Another day, another dollar...

There is a quote in The Writing Life by Annie Dillard that I have always remembered for times like these:

"Another day, another dollar, fifteen hours on snowshoes and I wish I had pie."
--a diary entry from a Maine tracker

I can relate to this. More so now than ever before. I could really use a slice of pie. Or peach cobbler. Mmmm.

It is a trying time in the pursuit of a book store. The process of acquiring funds, particularly for a project of this scale is daunting. I think that in any quest for financing, be it for a super sized Indy book store or a bag of peanuts on a street corner in New York, there has to be a measure of creativity somewhere betwixt the dream and reality. It isn't imagination per se, but unfathomable gall. You have to believe in your idea--truly so--to the degree that people are infected by it simply by standing in your presence. You radiate the passion and people perk up and listen. My youngest sister told me that she knew I would get the store that I desired because I could see it so clearly in my head that I could walk through the store and describe everything to her. When it becomes that real, I suppose you more or less become the idea. I am Wordsmiths Books, yes?

I find that I am.

So as not to bore you entirely with the minutia of financing--it is such a lovely topic, isn't it?--I offer you a couple of pictures from our event with Thomas Laird.

He was a tremendously nice guy and quite obviously intelligent. It's refreshing to meet authors who make you actually want to read their work. The Story of Tibet is now on my list of must reads.



I am now on to You Suck: A Love Story by the incomparable Christopher Moore. If you haven't read his work...well, you should, right? That's my sales pitch. That's it. Just, you should because I said so. Isn't that enough?

That's it for tonight. From what I understand, the blog will become part of our website in the next couple of days, so if all goes well then I'll see you back home, where I'll be curled up on some hammock of a back page with a book in my lap, my eyes tight and sounding a snore that shakes the earth itself. See you there.

--zach

There's this thing called the, um, inter-net?

I am the slave to a master I know not. For where he beckons I shall always follow and against the might of its hand shall I always fall. Prick me do I not bleed, ask me to understand the internet and do I not cry like a little whiny child? I'm one lollipop away from a complete meltdown.

It is both the bane of my existence and the fruit born upon the tree of tomorrow's fortune. If you do not understand how the internet works then I'm supposed to tell you that you are not only behind the times but that you will never succeed in today's competitive retail climate. So I'm told. Though the latter is true, as is evident by the multitude of companies now surviving without the benefit of a living breathing brick and mortar store, the former is a bit of a stretch of reasoning really. In fact, the true test of your internet skills is in aligning yourself with somebody who does in fact understand it and letting them run off happy and free with your project. Your task then would be simply to learn to communicate with that individual so as to maintain a fraction of understanding as to what is going on. Nothing will kill the impression of understanding you are believed to have in your business than a stuttered, "It's a bit like an Oreo really, in that you, um, have this layer of squishy goodness in between separate layers of, well, something like a cookie but it's actually just commerce."

We switched over our hosting to a new company (God bless you Bizography!) this weekend. Remember how I warned you against setting up your network with a company that doesn't host email? Yeah, well that came from experience. As with all things, I'm experiencing it so that you don't have to. Anyway, I have learned that the internet is not in fact a man made facilitator of information and networks. It is in fact a monstrosity with an abnormal level of awareness that has grown into a sentient being (a la Wargames) and is currently amassing enough information so as to completely debilitate us and reign supreme over all. It breathes, it absorbs our energy and its heart beats with the blackness of all that is evil and wrong. Just so you know.

Apparently when you switch from one domain host to another, the internet likes to just wait and see exactly how sincere you are in your desire. As if it has nothing better to do than to twiddle its thumbs while you pound on your keyboard and scream at outlook for not sending and receiving your email. Then, after you have depleted your cell phone's contact list in attempting to find someone--anyone--to help, it cracks a knuckle or two and says, "Oh, that? Oh, yeah, just a flip of a switch here. There you go. It's all about the love." I think the internet is a crack pipe and good bit on the corner away from pimping us all.

So what, exactly, does this have to do with opening a bookstore? Well, nothing. Nothing at all. You see, when the internet--spawn of Satan, I command thee!--resorts to shifting you up a block to the even more seedy side of town, you are left with nothing but vulgarity and frustration. It has nothing to do with opening a bookstore, because without its presence and compliance (let's just call it cooperation), in these modern times, you have nothing. A brick and mortar store? All fine and good for your dreams and a dozen bananas, but in the end you need expansion. You need the Big Bang effect. You have to reach out so far that you touch your shoulder on the way back. You can thank the Box Stores (B&N, Borders, etc) and the department megaliths (Wal-Mart, Target, Sam's Club, etc) for that. Let's face it, you can buy a book anywhere. What you can't buy is service. It's vital that you are known, unless you maintain security in mediocrity or failure. That is why I like to think big or not at all.

So, love the internet. Cherish the internet. Feed it bytes and bits and let it cradle your heart and soul. Most importantly, find somebody who can communicate with it and hope that somewhere along the line, you understand what is they say to each other when they think you aren't listening.

10001101010010111100.

--zach

You can read any book you'd like...

...but I can assure that, over the weekend, everyone you see on the subway, in the Starbucks, driving their cars***, will be reading
















Yup, it's that time for Oprah's Book Club to roll back into action, and this afternoon her addition of Poitier's Measure Of A Man to her laundry list of books that you and your grandmother can now purchase at grocery stores is very, very, very safe (which should give her publicist a nice break). The official annoucement, from Publisher's Weekly:

After putting her book club on ice for a year after her showdown with memoirist James Frey, Oprah has stuck with autobiography for her new selection: Sidney Poitier's spiritual autobiography The Measure of a Man, published by Harper SanFrancisco in 2000. The selection appears well timed for an Oscar season in which an unusually diverse group of actors are up for awards. Poitier was the first black actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for Lilies of the Field in 1963.

So: Oprah's Book Club-thoughts, opinions, amusing commentary on the selection? Have you read or do you follow Oprah's Book Club picks, or are you out there rolling your eyes right at this very moment? Let us know in the comments.

Frankly, of all of Oprah's picks, my favorite of Oprah's Book Club selections has been

















(Thanks to Jill Spradley)


***Note: Wordsmiths Books does not condone reading and driving.

The number 114 comes to mind

I'm passing through the drive-thru with a burger in one hand, a coke in my lap, a cell phone ringing beyond my reach and three fingers precariously guiding the wheel of this blog. The insane-o-meter is otherworldly today and I find I have a window between the avalanche and burying myself out in time to go sell books for Thomas Laird to peck out a few lines.

Applications, applications and more applications. Then the resubmits on the application because I did not decipher their code correctly and filled them out wrong. We've had some major hits on our publicity drive and we're starting to reap the reward of Russ's hard work. It seems by the day that more and more people are expressing excitement and joy over what we hope to accomplish. Much though I'll feel better about it all when I stand on the book floor, it is nevertheless gratifying to feel such overwhelming support. Now...if the support comes with cash, credit or check we'll be able to dance for you until we turn to dust. Such is the lamentable nature of commerce. It is nothing without revenue.

Owning a bookstore is a bit problematic that way. Book lovers just love to talk about and recommend books. It's what we do. In my near ten years of experience selling books I have worked with people with double majors before who decided they'd rather sell books at seven bucks an hour. I once hired a guy who showed up for the interview in a $600 suit. He had a day job--some computer hooey I cannot only not recall, but could not explain if I did--and just wanted to fill in the remainder of his time selling books. We're a strange bunch and generally speaking, unless you want to run your own store, want never to be bothered with finances of any kind. You have to practically marry a bookseller off to encourage them to buy a home and move out of the apartment they share with four or five other people. It's just that way. Needless to say, somewhere in that little bit there, you'll find me dwelling in my past. I don't long for those days, heaven knows I'd rather be in front of this train than trailing mindlessly behind it, but a part of me will always pine for the days when my primary focus was just to get Terry Pratchett books into anybody's hand. I'm a bookseller. If you want to open a store, so are you. Fact is, it's difficult to run a bookstore (one or many) if you have no passion for books and no desire to put your favorite author on somebody's bookshelf. It is the passion that drives us--not just to succeed as business owners as much to as propagate literacy to vast reach of our capability.

If I didn't just describe you, then you have two choices:
1. Find a nice laundromat and buy it.
2. Find somebody who fits that description, give them the authority to make decisions and then back away and look pretty for the camera. It's likely the extent of your ability anyway.

Harsh, but true. There are two sides to this proverbial coin. You have the business and you have the books. To be focused and capable only in the business side of things is to isolate yourself from the people you hire to sell. To hire people who share your business minded approach is to kill the loyalty of customers created through conversations with book-nuts who never stop recommending titles. It is perhaps the bane of the independent bookstore. Without a representation of both, you are doomed to mediocrity or failure.

Wow, I'm starting to sound like my father here. Freaky.

Right, I've gotta run and sell books to people who want to buy them because the author was just so fabulous and they just can't live without them. Easy enough.

--zach

State of the Wordsmiths Union (115 down the hatch)

So, after experiencing tonight's American Idol (yes, yes, but it's great for a laugh), I was just wondering when the people of Memphis would stop worrying about singing and learn how to speak. My goodness, what a linguistic nightmare.

But you're not here to debate the fine delicacy that bad karaoke offers. So let's move on.

Today, our nation is...wait, that's the wrong speech. Gosh, I wonder which speech HE took? Yikes, this could be embarrassing. Hope he leaves the bit out about the hopeless nature of symbiotic mushrooms. 'Cause I know I was gonna. Right, well, at least one of us can wing it, so here goes:

I filled out more paperwork today. Yippee!

My goodness my desk is a mess. It seems I spend more time filling out these multi-page nightmares than I do on getting a store up and running. I believe that they will never end. I will not still be trying to open vendor accounts when the store opens, I will likely bequeath the remaining applications to my grandchildren in hopes that it is finally completed.

Oh, and I applied for a new number today. This one is for the American Book Association, known simply as the ABA. When I get that number I can then get more numbers from regional associations and similar groups (symbiotic mushrooms, symbiotic mushrooms!). I have decided that it will soon be time to blog the entire list of numbers I have thus far collected. Well, OK, the associations that the numbers belong to. I'm not entirely damp you know. However, I have to believe that should you want to open your own store, I will have seriously reduced the workload on your behalf by just throwing cookies at you. My wife Alice crafted a list, on behalf of our deliriously handsome dog Curbie, detailing the multitude of things he has, over his time, eaten. I found this list extremely useful in that it instructed me on all the things I should not leave with range of his happy little teeth. Such will be this list of numbers for you. Less strain on the brain knowing what lies ahead of you and when one of them gets eaten (or eats you) it won't be my fault.

The financing process for Wordsmiths Books is under way. It will be a lengthy haul I'm sure, but hopefully, (insert your favorite deity/religious icon here) willing, I will be through that and secure by the middle to end of February. This is where the reality of the situation truly hits home. Decatur can love the idea of Wordsmiths, the citizens can love the idea of Wordsmiths, the authors and the media and publishers and reps alike can all love the idea, but if the bank says, "Nah, I'd rather buy Doritos" then you're back to square one. A good friend of mine, author David L. Robbins, likes to teach inspiring authors that rejection is not a "no", just a "not here" and you, likewise, have to hold that mantra close to your heart. Resilience will win the day (unless of course you're an atrocious writer or an marketing guy who sells widgets for a living, never reads, and has an ambition to destroy an independent book chain). Stay true to your plan, to your dreams, and never give up. I know I won't. Wordsmiths Books will be the premiere independent book store of the Southeast, and will stand along side The Little Shop of Stories to bring the literary bull eye square on the city of Decatur.

Amen.

As I slink through the sliver of a crack left in the doorway, I want to plug the great and off the wall humorous talent of Christopher Moore. I'm reading Bloodsucking Fiends to prep for his newest release and continuation You Suck: A Love Story, and have to say that I have enjoyed it far more than any of his other works. And that's saying a lot as this is the man who brought us such great books as Lamb: The Gospel According to Jesus' Boyhood Pal Biff and The Stupidest Angel. If you haven't picked up one of his books before, do it now. He's incredible. If you're in the buying mood, click over to our website and order one today. You won't be disappointed, I promise.

Be well all.

--zach

Selling the idea of selling books by selling the idea of bookselling...

(...and so on)

Yesterday, I spent a good deal of time lamenting the difficulties of doing my job. While the stupid email issues are still a plague (of locusts! locusts!) of the day, I feel I'd be horribly remiss in my duties and in my perspective to not follow up with something focusing on the flip side-the major happy, if you will.

I'm fortunate enough to have worked with Zach, the owner/operator of Wordsmiths Books and the guy who gets to do the nitty gritty of actually making this idea a solid reality, for a while now, and I can say that, email issues to the contrary, I'm the luckiest kid on the block to get to be a part of this wordsmithing Wordsmiths-thing.

It is a wonderful life, spending every waking hour presenting the idea of Wordsmiths Books to both the literary community and the Decatur community, and where it overlaps as the Decatur literary community? It's the best.

For instance:

I had the opportunity to sit and chat with local author and all-around contender for writer-mom of the year Laurel Snyder a few days ago. We were put in contact with each other through mutual book-industry contact s that I could spend several paragraphs describing, but instead will choose to just explain the 6 degrees of all of this by saying that the entire industry is interlinked like a small-town spiderweb, and leave it at that.

While explaining to Laurel exactly what it is we at Wordsmiths Books want to accomplish-creating something upon which the literary community in Decatur can base itself-I watched her go from early morning groggy to excited, nay, hyper about the possibilities.

I left the coffee-talk even more invigorated than I'd been when I went in, all from a simple discussion that, essentially, was my selling someone on the idea of selling books.

Because let's not forget-that's all we have right now, an idea. An idea that's slowly growing in size and support, in such a way that I can't stop and think about it.

There's this awful show on VH-1 featuring realtors who specifically work on celebrity real estate deals. The first and only episode that I saw had "Malcom in the Middle" star Frankie Munz selling a house to buy another house, both with the same agent. There's a moment midway through the episode where the agent starts looking at facts and figures regarding the selling price of the houses, and what his cut would be if the deal was executed. While the numbers are run at the bottom of the screen, he states "I can't think about the commission, I can't think about the commission". After the bottom-of-screen tabulation displays a commission tally of around $300,000, he smiles for a second and softly says "...thinking about the commission...but can't think about the commission".

That's how I feel, being involved with a project that's making this many people this happy. It really is the best thing in the world, in a number of ways, to promote the idea of Wordsmiths Books-everyone seems to have the Laurel Snyder response of lighting up, which is appreciated, because for every mountain of praise there's another Outlook failure. And through good times and bad, difficult and easy, I refuse to stop and "look at the commission", if you will, until that countdown Zach's keeping reaches store opening.

...but yeah, it IS an awesome position to be in.

I've got a new number! (116 days left!)

I got a new number today. Yup, the grand ole government has decreed that two numbers is not enough for one entity so I now have a number validating my right to have employees. Celebrate America, I'm now legally obligated to pay more money into the tax structure!

Ah. To be so numbered is a bliss unparalelled in all of the world.

There's a lot going on right now, most of which is chasing the big bucks and trying to ensure that all accounts I need to be opened are and that the one's that I don't are...well, somewhere on the desk of my last job. I am steeped in payroll duties (just love to use that word, sorry) and trying my best to learn how to use Quick Books Pro. No, it isn't difficult, I'm just a, shall we say, casual learner when it comes to such things. Casual as in slow, in order to, er, enjoy (yeah that's it) the whole process. A casual learner, that's the ticket.

Going to keep things short today. No rants, Russ pretty much took care of that for me. Speaking of which, before I sign off, I would like to advise any of my fellow bookstore owners in wait to find yourself a Russ and keep him for all eternity. There is nothing more welcoming than a qualified mind running like buckshot all over creation on your behalf. He may not have much luck with Outlook, but he sure can wrangle some attention.

According to Russ, I need more pictures. So, here you go. Cheers and keep the coffee coming!


--zach