The Indie Bookstore Experience!

We are so fortunate here in the San Francisco Bay Area because we still do have some independent book stores around such as Books, Inc., located right down the street from where I work in Mountain View, Kepler's Books in Menlo Park, Book Passage in San Francisco and Corte Madera, City Lights Books and the Booksmith in San Francisco, not to mention some great used book stores like Green Apple Books in San Francisco and Book Buyers in downtown Mountain View which sells both new and used books.

I used to joke around that I needed to stay away from book stores and music stores because I always found them "dangerous." It's easy for me to spend too much money there! To be honest, the only stores I enjoy are book stores or music stores -- not just music stores that sell records, but music stores that sell instruments of all kinds such as Haight Ashbury Music in San Francisco and Guitar Showcase and Starving Musicians where they let you play expensive instruments you cannot possibly afford. I've had little jam sessions at these stores, playing beautiful sounding ukuleles and guitars. 

That's how I feel about an independent book store -- there's something about all the books lined up in the window beckoning people -- all sorts of books, definitely something for everyone. There are children's books for the parents mostly (of course), next to the literary fiction and romance novels and cook books -- and then the action/adventure. Everyone would stop and look in the store window and have a look.

I can't remember perusing book stores that much as a kid because my mother was a book FANATIC. Nobody on this planet read more than she did! We always were surrounded by books growing up, like we had our own library. And every year for Christmas, my mother would buy us more books. So if we wanted to get books on our own, we just brought our library cards and trekked the 18 blocks from Second Avenue to 18th Avenue to our local public library. The children's library was downstairs, and how I loved it there, spending hours perusing books and feeling totally in control because I could choose the books I wanted and check them out all on my own without having a parent present (this was in a time and place where our parents just sent us off into the universe).

So it wasn't until I grew up that I started going to regular book stores which I always loved -- no matter how big or small. I've been to Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon which is the largest independent book store in the world.  They sell new and used books, and you can get lost in there -- the store takes up a whole city block and several floors (I believe six floors all together). There are entire sections -- like a music section, divided into "Rock and Roll music" and "Classical," etc., and then books about songs, books about artists. There is an practically an entire floor dedicated to Memoirs and biographies. It would take days to get through that book store, but I was only there for a couple of hours with my little great nephew who was getting impatient. They even carry rare books at Powell's. I think they've stayed alive as long as they have because they have a huge online presence (sort of like Amazon but they are an actual independent book store) -- people can order books online. Plus they sell used and new books both. 

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, I've been to many book stores -- used book stores, books that sell both old and new (Book Buyers right here in Mountain View, CA) and of course book stores that only sell new books. I admit that I've spent time perusing Book Buyers to find more cost effective books, but I DO buy new books and I have to be very careful when I go to a book store.

I've also gone to book stores for book signings and events -- most recently I attended Janis Cooke Newman's exciting book event for her latest book, "Master Plan of Rescue." It's her first real "fiction" book -- she wrote a memoir and a historical fiction book called "Mary" getting into the head of Abraham Lincoln's wife. Janis is an amazing writer and a wonderful friend and mentor as well. Of course I bought her book and had her autograph it for me! There's no way I'll go to a book signing and NOT buy the book! I've been to several book readings for my good friend Floyd Salas, most recently at the Octopus Cafe, a literary cafe (with books but in a coffee shop) in Berkeley, one of those funky little places you wouldn't know about unless you were local. I had never heard of the place before, but when I heard Floyd Salas was reading his poetry, I of course had to go. He's an amazing writer and he and his wife Claire are close friends of mine who inspired me to keep going with my writing. At first, I just thought it was a coffee shop, but when my friend Caroline whom I gave a ride to and I walked in, we saw walls of books and posters for upcoming events, community and book events. The placed smelled of roasted coffee beans, ahhhh! It wasn't very big, but so inviting with lots of chairs.

Great Weather Press (a very small presss) had several people read who had been published in their latest anthology and Floyd Salas was one of them. His poetry always paints a picture and tells stories of his family and of Oakland in the 1940s and 1950s. 

They also had spots for open mics, so I signed up for one not having any idea what to read because I'm not a poet -- I love poetry, but I don't write it. I had to pick something short, and for a moment there I thought I might not read at all, but then I found a short piece from my current Travel Writing Class about a Fish and Chips place on Haight Street in San Francisco in the 1960's. People loved it and a lot of the old hippies said, "Hey I remember that place!" I knew the people there loved anything that had to do with the 60's. Later a young poet about my kids' age read poetry about the same area of San Francisco in the 1980s and 1990s from a totally different perspective and the guy from Great Weather Press invited me to submit my piece to them. I will get $10 for this! Maybe I'll do it. All this at a tiny independent book store aka Coffee Shop. It was wonderful.

My latest "shopping" experience at a book store happened quite recently at Books, Inc. in downtown Mountain View, which kind of explains why book stores can be dangerous for book lovers. I walked into Books, Inc. and was immediately engulfed and surrounded by colors and books of all shapes and sizes. The best selling nonfiction books and the best selling hardback fiction books are all front and center so you see them immediately when you walk in. Of course I decided to buy a book by a local author. I had even planned to attend his book reading, but that was right after my recent injuries. In between all the book displays, there's an adult coloring book section (these have become quite popular) not to mention another display of seasonal children's books and how could I not get my grandson Baby Jeremiah the cute Halloween picture book about California? and maybe I needed an adult coloring book because I've been really stressed out and studies show that coloring in these books can be stress-relieving. But then I have to make my way through fiction because I admit I LOVE fiction and memoirs the best. and it doesn't hurt to make my way to the magazine rack to check out the latest Poets and Writers Magazine along with the Acoustic Guitar magazine which always has a few songs in them.

There really is something for everyone at the local book store -- such as Books, Inc. from kids, to YA fiction, to books about how to do things, to music biographies, memoirs, fiction, mysteries, you name it. Shelves and shelves of books that smell so new and look so pretty. I am reminded of all the work that goes into the design of these books, but there's also the placement of the books in the book store which I don't believe happens by accident. 

I'm thrilled these book stores still exist even if I spent over $50 at Books, Inc., without really intending to.

Navigating My Way Through the Mysterious World of Publishing!

It amazed me that I actually knew many of the commonly used terms in the publishing world. We as writers are familiar with many of the terms such as manuscript and drafts – and even slush pile – that huge pile of manuscripts that grows and grows – eventually falling off tables and spilling on to floors.  All those laborious hours and blood, sweat and tears those writers have put into those precious manuscripts that end up in the dreaded “slush pile.”

Also, because I work at a law firm that deals with IP litigation and such, many of the legal definitions are familiar to me, such as boilerplate, contract and publishing agreement and copyright. The word “Colophon” was completely new to me. What the heck? Apparently it’s a listing of production info including typeface details.

The lexicon that surprised me most was “ARC.” As soon as I saw that, I thought, “Oh yeah, the Arc of our essays, stories or memoirs, the “structure” that makes the writing piece cohesive, something I’ve sometimes grappled with – that damned arc – someone will say in a writer’s group, “What is the arc of your story?”  It’s a scary question, and we’d darn well better know or we’re doomed. We have to know what the whole story is about, right? That’s Arc for you. I love the one and only comment related to this lexicon, which is as follows:  “Arc -- the boat in which Noah saved reviewers endangered by the deluge of free books.” – thank you “Elizabeth” for that good laugh. I truly loved it.

In reality, “ARC” here means “Advanced Reading Copy, aka bound galley or uncorrected proof. Pre-publication copy of a book sent to reviewers, booksellers, etc. to generate word-of-mouth and promote sales.”  I never would have guessed this. Advanced reading copy.

I’d better figure out what the Arc of my story is so that my memoir will eventually be an “Advanced reading copy.” An Arc is a partial circular figure – which I picture as a beautiful rainbow stretching across the sky from one end to the other.

Another lexicon I had never heard of before is “Black Swan” – which is an unexpected success or phenomenon – such as J.K. Rowlings’s Harry Potter books. She was an unknown writer who suddenly became a huge success. Apparently, publishers always are on the look out for those beautiful “black swans,” but who knows for sure which books or authors will end up becoming those black swans?

So, picture this.  A rainbow stretches across the slush pile of manuscripts forming the perfect ARC and suddenly, a beautiful black swan flies out with my manuscript and drops it down on to the publisher’s desk and suddenly my book is propelled to best seller status. People are calling me for interviews. I’m told I can quit my day job and become a full-time writer for a living – I won’t need to work anymore, and I can finally tell my kids, the book is going to be published and of course there will be a movie as well.

Of course I’m dreaming. I will be thrilled to publish anything at this point in my life. The dream lives!