World Book Night 2013

Recently, Book Passage and some of our customers took part in World Book Night (WBN). Each year, thirty books are chosen by an independent panel of librarians and booksellers. The authors of the books waive their royalties and the publishers agree to pay the costs of producing the specially-printed WBN U.S. editions. Bookstores and libraries sign up to be community host locations for the volunteer book givers. 

Givers apply to hand out twenty copies of a book in their community, pick up their books from their local store or library, and on April 23rd give their books to people who, for one reason or another, don’t normally have access to printed books. Many of us at Book Passage were also givers. Between the members of the public who picked up books and Book Passage employees, we gave away more than 1,200 books. Among other locations, books were given out at the San Francisco Jail and to Homeward Bound of Marin, a shelter that transitions homeless people from the streets to permanent homes. We can’t share all the great stories, but here a few:

“The World Book Night event was fantastic,” said Krista Pelletier, program coordinator for Meals on Wheels. “All of the clients sincerely enjoyed receiving the books and give a warm hearted thank you. Almost all of the seniors in our program are homebound, so receiving books to ignite their imagination is incredibly important.”

Patrons at the Ferry Building Book Passage browse free books on World Book Night

Janel Feierabend of our Corte Madera store gave away copies of La Casa en Mango Street at the Pickleweed Community Center in the Canal area of San Rafael. “The title and author were ideal for the recipients,” said Janel. “Sandra Cisneros is well received among the Spanish-speaking population all across the world, and the book isn’t too thick or intimidating.  Please tell the publishers involved that it brought such joy to the recipients at Pickleweed!  Within minutes, those who were waiting for children and had nothing to do became involved in the story.  At one point, it looked like a giant book club with readers’ noses in the books, already smitten.  I hope they didn’t forget about their kids!

“I also met two gentlemen from Guatemala who had been meeting with others regarding a future statue of a historic figure in Guatemalan history.  Two hours later, I had learned a lot about their country, and they had asked about books at Book Passage.  One of them pulled out his cell phone and showed to me a photo he had taken with Isabel Allende years ago at Book Passage!  The other had just returned from Washington, DC and had met senators and White House staff.  Both of them noted the huge importance of reading and education. It was quite an enriching experience for me! I’ll do it again next year—same spot.”

Kate Larson of our Corte Madera store gave away books at the Oakland Charter Academy, an East Oakland charter school that is “bare bones,” says Kate—“the kind of school where the teachers purchase classroom supplies with their own money; basic stuff like pencils, staples, paperclips, etc. Anyway, they don't have a library so maybe this could be the start.” Kate donated copies of The Worst Hard Times to the school, and a history teacher at the school was “thrilled and grateful to get copies for his American history class. For the first time I will be able to assign a summer reading book and not have to worry about paying for copies myself.”

Book Passage Ferry Building employee Cheryl McKeon had this to say. “At the CUESA Farmers' Market, The Language of Flowers was very well-received. . . . late that evening I had four books left from our distribution and offered them at a local BART station. ‘No, thanks, I don't read . . . but did you say Tina Fey? Yes, in that case!’  Can't wait for 4/23/14!” 

Amen to that!

The Short Story is Alive and Well

In the past months, patrons have flocked to Book Passage to listen to their favorite authors read.  We’ve had an incredible lineup of writers and some of our most outstanding events lately have been by authors introducing their short story collections. 

Personally, I’m thrilled that the short story is thriving right here - right now.

Publishers and literary agents are often cautious when it comes to publishing a short story collection: “It’s difficult to sell short stories – let us know when you have a novel.”  I’ve heard this truism stated many times.  It drives me nuts when I hear this because a great short story can be as powerful and lasting as a novel.  A short story is its own kind of vehicle.  It’s a pearl inside of a gritty oyster.  Ann Pachett says that if a novel was a map of a country, a short story is the bright silver pin that marks the crossroads.  Many of the greatest writers of the 20^th century were (and are) short story writers.

At Natalie Serber’s reading of her debut story collection, Shout Her Lovely Name, I asked her how difficult it was to get an agent to represent her short story collection.   She said that after she published the title story in a respected literary journal, she had three agents contact her.  The first two agents asked, “Do you have a novel?”  The third agent surprised her by asking, “Do you have any more short stories?”  Natalie sold Shout Her Lovely Name and also secured a second book deal.  If you haven’t read Natalie Serber’s work yet, be prepared to discover a great new storyteller.

Author Natalie Serber discusses Shout Her Lovely Name at Book Passage.

The stellar list of short story authors who have come to Book Passage in recent months speaks well for the sometimes undervalued genre.  Take for example the beautifully crafted and unforgettable stories of Ron Hansen.  Ron Hansen (the author of ten books of fiction) discussed his new and selected stories from She Loves Me Not.  Hansen brilliantly weaves each of his stories and flawed characters through the landscape of the Midwest – primarily Nebraska.  Many writers are linking their stories with either recurring characters or by setting them in a specific place, which ultimately gives continuity to a collection. 

Author Mark Maynard, came to the store in January with his debut collection of linked stories titled Grind. Each story is set in Reno and captures a range of both hopeful and down-on-their-luck characters who linger in “The Biggest Little City” too long.  Maynard drops us into the parched Reno landscape and startles us with his measured prose.  We sold every copy of Mark Maynard’s Grind at his Saturday night reading.

       

A week later, Louise Aronson came to Book Passage with “A History of the Present Illness.”  Aronson, a medical doctor and professor of medicine at UCSF introduced us to her debut collection of 16 elegant and original stories about doctors, patients and their families.  All of the stories are set in the neighborhoods, hospitals and nursing homes right here in San Francisco.  On a Sunday afternoon, we were adding rows of chairs to accommodate the audience as Louise Aronson eloquently shared her stories.

       

Book Passage chose “A History of the Present Illness” as our ‘First Edition Pick’ for the month of January.  This is an honor given to an emerging author that we feel has a promising writing career ahead of them.  Several of our first edition picks went on to win the Pulitzer Prize – Paul Harding’s Tinkers and Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. 

      

Speaking of Junot Diaz - when he came to Book Passage in the fall, the store was filled to capacity with fans of his brilliant prose. “This is How You Lose Her” is indeed a series of linked short stories.  Several of those stories were first published in The New Yorker.  Diaz talked to a riveted audience at Book Passage about everything from the struggles of writing to cultural stereotypes and politics.

Author Junot Diaz at Book Passage in September 2012.

Book Passage also recently hosted Luis Jaramillo with his prize-winning collection of short stories titled The Doctor’s Wife.  Colin Winnette brought us his beautifully bound collection of short prose titled Animal Collection.  Pam Houston will be in conversation with Joshua Mohr in April.  In the spring, Peter Orner will grace us with the release of his newest book of stories.  And Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia! will introduce her dazzling new collection of short stories (Vampires in the Lemon Grove) on February 27^tth.    

      

This brings us to George Saunders and The Tenth of December.  This fourth collection has earned him a stunning review in the NY Times. “The best book you will read all year” kind of review.  Here’s a critic that really gets the lasting power of the short story and I have to admit, I have fallen in love with the intensity, beauty and brevity of Saunders stories.  He’s a “writer’s writer.”  A generous spirit who can masterfully work humor and heartbreak into a single sentence.

       

On the Seventh of February, over 200 fans of Saunders came to hear him speak at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. The audience was rapt, hushed as he spoke – savoring each sentence of wisdom.  He talked about his process as a writer and how he once longed to be Hemingway but quickly learned that the desire to imitate another writer never works. Advice he gives to his students?  “You can’t hide from yourself.” 

    

I asked George Saunders to sign my copy of The Tenth of December.  And then I asked him if he would sign my arm - in black Sharpie.  It just felt like it was the right thing to do since I couldn’t hide my self and the admiration I have for this writer’s work.  

Author George Saunders prepares to sign the arm of Book Passage bookseller Melissa Cistaro

If you love the short story form – I promise there is no shortage of incredible new stories out there.  If you haven’t given the short story a real chance yet, take a look at some of these books or come listen to these talented short story writers at our Book Passage events.  I promise - you won’t be disappointed.  And if you write short stories, keep writing them – because there is a fierce hunger for them in our world.

Melissa Cistaro is a Bookseller and Event Host at Book Passage

Community

I’ve been coming to Book Passage for many years. Often I came for the author events; sometimes the author was my brother Dave Barry, which meant Event Director Karen West would ask my late wife Kathi Kamen Goldmark and me to do the introduction. We, in turn, felt compelled to come up with ever-more absurd things to say (or sing) about Dave as the years went by, until finally we reached the point where even he felt it was time to get serious (not really).

I’ve played in bands at Book Passage; I’ve participated in terrific writer’s classes and conferences; I’ve enjoyed lunch, coffee, and wine with friends in the café; I’ve been the author presenting a book; and (oh yeah) I’ve browsed the shelves, looking for a good read. The staff is terrific. They are knowledgeable and friendly; I guarantee you’ll find the book(s) for you.

Now I am Book Passage’s marketing director, which means I just called myself terrific in the last paragraph. (That’s marketing.) It also means I am here a lot, which is apparently what people expect of you when you have a job, and I am struck by what a remarkable place this really is. I know, I know—you’re thinking “He’s the marketing director—they pay him to be enthusiastic.” That’s true. But it’s also true that Book Passage is an oasis of culture and kindness in a world that is in dire need of those qualities.

My office is near the young adult and children’s book section of the store. (Do you think the owners, Elaine and Bill Petrocelli, and General Manager Calvin Crosby are trying to tell me something?) Every day I hear parents reading to children and children reading to parents from books selected by our renowned children’s book buyer Susan Kunhardt; I hear teens talking about what they’re reading. I hear animated discussions in language and art classes. This place is alive. It is civilized. It is a community center for readers, writers, artists, artisans, for families, for people young and old. It is a place that cultivates and celebrates the best in human nature.

If you haven’t been here lately, come on by. If you’re a parent, bring your kids to Story Time with Christopher Smith. There’s no charge for most author events, but maybe you’ll decide to buy a book. Maybe you’re an aspiring writer who needs to get in the mix or some constructive feedback. Maybe you'd like to join one of the many book clubs. Maybe you’ll start your own. Our Signed First Editions Book Club has a record of picking future award-winners: one was Junot Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and another was Paul Taylor's Tinkers, each of which were awarded the Pulitzer Prize.  Members of the Signed First Editions Club are reading tomorrow's classics today and filling their bookshelves with potential collector's items.

Whatever your reason for coming to Book Passage, you will probably discover something unexpected. That’s the joy of this place. And while you’re here, say hello. Tell me what you’re reading, or writing. See you soon.

Sam Barry

How to Make the Perfect Pitch

Andy Ross is a literary agent with offices in Oakland, California. Before becoming and agent, he was the owner of Cody's Books in Berkeley. You can read more on Andy's blog, Ask the Agent.


Recently I was invited to be a judge at the Pitchapaloosa event at Book Passage organized by Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry to promote their new book, The Essential Guide to getting Your Book Published. (By the way, this is by far the best book for a writer seeking a publisher.) We listened to about 20 people putting themselves out there in front of an audience with only one minute to pitch their book. The writers all deserve medals for courage.

I thought it might be a nice thing to post this blog with some tips about how to make the perfect pitch. Writers, listen up!

Weak: I am willing to go on an 8 city tour (they probably won't send you, and this indicates that you might have unrealistic expectations. They used to let you travel first class and stay at the Ritz Carlton. They're hard up now, so expect to go by Greyhound.)

Strong: I am willing to schedule an 8 city tour at my expense ( Any other ideas that include: "at my expense" are always popular with publishers)

Weak: This would be a great story on Oprah (uh-huh. It's also the oldest story in the book. Similarly unrealistic)

Strong: I am sleeping with Oprah's hairdresser. ( If you are going to pitch media connections, they should be concrete and have reasonable expectations of results. But don't oversell yourself. They are experienced bull shit detectors.)

Weak: I am willing to go to book signings at my local bookstore (They know that anyway. And this won't sell books).

Strong: I have arranged presentations with the staff at Google. Steve Jobs loves my book and has agreed to purchase 5000 copies to give to the key Apple employees at Christmas time. They are also interested in purchasing non-verbatim electronic multi-media rights as an app for the I-pod. (This is too good to be true, so you better get Steve to write a letter to that effect. Publishers love sales outside of bookstores. It is like free money.)

Weak: I will reluctantly agree to be on Fresh Air, schedule permitting. (If you don't have fire in your belly to aggressively flog your product, you will not be well received. )

Weak: This will make a great movie (see Oprah above).

Even weaker: Excuse me. I have to get off the phone. Stephen Spielberg is on the other line. (see above reference to bull shit detectors.)

Strong: Film rights for this product have been optioned to Stephen Spielberg (But don't forget – an option is a long way from a movie)

Very Strong: Film Rights have been sold to Stephen Spielberg. Brad and Angie are signed up. Currently being filmed on location in Montana. (This pitch doesn't happen very often).

Strong: I am the extremely charismatic and controversial governor of Alaska and vice-presidential candidate. (Don't worry that she is inarticulate, has nothing to say, and can't write. Hey, it's all about celebrity).

Strong: I am the extremely charismatic and controversial former governor of Alaska who has quit in ridicule. (Hey, it's all about celebrity).

Weak: My neighbor will host a publication party. (See book signing above)

Strong: My neighbor is Barak Obama, and he will give a publication party at the White House (nuff said)

Weak: My friends loved this book. (Your friends won't tell you the truth).

Strong: My friend, Bill O'Reilly (Rachel Maddow) loved this book. (Connections, connections, connections).

Weak: My mother and spouse loved this book. (Oh, come on!)

Strong: My mother is the former governor of Alaska and she loved this book. My former boyfriend hated this book and will go public and tell tawdry and salacious tales about me. (In this business, there is no such thing as bad publicity.)

Weak: I'll set up a blog and a website (whoopee!)

Very Weak: I have a blog that gets 50,000 hits a day and will promote my new biography of Ludwig Wittgenstein. My blog is called GO.NASCAR.com.

Strong: I have a blog that gets 50,000 hits a day and will promote my new biography of Ludwig Wittgenstein. My blog is called LudwigRocks.com. (All blogs are not equal. All successful blogs are not equal).

Weak: Your readers are going to love this book. It is like Petrarch meets Robespierre. (Although publishers are infatuated with pitch lines premised on dubious and glib equivalencies, the pitch must be based on subjects that are readily recognized – usually in the Safeway checkout line).

Strong: Your readers are going to love this book. It is like the Bronte sisters meet the Olson Twins. (Now that's a pitch!)

Andy Ross Writes About Anne Lamott (and Albert Camus) on Writing

by Andy Ross

A few months ago I finally got around to reading Anne Lamott's remarkable book about the process of writing, Bird By Bird. What a revelation!. I don't know why I have never read it before. It was written in 1995. I must have sold 5000 copies at Cody's over the years. I know a lot of writers who have said that this book changed their life.

I suppose the reason I never read it is that I just didn't think very deeply about the process of writing during my 35 years in retail. I read a lot and knew a lot about what was going on in the book business. But by the time a book arrived at the store, the writing was over and the selling was about to begin.

So now I'm an agent at the other end of the publishing food chain. I'm not exactly the midwife to the book; more like the Lamaze teacher. I see a lot of "shitty first drafts." That is Anne Lamott's luminous term of art. More on that later. Now a lot of my work has to do with the process of writing.

Anyway, back to Anne Lamott. Bird By Bird. It is at times hysterically funny, wise, tough-minded but always encouraging. She is secure enough as a writer to share with you her own experiences of her all-too-human insecurities about life in general and writing in particular.

Look at her 3rd chapter entitled: "Shitty First Drafts." When I see these by writers in the course of my work (which is all the time), I want to give up on the author. Sometimes I want to give up on being an agent. Lamott says that these "shitty first drafts" are an inherent part of the writing process, even a necessary part, even an admirable part. It allows the writer to get the material, shitty though it may be, onto the page. And the work of the accomplished author is finding the one sentence in the two shitty pages sitting in front of her that she will want to remember and use.

Lamott had a wonderful chapter on writing dialogue. I read it at about three o'clock in the morning and emailed my client immediately about some changes that needed to be made in her book proposal. You can't just write down a conversation between two people. You have to make sure that the voices of the characters are differentiated in the dialogue. You can't just use dialogue to further the plot. It also has to deepen the character. Otherwise it becomes flat and confusing. But this makes writing dialogue devilishly hard.

One of the most amusing, but spot-on, chapters is about thoughts that get in the way of your writing. She calls it tuning into radio station KFKD, or K-Fucked. She says: "station KFKD will play in your head twenty-four hours a day, nonstop, in stereo. Out of the right speaker…will come the endless stream of self-aggrandizement…Out of the left speaker will be the rap songs of self-loathing." (God, I'm feeling that right now, just writing this blog).

She also has a lot to say about getting published. This was especially poignant for me, since my job is actually to get my clients published. Lamott said something very wise. She said: "Writing can give you what having a baby can give you: it can get you to start paying attention, can help you soften, can wake you up. But publishing won't do any of those things…."

I think about this in my own work as an agent. I go to a lot of writers' conferences. I talk to a lot of writers at these. They send me their book proposals and writing samples. Then we have a meeting about it that lasts for 15-30 minutes. I also participate in a lot of agents' panels. And I have started giving some workshops on writing book proposals, most of them here at Book Passage. (Don't tell anyone, but I will let you in on a dirty little secret . Three years ago, when I was still a bookseller, I didn't know what a book proposal was).

I found a couple of clients at these conferences. One of them just got a publishing contract. But mostly I talk to people who are not going to get published. A lot of them have written personal memoirs, a genre much out of fashion with publishers right now. They call them "me-moirs". 'Nuff said.

The writers at the conferences have poured their hearts and souls into these projects. And I have no doubt that they have learned so much about themselves and the world in the process. Anne Lamott tells these writers that this is the real value of writing. Publication is overrated.
Frequently I get graded by the participants after I give a workshop or presentation. Although I try to be realistic and emphasize the dismal reality of getting published, I take a lot of criticism for being unnecessarily discouraging to writers. After reading Anne Lamott, I think I would have to accept this criticism as valid.

When you really think about it, everyone's life is a hero's journey. Every memoir of a life is an epic. And paradoxically every person's life is larger than life. But this is quite different from the mundane and commercial considerations that publishers consider in their decision to acquire a book.

What I have started telling writers, what I would like them to hear from me, and what Anne Lamott has said so much better than I ever could, is that writing is an incredibly courageous undertaking. It is like a journey that begins in the dark without any real knowledge of where it is destined to end. Or to use another metaphor of a race. Sometimes you will cross the finish line, receive the silver jug and go off into the sunset. But more often you will slip on a banana peel and break your leg 20 yards before the end of the race. But what an adventure it has been!

Which brings us to Camus. Camus wrote his masterpiece, The Myth of Sisyphus. in 1942. A lot of you probably read it in your freshman humanities course. Camus always took on the big themes, in this case, the meaning of life. Sisyphus is condemned by the gods for all eternity to roll a boulder up a mountain, whence it will then roll down of its own weight. For Camus this was a metaphor of human life, a ceaseless striving in a universe without meaning.

It strikes me that this is also a metaphor for the work of the writer. For Camus, Sisyphus's effort is heroic and filled with grandeur. In the final, unforgettable lines of his book, Camus says: "Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."

Tyler Florence & Book Passage at Wayfare Tavern

[video courtesy of San Francisco Book Review]

Rick Bayless & Book Passage at Marinitas Restaurant

[video courtesy of San Francisco Book Review]

Don George Blogs the 19th Annual Travel, Food & Photography Conference

From Gadling.com:

by Don George
"Two weeks ago the Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference  – that annual four-day summer camp for travel creators – magically unfolded in Marin County's Corte Madera once again. The conference is always one of the highlights of the year for me, and it proved so this year as well. Looking back, I've distilled five lessons from this year's reeling, regaling, roller-coaster ride.

1. Travel writing makes you see the familiar anew: The conference actually kicked off for me with a pre-conference one-day in-the-field workshop. This year I took a hardy and convivial band of 11 writers to Point Reyes Station. This tiny town on winding Highway 1 seems the quintessential Northern California outpost to me. Though the population is only 350, the locally headquartered Cowgirl Creamery sells cheeses from as far away as France, England, and Italy (as well as its own signature, creamily delicious Mt Tam and tangy Red Hawk cheeses); on the one and only main street, Coyuchi sells organic textiles made in India, Cabaline offers Western and Australian saddlery next to Marin-made hats, and Zuma showcases jewelry crafted in Africa, Asia and down the street. In short, it's a captivating mix of the local and the global, distinguished by its quality and its commitment to sustainable principles and practices."

Continue reading at Gadling.com

A Fly on the Wall at the Mystery Writers Conference

I always sign on to work the summer conferences at BP. During conferences, our role as booksellers expands to include serving food and wine at the conference dinners, moving furniture and audio-visual equipment about for various seminars, handling crowds at the public events with speakers like Elizabeth George, John Lescroat, and Robert Crais with Michael Connelly. Elaine made us laugh as we bused tables one night and she asked if we ever thought the "bookseller" job description included such duties. It does at Book Passage-- we wear many hats!

But the real payoff is to be a fly on the wall as the seminars happen, or the evening speaking engagements are going on. I heard Connelly and Crais describe how to work with helpful, encouraging police officers when they research their books, and haunting the courthouse to speak to police, criminal attorneys, or judges for information they would later include in their stories. I heard Elizabeth George and Jacqueline Winspear discussing the writer's life ("Did I really complete that novel? How did I do it? Can I ever do it again?") and the joys and challenges a writer faces every time they sit down to compose. And many, many more great tidbits as I worked the registers, or filled a wineglass, or straightened chairs in the Event Room.

As we tidied the bookstore and cleared away the last Mystery Writers Conference materials on Sunday, I sneaked a peek at the feedback forms from the students. Of course, the educational structure and speakers at the Conference are all in the brilliant hands of Sheldon Siegel, Jacqueline Winspear, and Kathryn Petrocelli and not my work, but I couldn't help wondering if the students learned as much as I did, or had as good a time. They sure did! They all left just buzzing with the knowledge they'd gained, the support and encouragement, the feeling that they can complete their projects and get them published. They loved the speakers, the food, the workshops, their consultations with the experts. The comments about the nature and usefulness of the Conference were really gratifying.

So did they have any complaints? Well, our folding chairs caused some sore bottoms, and there was this giant poodle taking up seating space. I think we can handle these challenges. [grin]

Tim Cahill, Spud Hilton, Amanda Jones, Don George & Robert Holmes Talk About the Rewarding Experience of Book Passage Summer Conferences

Books That Awaken the Five Senses

by Martha Engber

Author of A Natural History of the Senses

In A Natural History of the Senses, author Diane Ackerman talks in a most beautiful, literary way, about the sensitivity of whale songs, macabre meals, the taboos of touch and a myriad of other specificities that make a reader come awake to the five senses as never before.

But of all her interweaving of the personal and the science — the connection between what she experiences when walking down her garden path and the kindred makeup of humans and stars — the most memorable is her description of real vanilla, as from a vanilla bean, not only of the scent, but the taste. The flavoring is derived from the vanilla orchid, a plant as beautifully exotic as the desserts of which vanilla is a superstar. Cherry clafouti. Portuguese custard tarts. Homemade vanilla ice cream.

While  my ode to this passage seems based within the realm of taste, the reason I remember the segment is the sensuality her description enlivened.

We often think of sensuality as being only sexual, but the definition is not so limited, but rather encompasses the gratification of, or desire for, sensual pleasures, or those related to all physical reactions caused by what our brains take in via the five senses.

When writing THE WIND THIEF, that sensuality had to be the third character in a largely two-character story. The feel of wind, the grit of sand, the heat of a burning Acacia in a wadi, or dry riverbed. I’ll be talking about such sensuous details at 4 p.m. Sat., May 29, during An Evening in the Sahara Desert: Food, Photos, Facts.

Besides researching the sensual minutia that feeds readers’ imaginations, I also turned to a number of books, movies and music for inspiration, and in specific. In specific, I looked to sources that beheld sensuality as a means of connection between isolated individuals.

Here are a few such sources. I hope you enjoy the offering:

Books

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

Babbette’s Feast by Isak Dinesen

Spring Essence: The Poetry of Ho Xuan Hurong, translated by John Balaban

The History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman



Movies

The Scent of Green Papaya (1994)

Babbette’s Feast (1987)

Music

Thimar, with Anouar Brahem, John Surman, Dave Holland

Appalachia Waltz, with Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Mark O’Connor

Buyer’s Musings – Tinkers revisited.

by Sheryl Cotleur

I couldn’t be more thrilled upon learning that Tinkers by Paul Harding won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. I’ve loved this book so long and hard that I sat and watched the Pulitzer Web site on Monday April 12th, 2010 just in the vague hope that it would be somehow recognized. After shouting in surprise when the announcement came, I called Paul and left a congratulatory voice message.

We’d become friends some 14 months earlier when Tinkers was first published. My Consortium rep, Lise Solomon pressed a pre-publication copy into my hands begging me to read it because she loved it so much. I was enthralled also and suddenly came up with an unusual idea. After talking it over with Mary Benham who runs our Signed First Editions Club, and who also then read the galley, I asked Lise to provide me with a publisher contact at Bellevue Literary Press. I proposed to Erika Goldman that if she’d print some hardcovers of this original paperback, I’d buy 250 copies and Mary would make it our January 2009 Signed First Editions Club selection. Elaine Petrocelli, the bookstore owner, also loved this idea. Erika decided to print 500 copies and Lise helped sell some to other Bay Area accounts.  I bought more copies than just what was needed for our club and we then set about announcing to our customers, both online and in the store, that we had this special book. After they arrived and were signed, we sold out in three days.

Part of the negotiations included that we needed the book signed so arrangements were made for Paul Harding to come to the Bay Area and do readings at Book Passage and a few other stores. We had a great time getting to know Paul and have kept in touch ever since.

Over the months of 2009 I continued to hand sell and talk about Tinkers, and it has been on display as a staff favorite of mine every day since it’s publication. I wrote about it in our newsletter about that time also which goes out to over 40,000 people. Mary got her employee book club to read it that spring and that created another eight or so enthusiastic hand-sellers. The day the Pulitzer was announced we had sold 242 copies of Tinkers in paperback and 40 at our San Francisco store. We had sold 250 copies in hardcover.

Also in the spring of 2009 I mentioned it to other sales reps I see, several of whom share with me an avid interest in exchanging the news of whatever we love, no matter the imprint. I gave a copy to Ron Shoop, one of my Random House sales reps. He loved it as well. Later he found himself in conversation with a senior editor at RH where he raved about this small press book. I understand that over time she heard others mentioning Tinkers with great appreciation. She eventually contacted Paul and offered him a contract for his next two books. I have never met this editor, but I’m grateful that even a small part of my enthusiasm for Tinkers entered the energy field of it being noticed by her.

In June of 2009, having recently met John Freeman, Granta editor and former NBCC president, I sent him a signed hardcover, one of my personal copies; because I knew he loved good books and was a collector of fine First Editions. It was with complete surprise and delight that I saw he named this novel one of the top five fiction books of 2009 on NPR in December 2009.

In the spring of 2010 I was on the ABA/Indiebound eight-member jury for selecting the top six finalists of 2009 in three categories: Fiction, Nonfiction and Debut Fiction. I was pleased to find a receptive group for choosing Tinkers as one of the six finalists in the Debut Fiction category. One jurist even pointed out that he got special pleasure out of recognizing a great novel that was also from a quality small literary press.

I have mailed Tinkers to literary friends in Europe and still find myself in animated conversations about it regularly. We at Book Passage all celebrate Tinkers and Paul Harding winning the Pulitzer Prize, feeling that we knew all along it was worthy. We are delighted that now a lot more people will discover this gem!

--Sheryl Cotleur, Buying Director, Book Passage


Order a copy of Tinkers by Paul Harding:
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The Legislature Goes After Amazon.comby William Petrocelli

by William Petrocelli

The California Legislature has a chance to get serious about collecting sales taxes from Amazon.com. Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) has introduced a bill that is virtually identical to the law in New York, requiring online sellers with affiliates in the state to collect sales taxes if they do more than $10,000 worth of business in the state. A court has upheld the constitutionality of the N.Y. statute. Skinner's bill (A.B. 178) would probably result in the collection of over $50 million per year in sales taxes from Amazon alone (and provide some much-needed fairness for local merchants). We urge you to write the Legislature and the Governor in support of the bill.

Assembly Bill 178 introduced by Assemblywoman Skinner directs the Board of Equalization to enforce the California Sales Tax law against Amazon.com and any other companies doing business in the same manner. In fact, the BOE probably already has this power, but this bill will make it hard for that agency to continue to twiddle its thumbs. Amazon apologists have already started a campaign of misstatements, so we thought we'd rebut a few of them:

Misstatement #1: AB 178 would impose "a tax on the Internet."
Wrong--This bill simply makes sales over the internet subject to the same taxes as sales over the counter. If a company has affiliates in the state soliciting sales, it would be required to collect the sales tax whether the actual sale was consummated by internet, telephone, or carrier pigeon.

Misstatement #2: AB 178 would result in "a loss of jobs."
Nonsense--Amazon apologists have already started using this line, but it's a complete fabrication. Amazon associates in California can continue to solicit sales, if they want to (but, frankly, we don't know why, given the miniscule fees most of them get). This bill does not affect them at all. It simply means that sales tax would have to be added to each California sale.

Misstatement #3: AB 178 would "restrict the growth of internet commerce."
Self-serving twaddle--In the early days of online sales, we had to listen to testimony claiming that online commerce was a fledgling industry that needed to be nurtured. That might have made sense when Amazon.com and others were like timid young canaries--now that they function like a flock of raptors, they should abide by the same rules as the rest of us.

Misstatement #4: AB 178 "is unconstitutional."
Wrong--the last U.S. Supreme Court decision on this subject was 17 years ago, and was decided before online commerce was invented. AB 178 is identical to a New York law that was recently upheld by a New York court.

Misstatement #5: AB 178 would "put an unfair burden on all internet sellers."
Not true--Smaller internet sellers would not be affected. The bill only applies to large internet sellers that have in-state representatives pushing their sales (Amazon has about 200,000 of them), and it would not apply to any online seller with less than $10,000 in business in the state.

Misstatement #6: AB 178 imposes "an unfair administrative burden."
A real laugher!--Amazon's apologists say it would be unfair to make them compute different sales taxes for each state or locality around the country. Oh yeah? This is the same company that practically invented data-mining. Every piece of customer data is sliced and diced to give Amazon maximum information about its customers ("Customers who purchased The Red Badge of Courage also enjoyed Little Red Riding Hood"). They could figure the sales tax in a heartbeat.

Where to Write:
Assemblyman Jared Huffman
3501 Civic Center Drive, Room 412
San Rafael, CA 94903 (415-479-4920)

Senator Mark Leno
455 Golden Gate Avenue, Suite 14800
San Francisco, CA 94102 (415-557-1300)

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814 (916-445-2841)