A few days ago, I started working for Shelf Awareness as a columnist. Well, to be more precise, it was 20 years ago this month. Time, huh?
This particular tale's "once upon a time" began on May 17, 2006, the first day of BookExpo America in Washington, D.C., a relatively quiet one by BEA standards as attendees warmed up for the trade show floor by going to education seminars and panels.
In January of that year, I'd left my job as a longtime frontline bookseller and buyer at the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center, Vt. A blog I'd been writing since 2004, Fresh Eyes: A Bookseller's Journal, had gained some traction and I was at the convention to meet with industry folks as I sorted next steps professionally. I had a plan, more or less, that included appointments scheduled practically back-to-back throughout the show. I was also going to be on a couple of panels. I had publisher dinner invitations. I was, by my modest standards, just trying to stay in the game.
My first appointment of the week in D.C. was on that Wednesday, with Jenn Risko and John Mutter, co-founders of the daily online book trade newsletter Shelf Awareness, which was celebrating its first birthday. Jenn was on one of the panels, and when it was over I met with her and John, neither of whom I'd known beforehand.
Our conversation was the first of what I hoped would be many nice moments at BEA 2006. I pitched the idea of perhaps writing an occasional column for SA's Deeper Understanding section. They were familiar with my blog and we pretty quickly came to terms regarding frequency (twice a month) and payment. I left our meeting feeling good, unnaturally optimistic by my standards. The show was off to an excellent start.
That night, I took the Metro out to Crystal City in Arlington, Va., to attend a publisher's dinner hosted by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. I happened to be seated across from the guest author at our table: first novelist Alice McDermott and then John McPhee. It was an amazing experience.
I got back to my hotel near Dupont Circle quite late. After a few hours sleep, I was back in action, meeting someone for breakfast, then rushing over to the Washington Convention Center for the first scheduled meeting of what was going to be a very busy day. What happened next later made the news, ironically, in a Shelf Awareness trade show wrap-up piece:
Sadly we heard from Jessica Stockton, bookseller at McNally Robinson bookstore in New York City and the Written Nerd blogger, that Robert Gray, who founded Fresh Eyes Now and with whom we had spoken on Thursday, had a minor seizure on Friday. He was released from the hospital and is recuperating but could not moderate a Saturday panel on frontline booksellers' summer picks or lead another panel on 'luring the Web-addicted book buyer.' We wish him a speedy recovery!
The heady start to the show was over in an instant, replaced by a vague memory of disorientation from the crowd and lights upon entering the trade show floor in a rush to my next appointment, followed by regaining consciousness 20 minutes or so later in an ambulance. Grand opening replaced by grand mal. I stayed in D.C. for a couple more days, confined to my hotel room, and then took my scheduled flight home.
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This bookseller's tale had hit a plot twist. Over the following months, there were a few stops and starts in other areas of my work life, but my connection to the Shelf kept me sane. On June 15, 2006, my first column, "Bookshop 'Siteseeing' on the Information Highway," appeared in the Shelf, opening with a provocative line: "Most independent bookstore Web sites are a waste of time and money, and about as useful as a weathered motel on an abandoned highway."
Because I'm not a fool, I quickly qualified that opener: "I don't really believe the previous statement, at least not categorically, but I think it's a good way to shake things up and get this trip started. In recent months, I've become a bookstore Web site tourist, visiting them the way other travelers might 'collect' the cathedrals of Europe. I'll be sharing some of my travel experiences with you in this space.
" 'I write in my notebook with the intention of stimulating good conversation, hoping that it will also be of use to some fellow traveler,' wrote my unofficial mentor, the 17th century Japanese poet and travel diarist Bashō. Our trip begins with a simple question: Why do independent bookstores have Web sites?"
That particular book world question was posed about 900 columns ago. The questions just keep coming.
At the beginning of 2007, John asked if I'd be interested in writing the column weekly, and by mid-year I was working full-time for the Shelf as an editor as well. John became the sole owner of the Shelf last year when Jenn decided to move on to new adventures. Meeting them at BEA 2006 changed my life.
As it happens, this bookseller's tale will have a happy ending eventually, but not yet. I've got more work to do today, and another column to write next week, and plot twists just keep unfolding in the book world. As my old pal Bashō wrote: "Nothing's worth noting that is not seen with fresh eyes."