Independent Booksellers Nimbly Stay Afloat
By Guest | May 10, 2012 |
Therese here. It’s the second Thursday of the month, which means it’s #IndieThursday—a day dedicated to independent bookstores here at Writer Unboxed.
Today’s guest is historical author and creative writing coach Cynthia Morris, a former bookseller with Denver’s Capitol Hill Books–a store that specialized in ways to thrive. Cynthia sent us an enthusiastic email following the start of our indie bookseller series; she was more than happy to write a post about the many ways Capitol Hill Books connected with its community. (If you read our post with Ithaca’s Buffalo Street Books last month, you know how important community connection is for an indie bookstore.) We loved her (many, many, many!) ideas and are so happy to have her here today. Read on.
Independent Booksellers Nimbly Stay Afloat
It was 1997, and I was the recently hired marketing manager for one of Denver’s second-hand bookstore, Capitol Hill Books. We had a miniscule marketing budget and needed to confront the growing chain bookstores that were nosing their way intoDenver, tightening around us.
Fueled with a passion for books and armed with Jay Levinson’s Guerilla Marketing and Positively Outrageous Service by T. Scott Gross, my boss Valarie and I set out to ensure that Capitol Hill Books would continue as a neighborhood hub.
We weren’t just selling books. Any independent business can serve its community by playing many roles. Forced to innovate, we grew to enjoy responding to the challenges of business survival.
Bookseller as conversation starter
Books can prompt conversations that span centuries and continents. At Capitol Hill Books we took our gift for gab and our passion for books seriously. The real value of an independent bookstore is the educated opinion of its staff.
At our second-hand bookstore, we operated as a sort of therapy/bar environment where bookstore friends shared their lives with us through discussions about books. We generated the atmosphere of a ‘Great Good Place’ – a ‘third’ space where people came together to connect outside of the home and workplace.
This allowed us to engage with our customers in a very personal way.
We drafted favorites lists, stocked ‘staff recommend’ shelves, and offered bibliotherapy – recommending books for any ailment.
We took book search requests on file, calling customers when their book arrived. A call from Capitol Hill Books became associated with winning, with a lucky day, with a chance to pop down to the bookstore and see what else might be waiting.
We organized and hosted a book group that met monthly in a local restaurant.
Working at the bookstore was like my own personal graduate school. I read widely and became adept at talking with anyone. From politician to crazed street person, the shop taught me the art of conversation, using books to initiate connection.
Bookseller as host
Not even the most savvy webinar can compete with the buzz of a live event. There’s nothing like rubbing elbows with other bibliophiles.
We looked for any occasion to host a crowd at the bookstore by mounting a series of regular events. Our annual New Year’s Day party was meant as a thank you to our customers. But the all-afternoon affair with soup buffet, live music, tarot readings and discounts was one of our biggest sales days of the year.
Of course other international book celebrations had to be honored. We whooped up National Poetry Month (April). We lauded International Book Day (April 23rd) by giving away roses with books. Bloomsday always drew the loyal James Joyce contingent on June 16th.
Author readings were an important item on our calendar. We pulled from the talent in our region, hosting bestselling authors like Barbara Kingsolver, Connie Willis, Pam Houston and John Dunning.
We had a tiny space for events and very little parking, but that didn’t stop us from being a place where good, bookish fun could be had.
Bookseller as community contributor
Partnering with other local businesses and causes allowed us to be more than a book peddler. These alliances doubled our PR efforts and made our modest corner bookshop consistently newsworthy.
One of our best initiatives was a fundraising event called LitWit. One evening at a local bar/restaurant, a panel of experts (the bookstore staff and friends) fielded literary trivia questions from the audience.
Every time we gave an incorrect answer, we plunked money in a jar. Proceeds from the entry fee and our erroneous answers went to a local non-profit dedicated to helping children read early in life.
Valarie became engrossed with James Kunstler’s Geography of Nowhere. She hand-sold hundreds of copies at cost. Her commitment to Kunstler’s message of the importance of local communities reached thousands. Moved by Valarie’s enthusiasm, Kunstler came toDenver for a special reading at the shop.
One year, for Banned Books Week (September), we imitated Christo and wrapped the storefront in brown butcher paper to show what it would be like without books.
Bookseller as publisher
We published a newsletter, The Brown Study. We printed and mailed this out bi-monthly. This featured recommended books by the booksellers.
I wrote a column for the neighborhood paper about books; these articles marked my first publications as a budding writer, and the topic of books gave me a safe and easy place to start.
Capitol Hill Books occupies a historic building across the street from the state capitol. Valarie unearthed old photos of the building from the basement, framed them, and hung them in the shop. This added an interesting context to the experience, something that’s difficult to replicate online.
We printed a beautiful black-and-white photo postcard with one of our distinguished elderly customers, Townie, on the front. After he passed, the cards became a token of a book-loving era we still respected and tended with care.
Bookseller as jester
The personality of our bookstore was quirky and fun. We worked this branding at every opportunity, allowing us to be daring and take silly risks.
Several specific elements made the bookstore an interesting place where any serendipity could happen.
The Weird, Eclectic & Bizarre section allowed us to highlight and sell the quirky book that you would never think to search for but when you saw it, you knew it had to be yours.
Our signage by artist and yo-yo pro John Higby made navigating the stacks a colorful, fun adventure.
Finally, our wall of ephemera was a living collage of all the detritus one finds in second-hand books. Receipts, cards, love notes – even Ross Perot’s astrological birth chart – all ended up on the ephemera wall and in the ephemera files.
These approaches emphasized what can’t be found at a chain store or online – the unexpected serendipities and delight a used bookstore can evoke.
The element of performance in the literary life demanded its due. From troubadours to storytelling festivals to poetry slams, the spoken word can draw a dynamic and engaged crowd.
We hammed it up at every opportunity. It helps if there’s an extrovert on staff or if authors can enlist their inner troubadour.
National Poetry Month (April) gave us license to do wacky things like climb on the front counter of the bookshop to recite poetry. We also invited customers to stroll the stacks at lunchtime, reciting their favorite poems.
Another year I occupied the window of the shop, costumed and acting as a poet. Customers gave me a topic and I wrote and performed the poem for them.
Independents have power and personality
Independent bookstores can claim a lot of advantages over chain stores and online venues. Being small made us nimble. We were able to take risks and try new approaches.
We didn’t have a big budget, but we also didn’t have the towering bureaucracy of our competing chain bookstores. This versatility and the ability to engage our customers in conversation gave us an edge over bigger and online bookstores.
I left the shop in 1999 to start my own business. Valarie sold the bookstore in spring, 2005. Capitol Hill Books is still open, staking its bookish claim at Colfax and Grant streets inDenver.
What innovative methods have you used to keep the heartbeat of your local independent bookstore beating?
Readers, you can learn more about Cynthia on her website Original Impulse, and by following her on Twitter. Look for her historical novel, Chasing Sylvia Beach, to be published next month.
Photo courtesy Flickr’s Casey David
Many thanks to today’s guest.
You can read more WU guest posts by visiting this link.
Cynthia,
Wow! What an impressive list of initiatives and promotions. This is the blueprint for how independent bookstores can survive and thrive in the era of digital publishing and chain stores. It’s all about adding value, engaging and cultivating book lovers and creating a unique experience. Thanks for sharing these thoughts.
Thanks, CG! It was really fun to talk with my former boss and recall all the things we tried. I was kind of blown away by the list, too!
We were paddling hard to stay afloat and while we worked hard, it was also a lot of fun.
Thanks for commenting!
Just last week, megastar YA author Veronica Roth came to our local indie bookstore — Joseph-Beth — and the turnout was spectacular. As me and my friends were milling about, we heard several people remark on what an amazing event it was, and hey, how come Barnes & Noble never did anything like this?
(Recap here if anyone’s interested: https://www.weheartya.com/2012/05/veronica-roth-author-event-in.html)
I’m not trying to knock on Barnes & Noble — they do their thing, and they do it well — but I thought that was a really telling question. Readers want stuff like that. It’s just a matter of doing it, and marketing it. That’s definitely a space that indie bookstores can own.
Yes, Kristan, indies definitely have this ‘intimate’ and ‘cosy’ advantage. I love that major authors are seeing the benefits of that and are doing events at indie bookstores.
As a small (i.e., micro) publisher, we rely on our local indies to get the word out about our books. We launched our first two books to a standing-room-only crowd at Left Bank Books and our third book to another standing-room-only crowd at Subterranean Books. Our local bookstores have banded together to form the St. Louis Independent Bookstore Alliance and are working to raise the profile of the indies around town with events like a coordinated bookstore tour and a “ReadMOB” event for World Book Night which was held on the steps of the STL Arch. https://www.stlindiebook.com/ Blank Slate Press was there with representatives on the R and on the B.
Another bookstore we love, Farley’s Bookshop in New Hope, PA, supports independent publishers by showcasing them in a separate section of the store.
I know the indies have to move the popular books by the Big Six to stay alive, but by also forging ties with independent publishers, the indies play a major role in helping to support small publishers as they “discover, nurture, publish and promote” new voices.
I love it, Kristina! When I wrote this article, I realized how much of a community generator my boss was. She had the personality to reach out and connect like crazy.
It sounds like you have that, too, and I’m glad to hear that your local bookstores are banding together to make it work.
What a great post about the advantages locally owned and operated businesses have and can create for themselves. You’ve not only described a fun bookstore, but given me ideas for things The Merc, the local food market in my forthcoming mystery series, can do, and how the Merc’s manager will think.
Thanks!
Thanks, Leslie! I hoped that this would spark ideas for promotions not only on the bookseller side, but on the author side.
I love Kristina’s ReadMob initiative. I love flash mobs and think it’s a fun way to play and draw attention to something specific.
Have fun making your ideas become real!
I LOVED this piece. It made me want to get on a plane and come to Denver just to hang out in your bookstore. I’ve always LOVED books, the smell of them, the PROMISE of them. I loved the way your shop felt like the “Cheers” hangout of the neighborhood. I loved the silliness of it, the honor of it, the sass of it.
I can tell that it is a really delicious memory for you, and I am SO WITH YOU — indie bookstores all the way.
Thank you, Jennifer!
It was a real treat and challenge to write this. But once I talked with Valarie Abney, my former boss, I remembered so much more.
Writing it then became a way to honor that young me, that hopeful shop, that determined owner, and all the loving people we called our customers.
Thanks again for reading and commenting!
Cynthia, as a former sales associate for a defunct small Christian bookstore in Kansas City, MO, I appreciate your essay about Capitol Hill Books in Denver and other indies. The store I worked for was so small that many days I both opened and closed it and ran it alone from one day to the next when my boss, the bookkeeper, became ill. One of my favorite jobs was displaying books and other items on the glass shelves in the front window. The displays brought in numerous customers.
Rainy Day Books, just across the state line in Fairway, KS, is one of the most successful independent bookstores to be found anywhere. It was established in 1975.
On their website they state, “Our author events schedule is one of the best in America. Each year we welcome hundreds of authors to Kansas City, from debut novelists destined for greatness, to prize-winners, bestselling legends, and the biggest names in the news. Most of these events are held off-site, at venues that comfortably seat the large crowds we draw.” The store is nationally known for this strategy, begun in the early 1990s by Vivien Jennings, the Founder and President.
As a customer, when I go to the store to purchase a book and pick up the accompanying one (or two, if desired) event ticket(s) that go with the purchase of a book by a presenting author, I often browse my favorite section – memoirs – and purchase another book or two while I am there.
Barbara,
Thank you for your thoughtful comment! The way you describe the book world generated by Rainy Day Books. This kind of activity really shows how books can be a sort of glue for a community.
It makes me want to go there! Maybe they’ll host me for a reading of my novel. :)
I loved this! Great ideas. I’m in the Houston area, and Murder by the Book offers far more than simply books. They also have staff recommendations, book signings, author lunches, and more. Their reputation for going above and beyond has kept them alive when places like Borders closed. It’s good to know that some indie bookstores are still around and serving their customers.
Julie,
I’m happy knowing you and Houston have this great resource in your community!
Cynthia, I loved this article. I wish I had spent more time at Capitol Hill Books than at Tattered Cover! Your promotions, and your descriptions of them, are so creative and fun, just like you. I think you could write a book about CHB. I know Valarie was your boss and owner, but it sounds like you were her creative muse. Great to see you in Writer Unboxed.
Thanks, Dana!
I don’t know if I could write a book about CHB – but I do know I can write one about a Paris bookstore!
I was Val’s sidekick and it was a creative and fun time.
The Tattered Cover is no small thing – I spend a lot of time there, too!
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