Of punctuation and summer reading

It may be time for an article on the relationship between booksellers and their UPS/FedEx/USPS lifelines:

"We love getting books in the hands of readers, and we'll even chase down the UPS man to do it. And maybe that's why we've been here for over 50 years."

For those who want to know something more about the interchange fee regulations:

"When you use your credit card... How much does it cost the merchant to process the transaction?" (via)

Advice from Daniel:

"So here's the thing--we've continued to sell the book off our front table to folks who don't know any of the contributors, and didn't come to our event... I'll let any bookseller know how it winds up doing, but be warned--even if you don't sell much science fiction and fantasy, the audience for this book among your customers may be bigger than you realize."

It's an annual complaint, and Josie's absolutely right:

"Reading should not be a chore, something to be checked off on a list; it should be something that brings pleasure, especially in the summer."

Libraries are good:

"We fear that some out there may view their local indie as not a partner but money hungry competition, locked in a epic battle for readers and funds. That is SO not the case and we (indies) are huge supporters of libraries."

Like the fact that 8 pages are allotted for explaining how to search on AltaVista:

"The book itself was obviously useful in its time, and now is an interesting look back at the past."

Huffington Post takes you on a virtual bookstore tour:

"Passions always run high around favorites so please do send in your favorite by clicking the 'Add a Slide' button below."

In case you needed permission:

"So is it okay to invent punctuation marks? Absolutely."

Sounds like a bookseller, no?:

"Because even though I get sent a lot of books, I don’t get sent every book I’m interested in (alas), and therefore if I want to have those books, I have to go out and buy them."

Apropos of Jenn's Shelf Awareness piece:

"Print and trucks and distribution cycles create their own problems, but journalists are engaged in a debate over what constitutes 'journalism.'" (see also)

This is why we have interns:

"Nothing unusually about that, except this doorway is on the second level. Intrigued about the story behind this elevated doorway, I did some research, and this is what I found." (via)

Linking to the comments section of Laura Miller's article, because that's where it really gets interesting:

"Being read to is NOT a cheat. The Victorians used to do it all the time as family entertainment. Dickens' works were read out loud in installments to eager listeners."

Clay Shirky vs. Nick Carr, as seen by Matthew Battles. So worth it:

"To say that the printing press was an agent of change, or that moveable type inaugurated a series of transformations in world culture, is reasonable, if very preliminary; but to treat the goldsmith from Mainz as modernity’s master builder simply is wrong: wrong on the biography, wrong on the facts, wrong from the perspective of a theory of history." (part 2) (part 3)