Notes: New Store in Old Walden Site; Adieu Schwartz
Swift Books, Orangeburg, S.C., will open by mid-June in a space
formerly occupied by Waldenbooks, which closed January 24. According to
the Times and Democrat,
owners Dean and Edie Swift's bookshop "will house 15,000 to 20,000 new
titles, including fiction and nonfiction as well as an expanded
children's books section" in the the 2,000-sq.-ft. space.
"We
were going through the mall in January and saw the store was closing,"
said Dean. "We just saw there is no other bookstore in our area. There
is a good market situation here."
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In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Geeta Sharma-Jensen wrote a moving account of the last day for the Harry W. Schwartz bookstore in Shorewood:
"They
shared cake. They sang 'Auld Lang Syne.' Some drank wine. And when
melancholy customers lingered stubbornly around the café tables and
empty bookshelves, refusing to acknowledge that the bookstore had
closed for good at 5 p.m. sharp, then Rebecca Schwartz, the
granddaughter of the store's founders, stood up, thanked everyone and
told a story about her late father, A. David Schwartz.
"'And so
in David's words, when he was done, you were done. Now,' and she raised
her finger and swept it toward the door, 'it's OUT!'"
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More on the crash of a car transport truck into Flintridge Bookstore and Coffee Shop, La Cañada, Calif., which killed two people in a car and injured 12, including at least one person in the store (Shelf Awareness, April 2, 2009).
The bookstore's building was severely damaged. On its website, the store wrote: "We'll Be Back!!!!
"Our customers and staff escaped the fury of the run away truck that created such havoc and destruction; for this we are most grateful.
"We're down for a bit but certainly not out as we are still able to sell books off-site at your various venues. Steps have been initiated to restore this historical structure marking the center of our community. Our staff is eager to roll up their sleeves to make this happen!
"The heartfelt wishes and offers of help and support from many of our customers has been an energizing force for all of us at FBCH. Thank you!"
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At the time of his death last November, Michael Crichton had quietly finished one novel and was about a third of the way through another, the New York Times reported. The finished novel, called Pirate Latitudes, "an adventure story set in Jamaica in the 17th century," will be published by HarperCollins on November 24. For the other book, a technological thriller, the publisher will work with Crichton's agent and estate to find "a co-writer who would finish the book, working from Mr. Crichton's notes."
"We want a high-level thriller writer, somebody who understands Michael's work," Harper publisher Jonathan Burnham told the Times.
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Moral of the story: don't leave the office early after announcing layoffs and outsourcing.
The Chronicle of Higher Education outlines what happened after the head of the University of New Mexico Press said that three staff members would be let go and nine more positions would likely be outsourced: "the employees issued their own press release," discussing, among other things, the salaries of the top two employees in the department--"neither . . . has offered to take a paycut"--and what it called questionable author lunch expenses and an advance of $6,000 to "a longtime friend [of the director] for a children's book proposal."
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With a series of photographs, the Del Mar Times covered the 33rd anniversary party of Book Works, Del Mar, Calif., owned for the past three years by Lisa Stefanacci. Some 250 happy customers attended. Stefanacci called the three-year mark "a magic number" because that's about how long most owners of a new business need to know whether it will work.
She also called the economic downturn "a window of opportunity" for local businesses to grow.
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Author Solutions, which operates AuthorHouse, iUniverse and Xlibris, and is likely the largest POD self publisher in the U.S., has bought Trafford Publishing, a Canadian rival, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Author Solutions CEO Kevin Weiss told the Journal that the company will have revenue of $100 million this year and has more than 900 employees worldwide.
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More on the scam (Shelf Awareness, April 3, 2009) involving someone calling in multiple orders for Snatched from the Fire, a POD title that is non-returnable, and then never paying for them.
Sadly Gallery Bookshop, Mendocino, Calif., was scammed by the same person, according to owner Christie Olson Day. But Literary Life Bookstore & More, Grand Rapids, Mich., avoided the problem because of its new "pay first" policy for nonreturnable items, according to Jennifer, who added, "Thanks for publishing the scam; we didn't realize we dodged a bullet!"
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Congratulations to Peter Glassman, founder and owner of Books of Wonder, New York City, who is being honored tomorrow night at the Toast to the Children tasting event, which benefits Children of Bellevue, an organization that supports the pediatric programs that serve the children and families at Bellevue Hospital.
Children of Bellevue is citing Glassman for being "an advocate for children's literacy, a renowned authority on children's literature, and the acclaimed author of three children's books: The Wizard Next Door, illustrated by Steven Kellogg, My Working Mom and My Dad's Job."
To purchase tickets for Toast to the Children, go to childrenofbellevue.org or call 212-562-4130.
Late last month, at the Borders store on Preston Street in Dallas, Tex., Robert M. Knight signed copies of his new book, Rock God: Forty Years of Rock Photography (Insight Editions), and talked about his work with rockers like Slash, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and Carlos Santana as well as helping start the careers of the Australian band Sick Puppies and teenaged music virtuoso Tyler Dow Bryant. He was in Dallas for the world premier of Rock Prophecies, a film directed by John Chester that puts the rock photographer in front of the lens.
All That I Have by Castle Freeman, Jr. (Steerforth Press, $13.95 trade paper, 9781586421519/1586421514, March 2009)