Stay up until 4am reading that new release? Dread your early alarm after a night spent with a book? Maybe you’re just on Flaubert‘s schedule. Or, if you find it easy to fall asleep before midnight and enjoy early mornings, perhaps you’re running on Victor Hugo time. New York Magazine has compiled an infographic of the sleeping habits of geniuses, and the good news is that no matter when you fall asleep and wake up, someone brilliant has more or less kept your same schedule. So take heart, late-night readers and early risers. We’re all in good company.
I am a great fan of independent bookstores and patronize two of them actively.
But I think what often gets lost in these discussions is that people who buy books, even a lot of books, like me, are on a limited budget. I (sadly) can spend only so much money on books having groceries to buy and kids to put through college.
Here's how I spend my book dollars. Once a month, I'll drive to New England Mobile Book Fair (one of the best book stores in Boston — and despite the name, it's not mobile) and buy tons of books there. I also patronize a very small bookstore downtown. Sometimes I'll drive to Borders because I'll get tempted by coupons they email me that offer 40% off any one book. I have an Amazon Visa card that helps my purchases of groceries fuel my book obsession.
So I buy from all these places not just from one big box.
The guy downtown might not be a typical indie that has been described but I want his bookstore in my town so I buy from him. At the risk of sounding like I am cheap, he does not offer me any reason to come again and again. No loyalty cards – those are very simple to execute, no percentage off — nothing. Which is fine if that is the model he runs by but I think indies need to know that even us consumers who love books and only books only have so much money to spend.
Expecting me to visit my local indie because he is a struggling indie and for no other reason, is unreasonable. I can't afford to buy all my books from one place!
That having been said, I think indies are vital and I'll do every last bit to make sure mine are around.