Notes: Patriot Act Extended; Atlanta's Charis in Trouble
Yesterday the Senate voted to extend the Patriot Act for six months to
June 30, to give time to consider yet again adding measures to protect
civil liberties. President Bush indicated he will sign the extension
and continue to fight to make permanent the Patriot Act in its present
form.
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One of the best known feminist bookstores in the country, Charis Books & More, Atlanta, Ga., is in trouble, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Co-owner and founder Linda Bryant told the paper that sales have been decreasing for five years, particularly in the past year after the opening of a Barnes & Noble in the neighborhood.
The Southern Voice reported that the 31-year-old store sent an e-mail earlier this month to customers indicating it needs to boost sales 20% and raise $50,000 in capital. Sales are down 10% this year and 35% in the past five years. Co-owner Sara Look told Southern Voice that she and Bryant have been shouldering the financial burden personally, but can't continue for long.
"I'm not asking people to save us," Look said. "What I want to know is, in this culture, do people still value and want there to be feminist bookstores? . . . If people really want us, they need to support us."
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Cool idea of the day: to help customers with last-minute Christmas and Hanukkah shopping, R.J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Conn., will open on Saturday at 7 a.m. (The store will close at 4 p.m.)
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New York City's Penn Station may be jammed with more people than usual, using trains instead of subways and busses to commute to and from Queens and Brooklyn, but this hasn't helped business, according to New York Newsday. To the contrary, at Penn Books, one of several bookstores in the huge station, sales were down 30% on Tuesday, the first day of New York City's transit strike, compared to a year ago and down "a bit" yesterday. Owner Craig Newman said that the week before Christmas sales usually double, "with commuters snapping up last-minute gifts of fiction, bestsellers and the latest historical biographies."
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The Santa Monica Mirror has a glance at the new Santa Monica Public Library, which opens officially on January 7. The 104,000-sq.-ft. building is environmentally friendly, has community rooms, an auditorium, a reading room, a gallery, a café, a Friends of the Library bookstore and a view of the ocean through a two-story window wall. The Santa Monica Historical Museum also has space in the building.
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After draining the vampire vein, Anne Rice is writing about Jesus Christ, which has caused some unusual marketing problems for her and her publisher, Knopf, as dissected in today's Wall Street Journal. "Since Christ the Lord was published November 1, several religious retailers have refused to carry it," the paper wrote. "Some booksellers and media outlets have complained that the book isn't based on the Scriptures. Others have raised concerns about Ms. Rice's lack of theological credentials." Still, a marketing campaign launched in January, a long author's note about her faith, a lack of mention of Rice's vampire books, a first interview with Religion News Service, among other strategies, have helped Christ the Lord rise onto bestseller lists. After six printings, it has 375,000 copies in print.
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The Poughkeepsie Journal offers another round about the Spotty Dog Books & Ale, Hudson, N.Y., which opened in June and is a combination bookstore, art supply store and beer and wine bar. Referring to co-owner Kelley Drahushuk's connection to the company that crafts the beer sold at the Spotty Dog, co-owner Alan Coon explained the business's genesis: "There was beer in the family and Hudson needed a bookstore."
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The San Diego Tribune writes about writing workshops conducted each month at Book Works in Del Mar by Jill Badonsky, author of The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard) (Gotham).
"With the coffee shop next door and the ambience, it's a great place to get inspired to write," Badonsky told the paper, which noted that "dark chocolate and cookies are served at each workshop for additional inspiration."
---
One of the best known feminist bookstores in the country, Charis Books & More, Atlanta, Ga., is in trouble, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Co-owner and founder Linda Bryant told the paper that sales have been decreasing for five years, particularly in the past year after the opening of a Barnes & Noble in the neighborhood.
The Southern Voice reported that the 31-year-old store sent an e-mail earlier this month to customers indicating it needs to boost sales 20% and raise $50,000 in capital. Sales are down 10% this year and 35% in the past five years. Co-owner Sara Look told Southern Voice that she and Bryant have been shouldering the financial burden personally, but can't continue for long.
"I'm not asking people to save us," Look said. "What I want to know is, in this culture, do people still value and want there to be feminist bookstores? . . . If people really want us, they need to support us."
---
Cool idea of the day: to help customers with last-minute Christmas and Hanukkah shopping, R.J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Conn., will open on Saturday at 7 a.m. (The store will close at 4 p.m.)
---
New York City's Penn Station may be jammed with more people than usual, using trains instead of subways and busses to commute to and from Queens and Brooklyn, but this hasn't helped business, according to New York Newsday. To the contrary, at Penn Books, one of several bookstores in the huge station, sales were down 30% on Tuesday, the first day of New York City's transit strike, compared to a year ago and down "a bit" yesterday. Owner Craig Newman said that the week before Christmas sales usually double, "with commuters snapping up last-minute gifts of fiction, bestsellers and the latest historical biographies."
---
The Santa Monica Mirror has a glance at the new Santa Monica Public Library, which opens officially on January 7. The 104,000-sq.-ft. building is environmentally friendly, has community rooms, an auditorium, a reading room, a gallery, a café, a Friends of the Library bookstore and a view of the ocean through a two-story window wall. The Santa Monica Historical Museum also has space in the building.
---
After draining the vampire vein, Anne Rice is writing about Jesus Christ, which has caused some unusual marketing problems for her and her publisher, Knopf, as dissected in today's Wall Street Journal. "Since Christ the Lord was published November 1, several religious retailers have refused to carry it," the paper wrote. "Some booksellers and media outlets have complained that the book isn't based on the Scriptures. Others have raised concerns about Ms. Rice's lack of theological credentials." Still, a marketing campaign launched in January, a long author's note about her faith, a lack of mention of Rice's vampire books, a first interview with Religion News Service, among other strategies, have helped Christ the Lord rise onto bestseller lists. After six printings, it has 375,000 copies in print.
---
The Poughkeepsie Journal offers another round about the Spotty Dog Books & Ale, Hudson, N.Y., which opened in June and is a combination bookstore, art supply store and beer and wine bar. Referring to co-owner Kelley Drahushuk's connection to the company that crafts the beer sold at the Spotty Dog, co-owner Alan Coon explained the business's genesis: "There was beer in the family and Hudson needed a bookstore."
---
The San Diego Tribune writes about writing workshops conducted each month at Book Works in Del Mar by Jill Badonsky, author of The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard) (Gotham).
"With the coffee shop next door and the ambience, it's a great place to get inspired to write," Badonsky told the paper, which noted that "dark chocolate and cookies are served at each workshop for additional inspiration."
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