certain amount of faith involved in owning a bookstore.

You need to have faith that customers will buy the "good stuff."

Because, frankly, I don't know how else to order product....except to buy what I think is the good stuff, and keep buying the good stuff, and hope...when all is added up, that enough people have rewarded that faith to keep on going.

On a hour to hour, day to day, week to week basis -- it can be hard to see.

On a individual customer basis -- it can be hard to see.

But when I look at my order forms and see what sold over the last weeks or months-- well, there it is in black and white. The good stuff sells.

Then again, so does some of the (my opinion) mediocre stuff, and so does some of the crap.

I especially see the last two -- mediocre and crap -- sell from the used book area, because I try very hard not to buy that stuff new. Even though -- on the evidence of used books -- they might actually sell.

I figure if I starting buying crap that I think my sell, even though I know it's crap, I enter the territory of guessing, or a 'crap'shoot: once I start buying stuff only because I think someone might buy it even though I think it's junk, I think I'm lost. I have limited room, anyway, I might as well fill it with the "good stuff."

Oh, I buy a few authors new that I don't particularly like because of the demand; but I try to limit that, because if feels -- I don't know -- pandering, somehow.

"It's Your Job To Pander!" I can hear some of you saying. No -- it's Walmart's job to pander, it's my job to show some taste and judgment.

O.K. I do carry some stuff I consider mediocre. For instance, with apologies to anyone who liked these books, or whose kids liked these books; I think the Eragon books are pure dreck. Sorry. But -- there are kids who love them, who are going to keep reading books because they love them. When I recognize that "love" in a kid's eyes -- all I can do is get more of those books, whatever my own opinion.

But it has to be love, or something close to love, that will make me buy a mediocre book for the store...

How can you tell it's the "good stuff?"

It doesn't seem that hard to me. It doesn't have to be something I personally like, for instance -- I just need to know that other people really like it. You can tell by the tone of voice they use describing a book.

Someone starts raving about a book, and I'll pick up my clipboard and start writing them down to order.

Well, not all the time. First I try to figure out if the customer has liked the same kind of books I've liked in the past -- and if they spew out a bunch of books I didn't like, that's not such a good sign. But if they seem to have some discrimination, I'll respond.

I do pay attention to critics -- but there are so many good books being published that I take it another step and ask myself -- do I FEEL it? Is it something that fits my store?

I passed on THE HELP, for instance, because I wasn't feeling it. THE SECRET -- really wasn't feeling it.

I suppose there is a danger of my choices being too masculine -- but when I look out on my display rack that faces the door, I see LITTLE BEE, by Chris Cleave, A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD, by Jennifer Egan, LIKE WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, by Sara Gruen, and THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO. Most of these would seem to me to be books that would appeal to either gender.

I suppose the other danger is that my choices will be too geeky.

Sorry, can't help that. I am what I am.

But I do read a broad range of books -- in fact, my favorites are mysteries, followed by S.F. and Fantasy, followed by history, followed by mainstream. So...there is a definite tinge of the geek here, but not as bad as you might think. (Sadly, it doesn't take much geekiness to turn off some people --- they see a fantasy book and assume everything in the store is that way -- even though I might be carrying hundreds of classics and new literature...)

I guess I'm hoping that the geekiness, the quirkiness, will be part of the charm. After all, if you are such a broadminded soul that you only read "Literature" then you should be willing to grant me that.

Like I said, you can only hope that people respond. You have to have faith that investing in books that might takes weeks or months to sell, will eventually be rewarded.

The Goon and superhero comics....

Sometimes my writing nearly stalls not so much because I don't have anything to write about, but because I have too much to write about.

It's intimidating, I tell you.

I want to give the subjects their due, put some real thought and effort into it, but it's hard to find the time and energy.

So I think I'll just throw the subjects out there, and make a few comments, and let the rest of you decide what's important and what's not.

Finally learning how to Link again should help me here, because others have already put a lot of time and energy into the discussions. I'll let them carry most of the weight.

The first subject is the eternal (at least in the 31 years I've been doing this) argument that superhero comics are strangling the industry; that they have stomped on the artistic aspirations of generations of creators.

This current incarnation of the controversy comes from a video by Eric Powell the creator of the comic Goon, and apparently included some funny satire of a a superhero, um, screwing, rogering, driving home the point?, an independent comic.

The idea is, it's superhero comics, along with their enablers, the direct market and DC and Marvel, which are holding us back. This assertion caused the usual backlash from the superhero readers.

My employee Matt, who's a comic writer himself, pointed the video out to me and tried to get me to watch, but I was too busy at the time. Now, because of the firestorm of criticism, the video has been taken down.

However, Matt has written a response to all this on his blog, On The Subject of Being Awesome. You can also find his comments on our Pegasus Books Facebook. But I thought I'd throw my 2 cents worth in.

So, with a big resigned sigh, here goes:



I'll say this much. In the first 10 years of my career, I totally expected comics to diversify further, to become part of the mainstream the way S.F. and Fantasy novels had, to become accepted as an art form.

In some ways, that happened.

But where it counted -- sales -- not so much.

For the second 10 years of my career, I still expected it to happen, but was aware that it was an uphill struggle. Landmarks would come and go, which I expected to create Tipping Points, the Spider-man movie, (followed by all the other movies), especially. But nothing really changed, except in individual cases.

For the last 10 years of my career, I've come to the conclusion it will never happen. The built-in bias and misunderstanding of what comics are is too vast and deep to ever go away.

It's all fine and dandy that the intellectual class has to some extent come around, that Hollywood and Silicon Valley have plundered the creative ideas of the comic world.

Comics are still a hard sell, and always will be.

I feel like in some ways, I have a unique perspective. Independent comic readers complain that most comic shops, especially small town shops, don't make any effort to support independent comics. Well, I made a full and sustained effort to carry a huge selection of independent graphic novels. The kind that they all told me I should; and in return?

It's pretty pathetic, frankly.

If it wasn't for the fact that downtown Bend gets tourists, the whole thing could have been a disaster. Sales are sporadic, to say the least.

I've had a few local independent comic buyers over the years, never more than a few at any one time, and they'd buy a little -- but never in the numbers that the indie supporters would like to believe. Right now, I'd have to say I have no one in particular who I bother to point out the new indie releases to.

Now that the indie section is in place, I'm proud of it, and I can sustain it -- barely. I do it more as a gesture of goodwill, as a statement that I'm a good comic shop, than because I think sales actually justify it.

But ultimately, if the comic world doesn't support and sustain independent comics without Marvel and DC, it's because, bottom line -- the non-superhero readers simply don't buy enough of them!

Sure, prove me wrong. Come in buy some of the thousands upon thousands of indie graphic novels (I'm not exaggerating) that are gathering dust in the back of my store...

I'd love to be wrong about this.

Sleeping better, blogging less?

No, not me. I'm incorrigible when it comes to blogging. Can't stop me.

I finally met Lyle from Jake's, though we seem to have know each other for several years through our blogging. Just as I expected, we spoke the same language.

He mentioned that he writes his blogs because of insomnia and because he's been sleeping better, he's been blogging less.

(Again, can someone put a link into Jake's "Diner Life" Blog? I swear, as soon as I can remember I'm going to get one of my tech savvy friends to show me how to do it, and then....important, this...I'll use it often enough to learn it permanently. I'm a writer not a techer.)

Lyle's son, Jay, is getting into sports cards, and I hope I wasn't too negative about sports cards. I think it's a great hobby -- just not a real great money making venture...

One thing I think Lyle and I have in common in our business is that we follow our hearts and our instincts and manage to create businesses that have survived the ups and downs, even if they haven't made us rich.

Frankly, hard-nosed businessmen would never open a bookstore or a comic shop or a card shop or game store (or a diner?) in the first place-- once they looked at the figures. Fortunately, there seems to be enough people who combine business savvy and love of the business to keep them going.

Quick book impressions.

Taking back 10 books to the store today.

I read 9 books in January, well ahead of my 6 book a month pace.

THE DRAGONS OF BABEL, Michael Swanwick. Sequel to THE IRON DRAGON'S DAUGHTER, which is one of my favorite all time books. Steampunk fantasy, with corporate elite elves, and mechanical dragons, and great mixture of fantasy and modern sensibilities.

This book wasn't anywhere near as good. (Did I over-estimate the worth of the first book because it was so fresh at the time?) Too much magic out of the hat, and a little bit too light-hearted. (I like my fantasy serious.)

SHIP BREAKER, Paolo Bacigalupi. A young adult novel that I thought frankly was better than his big breakout book, THE WINDUP GIRL. It's as good or better than THE HUNGER GAMES (which I very much enjoyed.) Good science fiction, no matter what age it's aimed at.

61 HOURS, Lee Child. As I've mentioned before, the author seems to be really stretching to fit his hero into outlandish plots. Reacher (he's living up to his name) just happens to be riding on a bus that lands him in a conspiracy in the middle of nowhere.

I, SNIPER, Stephen Hunter. These sniper books were absolutely great books when they started. DIRTY WHITE BOYS, for instance, was tough, gritty, realistic noir crime. They've become more and more superhero rightwing fantasy as they've gone along. But Hunter is still such a good writer, that they're great fun to read.

L.A. NOIR, John Buntin. A non-fiction book that details the L.A. police department from the early part of the century to the late 20th century riots. Using, as protagonists, William Parker who rose to become police chief, and Mickey Cohen, who was Bugsy Siegel's underling but took over the L.A. rackets when his boss got his head blown off.

I loved THE BIG NOWHERE and L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, by James Ellroy, but I suppose I thought his detailing of police corruption and machinations was fictional.

If anything, he might have toned it down. Well, he didn't exaggerate much. This is great background for lovers of Chandler, and Hammett, and Ellroy.

THE OUTFIT and THE MAN WITH THE GETAWAY FACE, Richard Stark. The sort of short, snappy novels they don't write anymore, with the main character Parker, one of the great creations of crime fiction. No nonsense heist books. Love them, eat them like candy.

THE FORTY SIGNS OF RAIN, Kim Stanley Robinson. Read this and try to doubt Global Warming. Turns out to be part of a trilogy, which unknowingly I had read the middle book, FIFTY DEGREES BELOW. (I looked through my notebook and couldn't find record of having read it -- I wonder how often I've done that....?) Great, geeky near future S.F.

HOUSE OF SUNS, Alastair Reynolds. Grand space opera, far far future, love his stuff.

THE LONG FALL, Walter Mosely. Most of Mosely's books are set in the past L.A. , and I think he's much better back then. His noir doesn't ring quite as true when it's set in the modern era and in N.Y. . Still, a very good writer who's worth reading no matter where or when he sets his books.

Glued to the T.V.

I came home a little early from work yesterday, and turned on the boob tube to catch some news on Egypt.

MSNBC had a perch on a balcony overlooking the overpasses that led to the protester's square.

There was a running battle for a couple of hours. Molotov cocktails, burning cars, rocks, clubs, swords.

Very difficult to discern what's going on.

But totally riveting.

I felt as though I was watching -- live -- a historical event, like the Russian revolution, or something.

Turning the channel, we had Anderson Cooper seemingly cowering in some basement-- hey, I'd cower too if I'd been set on by a mob.

Fox was seemingly ignoring it -- I don't think they know what stance to take.

Back to MSNBC, watching from the balcony. It finally got light, and everything seemed to simmer down a little.

MSNBC started to show reruns of the previous action. They showed a guy throwing a molotov, it landing and spinning and skipping and strewing fire, like a skipping rock on water.

And then they showed it again. And again. And again.

Went away for a couple hours, came back, and they were showing it again. And again.

Hey, I liked watching live, even if nothing was necessarily happening every minute. It didn't need to be ginned up like a action flick.

Oh, well.

Human Wrecks

Sometimes I'm startled by the mugshots on KTVZ.

Human Wrecks. 35 year old men and women who look 50 years old. Beady tweeker eyes.

I was showing one particularly alarming picture to a balding friend, and his comment was: "But look how much hair that guy has!"

"Yeah, he's wasting that hair, dammit!" I said.

I don't know. You'd think these pictures would be a warning to young people of the dangers of drugs.

They are starting to show that commercial of the woman who is smoking through her tracheotomy again. Linda commented, "Is that supposed to keep kids from smoking?"

"You'd think it would work. But I'm not sure anything works."

I know that no amount of warning stopped me from smoking as a teenager. I smoked 2 packs a day from the time I was 17 until I was 27. I can't remember what my thinking process was -- actually, I'm not sure there was a thinking process. My friends started smoking, so I did too.

Then there are the human wrecks in the making. Young skinheads with huge neck tattoo's.
Girls with decaying teeth. (None of these people seem to have normal hair -- either it's shaved or wildly out of control-- like their lives.)

I've begun to think we have a permanent class, here. People who have simply given up on life in the straight and narrow, and slam against society's walls, and become human wrecks.

Why do stores exist?

I mean you can get everything online. In fact, I'll make a blanket statement that you can get everything cheaper online. (Exceptions proving the rule.)

And they'll deliver it right to your door!

It's an agoraphobic's heaven -- you never, ever have to leave the house.

Sure, there are some restrictions -- buying in sufficient quantities, waiting for it to show up. But, those are manageable -- with the money you save, you can buy more, and you just have to plan ahead.

So why do stores exist?

Is it possible that people still want, oh, I don't know, a human connection? A real person to interact with? That whether they admit it or not, most people want more than just a cheaper price?


Or is it just, the job ain't done yet. Someday everyone will get their stuff online. Never have to leave your holodeck -- just plug in the feeding tube?

"You're not doing it right!"

Actually, the customer complaint was: "You're not doing it like everyone else!" (with the implied, you're not doing it Right.)

As I've said before, I'm pricing almost everything at "Suggested Retail Price" these days. As it happens, when it comes to collectibles, prices change; up, down and sideways.

But if I price a product at the margin I need for my business to survive -- then I know that when I sell that item, I've sold it for a sufficient margin.

Changing prices up and down, according to collector whims, means that I have to pay a great deal of attention to the marketplace. It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I don't think in most cases it matters a great deal. If I have a product slightly overpriced, changes are that I have something equal that is underpriced.

I have a young guy who's been telling me my older Magic cards are underpriced, and my newer Magic cards are overpriced.

Of course the obvious answer is; buy the underpriced older cards. "But I don't want those!" he says. "I want the newer cards, and I can get them cheaper online."

(Well, of course; you can get Everything cheaper online. I can't be hostage to that.)

But I answer mildly, "Well, then you should buy them online."

It seems remarkable to me that customers expect me to do business the way others do business -- even though I've been around for 30 years, and most of my competition has disappeared.

What the customer really should be asking is: why aren't the other guys doing it My way?

Bend in top 6% for Indie Bookstores.

Civic Economics Website has released The Indie City Index, which lists the relative strengths of the independent bookstores in all the 365 Metro Areas of the U.S.A.

Bend comes in at #21.

Oregon is really strong here: Medford is #3; Eugene is #16; Corvallis is #20; Salem #69; Portland is #78.

What's interesting, is that if you went back about 5 years, we had only one store in the Metro area, but now we have at least two, and maybe more depending on what they include.

New York is #12; Los Angeles is #36; Seattle is #90; San Francisco is #96.

We're among the best independent bookstore areas in the country, folks.

Let's keep it that way! Shop local!


(Dammit. I tried to hyperlink and jumped through all the hoops and it didn't happen. Someone do that, O.K? I need to have someone show me in person, apparently...)

The toilet paper rope.

I recently watched a Mythbusters episode where they were testing jail escape methods.

One of them was making a rope out of toilet paper.

That made me think of my store -- not the toilet paper, but the fact that they could weave together enough strands of the weak material to make a strong rope.

I've never had the luxury of having one product to sell. It didn't take me long to realize that comics alone would only get my about 2/3rd the way to sustainability; maybe only 1/2 way to true profitability.

Fortunately, I had sports cards to turn to back then, which were growing exponentially into a bubble. At one point, sports cards reached 85% of my sales, but something told me to keep trying to do a good job with comics. I not only didn't drop comics, but I grew them during this same period.

Later, I had the idea that a three legged stool was more stable than a single or two legged stool.

I never quite came up with three product lines that stayed equivalent for long. Eventually, it become comics and graphic novels; and everything else: games, toys, cards and books.

Currently, I'm about 50/50 with that proportion.

Ironically, almost every category is declining because of new technology and competition from the mass market. But I already knew that: I brought in new books and boardgames, and toys, knowing that I probably wasn't a primary, or even a secondary, source for most people.

But by being in a busy downtown, with lots of foot traffic and tourists, I've managed to make them viable.

I also never completely gave up on sports cards or card games or manga and anime, even though they have continued to decline.

I figure if I just keep weaving the weak strands together, I can make a strong enough rope to escape.

Enough already!

I just read an entire week's worth of Shelf Awareness blogs, and every other story -- at least -- was about e-books.

Whose side are they on?

(Warning: this blog entry is an Animal Crackers of mixed metaphors -- once you start them, they're hard to stop.)

Over on the Comic Book Industry Alliance, one of the retailers said, "You can't put your head in the sand," about digital.

Yes I can. It's warm and cozy down here, and I can't hear the thundering herd approaching. Maybe they'll miss me.

I don't think we can make accommodations for e-books, anymore than a fish can live on land. In fact, I'd call it appeasement.

I don't think a mating of the two -- paperbooks and digital is going to work. We're not tigers and lions, or horses and zebras. There's no mating here. And if there is, the offspring will be neutered and infertile.

We're -- I don't know -- lions and lambs. If we try to cozy up to the lions, we'll be eaten.

In some ways, I feel like I've been working in a dying industry for 30 years. Comics sales have probably been declining for the entire life of my business -- except for the familiar boom in the middle.

I've seen entire species go extinct -- beanie babies and pogs-- and other species surviving only in zoo's (specialty shops and internet) , like pokemon and sports cards.

I've become an expert at selling what everyone else has given up on.

I think independent bookstores are going to survive as just that -- BOOKstores. Maybe the Borders and Barnes and Noble's of the world won't survive -- there won't be enough habitat left intact to keep those species alive. Too bad, so sad.

But independent bookstores can continue to sell books for a long time to come.

They don't need to hurry the process along by inviting the digital poachers into their territory.

Deeeep Thoughts.

"Bush says he's done with politics."

Yea....?

(....someone must have told him....)

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So the publishers are already messing with the Tuesday ship/Wednesday release dates for comics.

Can't we just skip the preliminaries and put our comics out on Tuesday? Please?

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This month whizzed by. zzzziiiiiiippppp.

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That lazy Sunday afternoon feeling, with train whistles in the distance and airplanes buzzing overhead ---
is that a small town feeling, or just a universal childhood nostalgia?

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"Arctic Waters Warmest in 2000 years."

I think I've figured it out. The red states don't care about Global Warming because they aren't the ones going to be flooded out....

Then again, do they really want those Cali's Grapes of Wrath refugees MOFU's moving in?

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Sure he's a dictator -- but he's OUR dictator!

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Tracy Morgan and Sarah Palin and glasses. Yuck....there's an image.

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Looking forward to The Mechanic. Sounds like my kind of movie... whack, smack, boom!

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Angelina Jolie sure likes posing....and I sure like looking at her. She's like Bettie Page -- it's hard to find a bad picture of her.

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"Kids Fed Unhealthy Foods Learn to Prefer Them." Umm. That seems more chicken and egg-ish.

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I can't believe how much I enjoy that Linda is writing again.

We're artists. Artists I tell you!

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