Saluting Bookstores

I have no idea where she came from originally. Fab salute, though!

Upon reading the sad news of the closing of another local bookshop, JB Dickey, owner of Seattle Mystery Bookshop, jotted a note to the newspaper asking why it seemed so difficult to get publicity for local bookstore successes. I read this from the Seattle Times site (snips mine):

...When we moved our shop, the Seattle Mystery Bookshop, over the Memorial Day weekend in 2005, we sent out a press release saying how here was a story about a small, independent bookshop that was doing so well that it could move to a larger space after 15 years, and no one in the local press paid any attention. Two and a half years later, business is terrific; 2007 was our best year yet, a 6.5 percent increase in sales over 2006...

If you want to know how independent booksellers really are doing, come ask us. Reacting to the closing of one bookshop by saying it is another death-knell of an industry simply isn't fair or correct and can be counterproductive. It can also mislead customers and drive more into the hands of the corporate Big Boxes, encouraging the difficulties that small independents face. Why not do a story about how some independents are doing fine because of their customers who want to support small businesses? Isn't there a story in that?...

JB has more background and more insight at the bookstore's blog, and it's also worth reading if you like charting how little online happenings suddenly swirl over their banks.

So, are there local bookstores near you doing it right, and what do you like about them? Let's celebrate!