In honor of Independence Day--and to relax all day on the Fourth--Shelf Awareness is not publishing tomorrow or Thursday. We'll see you again on Friday!

 

More than one million people in the U.S. have ordered Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows from Amazon.com in advance, surpassing the final numbers for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. And more than 1.6 million people around the world have ordered the final book in the series, eclipsing the earlier worldwide Amazon record of 1.5 million orders.

Besides deep discounts, Amazon is giving people who order the book a $5 gift certificate to use on another purchase during August. The company estimates that it has saved customers $23 million.

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More on complaints that NPR.org's purchase options for books link only to Amazon, as discussed here on Thursday:

Oren Teicher, COO of the American Booksellers Association, notes that the ABA has been "in touch with NPR on several occasions over the past few years to discuss including a link to booksense.com" and will continue having those discussions.

The ABA suggests that NPR follow the approach of C-Span's Book TV website, where the "buy-purchase book" link has a choice of Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com or BookSense.com.

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A winemaker, a novelist, and a bonsai grower walked into a bookstore . . .

Business Week's Annual Retirement Guide issue featured "And Now For That Dream Job," a brief selection of "hobbies" that retirees might consider growing into business ventures, as well as words of caution from people who had taken the entrepreneurial plunge with their own nest eggs.

The bookseller profiled is Pat Rutledge, co-owner with husband, Ed, of A Book For All Seasons, Leavenworth, Wash., (a Bavarian-themed town) which opened in 1991 and has weathered many of the book world's retail storms. Diversification was cited as a prime survival strategy. According to Business Week, "Pat maintains a literature-themed inn above her shop and runs a summer camp for young book lovers. Ed opened a boutique winery, Eagle Creek, where he crafts cabernets, rieslings, and chardonnays, among others."

Pat is philosophical about the sometimes hazardous retirement path they chose: "It was a little rough, but if you're doing what you love, you can put up with a lot."

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John Spencer, owner of the Riverow Bookshop, Owego, N.Y., told the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin that he has gradually changed his mind about the Internet as a viable merchandising vehicle for his business.

Spencer "has operated his bookstore on Front Street for 31 years, offering both new and used books--about 75,000 on three floors--and carving a niche for his business with rare books, prints and original architects' drawings."

Although he said he was one of the first to take his inventory online, "it was like a bell curve. Sales were good for about five years, but now there's a horde of copies for sale--a hundred million books are being offered online--and demand has decreased. It's devalued most books."

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Closing time.

The OC Register, in a retail elegy to retiring Anaheim, Calif., bookselling legend Bob Weinstein, described his soon-to-close shop, the Book Baron, as a "literary landmark."

Reflecting upon his career, Weinstein said, "This used to be a really, really exciting business. A book scout would pull up with a truckload of books, and say, 'Give me $300 for the whole truckload.' 'OK, we'll take it.' You go through it and find one book on the bottom that's worth $5,000. That used to happen. It used to be a treasure hunt every day, and I looked forward to going to work every single day."

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Reader's Book Emporium is on the move. The Rocky Mount, N.C., bookstore, will relocate from Sunset Avenue to Main Street, according to the Rocky Mount Telegram. Owner Faye Debroux, who hopes to take advantage of the city's revitalization plans, said, "There are a lot of people downtown during the day. Hopefully, the businesses around there will support it."

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The Detroit News reported on a number of traditional bookstores in the metro region that also focus upon their online retail presence. "It's what's known as the 'bricks-and-clicks' phenomenon," said Susan Walker, executive director of the Midwest Booksellers Association.

"The Internet is a double-edged sword for used booksellers," said John K. King, owner of John K. King Used & Rare Books in Detroit. "No matter what used booksellers say, online sellers are destroying their business. If they want to compete, they have to go online." He added that online sales now account for 10% of his business.

That percentage was also cited by David Oyerly, manager of Classic Book Shop in Royal Oak, while Cary Loren, of the Book Beat in Oak Park, estimated that 20% of his sales now come from online shoppers.

Selected titles appearing next Tuesday, July 10:

New fiction hardcover:

White Heat: A Novel by Cherry Adair (Ballantine, $21.95, 9780345476449/0345476441) is the second T-FLAC (Terrorist Force Logistic Assault Command) novel, sequel to Hot Ice.

The Night Ferry by Michael Robotham (Doubleday, $24.95, 9780385517904/0385517904) follows a British cop as she pursues an international baby-selling conspiracy.

Killer Weekend by Ridley Pearson (Putnam, $24.95, 978-0399154072/ 0399154078) takes place during a conference in which an attorney general plans to announce her candidacy for president. Sheriff Walt Fleming, who saved her life eight years ago as a patrolman, seeks to thwart a cunning assassin bent on finishing the job.

High Noon by Nora Roberts (Putnam, $26.95, 9780399154348/0399154345) follows top-notch police negotiator Phoebe MacNamara. After being assaulted in her own precinct, Phoebe and her new romance, Duncan, attempt to establish contact with her masked tormenter.

The Dark River: Book Two of the Fourth Realm by John Twelve Hawks (Doubleday, $24.95, 9780385514293/0385514298) is the second entry in the sci-fi Fourth Realm trilogy.

Restitution by Lee Vance (Knopf, $23.95, 9780307266323/030726632X) begins when the wife in a troubled marriage is murdered.

Dragons of the Highlord Skies: The Lost Chronicles Volume Two by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (Wizards of the Coast, $25.95, 9780786943333/ 0786943335) is the latest in the high fantasy series Dragonlance.

New nonfiction hardcover:

Dear G-Spot: Straight Talk About Sex and Love by Zane (Atria, $25, 9780743457057/ 0743457056) is the first nonfiction book by this popular erotica author.

Happy Endings: The Tales of a Meaty-Breasted Zilch by Jim Norton (Simon Spotlight Entertainment, $23.95, 9781416950226/1416950222) features a collection of essays ranging from funny and gross to personal. Includes a foreword by Colin Quinn.

American Legacy: The Story of John and Caroline Kennedy by C. David Heymann (Atria, $27.95, 9780743497381/0743497384) chronicles the lives of John Jr. and Caroline Kennedy.

Heart Full of Soul: An Inspirational Memoir About Finding Your Voice and Finding Your Way by Taylor Hicks (Crown, $24.95, 9780307382436/0307382435) shares the life story of this American Idol winner.

Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life by Tony Dungy and Nathan Whitaker (Tyndale, $26.99, 9781414318011/1414318014) is the memoir of coach Tony Dungy, whose Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl earlier this year.

Now in paperback:

The Poe Shadow: A Novel by Matthew Pearl (Random House, $13.95, 9780812970128/0812970128).

This morning on the Early Show: Bill Boggs talks about his new book, Got What It Takes?: Successful People Reveal How They Made It to the Top (HarperCollins, $21.95, 9780061122927/0061122920).

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Today on the Diane Rehm Show: ACLU executive director Anthony Romero and journalist Dina Temple-Raston, authors of In Defense of Our America: The Fight for Civil Liberties in the Age of Terror (Morrow, $24.95, 9780061142567/0061142565).

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Today on Oprah, in a repeat: Bob Greene, Oprah's trainer and author of The Best Life Diet (S&S, $26, 9781416540663/1416540660).

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Tomorrow on the Today Show: Elizabeth Karmel, creator of Girls at the Grill, will cook from her book, Taming the Flame: Secrets for Hot-and-Quick Grilling and Low-and-Slow BBQ (Wiley, $24.95, 9780764568824/0764568825).

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Tomorrow on the Diane Rehm Show, in a repeat: Ralph James Savarese, author of Reasonable People: A Memoir of Autism and Adoption: On the Meaning of Family and the Politics of Neurological Difference (Other Press, $25.95, 9781590511299/1590511298).

Also on Diane Rehm tomorrow, another repeat: Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins, authors of the 25th anniversary edition of The Silver Palate Cookbook (Workman, $29.95, hardcover, 9780761145981/0761145982; $19.95 paperback, 9780761145974/0761145974). 

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On Thursday on the Diane Rehm Show: Eboo Patel, author of Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation (Beacon, $22.95, 9780807077269/0807077267).

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On Thursday on KCRW's Bookworm: Mark Slouka, author of The Visible World (Houghton Mifflin, $24, 9780618756438/0618756434). The show asks, "Can a novelist uncover a secret?"

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On Thursday on All Things Considered: Stephen L. Carter, author of New England White (Knopf, $26.95, 9780375413629/0375413626).

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On Thursday evening on Larry King Live: Al Gore, whose new book is The Assault on Reason (Penguin Press, $25.95, 9781594201226/1594201226).

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On Thursday night on the Late Show with David Letterman: Tom Ruprecht, author of George W. Bush: An Unauthorized Oral History (Andrews McMeel, $12.95, 9780740767579/0740767577).

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On Thursday night on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: Jackie Collins, whose new thriller is Drop Dead Beautiful (St. Martin's, $24.95, 9780312341794/0312341792).
 

The Oxford English Dictionary informs us the term bookseller was used as early as 1527 ("Higden's Polycron. (title), Imprented..at ye expences of John Reynes bokeseller."); and showed up again, unnervingly, in 1615 ("CROOKE Body of Man 420 He dissected a Bookseller, and found his heart more then halfe rotted away.").

But during a week in which "independence" is a national theme, I'll move forward in time to consider the bookselling life of Henry Knox. According to David McCullough's 1776, Knox was Boston-born (1750) and self-educated. He "became a bookseller, eventually opening his own London Book Store on Cornhill Street, offering 'a large and very elegant assortment' of the latest books and magazines from London. In the notices he placed in the Boston Gazette, the name Henry Knox always appeared in larger type than the name of the store."

In addition to England's finest (McCullough: "Though not especially prosperous, the store became 'a great resort for British officers and Tory ladies.'"), the London Book Store's clientele included troublemakers like John Adams and Nathanael Greene.

A bookseller's life is inevitably compromised by his patrons, and though Knox joined the Boston Grenadier Corps, he also fell in love with one of his customers, Lucy Flucker. He married her in spite of the objections of her Loyalist father, a royal secretary of the province.

Knox became a Revolutionary War hero, playing an instrumental role when he conceived and executed the daring relocation of more than 50 mortars and cannons overland from Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain to Boston, an arduous journey of nearly 300 miles.

What a bookseller.

In honoring Knox's memory this week, we can also consider how easy it is to become defined by our definitions.

What is a bookseller?

A "vendor of books" says the OED. Webster's Third Unabridged suggests "one whose business is dealing in books; esp. the proprietor of a bookstore." The American Heritage Dictionary opts for "one that sells books, especially the owner of a bookstore."

But "proprietor" and "vendor" limit the definition immeasurably. For a book to find its way to readers, it often must be handsold again and again; from author to agent to editor/publisher to marketing/sales to wholesale/retail buyers to wholesale/retail sales reps and, finally, to all those mysterious readers. In the broadest definition of the term, who isn't a bookseller among this group?

On the other hand, is the proprietor of a pharmacy that features a 30-foot aisle of hardcover and paperback books a bookseller? Is a bookstore proprietor who doesn't actively handsell a bookseller? Is a frontline bookseller who doesn't own the bookshop not a bookseller? Is a great book buyer a bookseller? An events coordinator?

A bookseller by any other name . . .

During the busy holiday weekend, I worked four days straight on a bookstore sales floor. There were times when I felt like a bookseller and times when I felt like anything but. There were times when I engaged in intense and productive conversations about books, and times when I directed traffic (history books over here, poetry books there, children's books here, travel there, bathroom back there, etc.).

Through it all, however, I knew I was a bookseller.

In my working life as an editor, a writer, a teacher, a consultant, I am also always, somehow, a bookseller.

A colleague and I were debating recently whether frontline booksellers were in a sales or a service job. We compromised by deciding that it was both, to varying degrees, but one point upon which we agreed is summed up nicely in Christopher Morley's The Haunted Bookshop:

"I am not a dealer in merchandise but a specialist in adjusting the book to the human need. Between ourselves, there is no such thing, abstractly, as a 'good' book. A book is 'good' only when it meets some human hunger or refutes some human error. A book that is good for me would very likely be punk for you. My pleasure is to prescribe books for such patients as drop in here and are willing to tell me their symptoms. Some people have let their reading faculties decay so that all I can do is hold a post mortem on them. But most are still open to treatment. There is no one so grateful as the man to whom you have given just the book his soul needed and he never knew it."

A position to which we all aspire, definitions be damned.

Happy Independence Day, booksellers, whoever you are.--Robert Gray (column archives available at Fresh Eyes Now)