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Monday, August 12, 2013

Bookstores Floated by us

The latest is independents are now being saved by donations. Who would have thought people would do this but they chip in by the thousands. The question is where does it lead. The rapaciousness of ecommerce and conglomeration  will only continue. The niche of selling books will be harder and harder to sustain as economics dictate buying patterns. Ebooks seem to have waned a bit but no one knows if this is hardware driven or a real lull in the ipodification of books.

When you think about it authors have been sustained by grants and universities for hundreds of years. Literary writers would surely perish if not for other sources of income and I suppose the bookstore could be attached to that vein of intellectual bookselling. A person who knows and talks books versus a salesman who could just as easily be selling televisions.

But of course not all bookstores can be saved this way. They will have to find their unique corner to stay viable against the last remaining giants of Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I have no problem donating to save my favorite bookstore. It's just they keep closing so fast I have to find a new one every few months.

The Pitcher...sometimes a dream is all you have

Books by William Hazelgrove