Rebel Bookseller Why Indie Bookstores Represent Everything You Want to Fight for from Free Speech to Buying Local to Building Communities

by Laties, Andrew; Morrow, Ed; Ayers, Bill

• ISBN13: 9781609801397
• ISBN10: 1609801393
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-07-19
• Publisher: Seven Stories Press

Summary

The revival of independent bookselling has already begun and is one of the amazing stories of our times. Bookseller Andy Laties wrote the first edition of Rebel Bookseller six years ago, hoping it would spark a movement. Now, with this second edition, Laties's book can be a rallying cry for everyone who wants to better understand how the rise of the big bookstore chains led irrevocably to their decline, and how even in the face of electronic readers from three of America's largest and most successful companiesApple, Amazon, and Googlethe movement to support locally owned independent stores, especially bookstores, is on the rise. From the mid-1980s to the present, Andy Laties has been an independent bookseller, starting out in Chicago, teaching along the way at the American Booksellers Association, and finally running the bookshop at the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst, Massachusetts. His innovations were adapted by Barnes & Noble, Zany Brainy, and scores of independent stores. In Rebel Bookseller, Laties tells how he got started, how he kept going, and why he believes independent bookselling has a great future. He alternates his narrative with short anecdotes, interludes between the chapters that give his credo as a bookseller. Along the way, he explains the growth of the chains, and throws in a treasure trove of tips for anyone who is considering opening up a bookstore. Rebel Bookseller is a must read for those in the book biz, a testament to the ingeniousness of one man man's story of making a life out of his passionate commitment to books and bookselling.

Author Biography

Andrew Laties cofounded The Children's Bookstore, Children's Bookfair Company, The Children's Museum Store, PovertyFighters, the Eric Carle Museum Bookshop, and Vox Pop. He shared the 1987 Women's National Book Association Pannell Award for bringing children and books together.

Table of Contents

Rebel Booksellers: Foreword	p. 11
Introduction to the Second Edition	p. 21
Prelude: Meet the Author	p. 35
Death Energy	p. 41
Breaking the Ice	p. 45
Thousands of Bosses	p. 47
Opening Minds	p. 51
Steal this Technique	p. 61
Becoming the Bookstore	p. 65
Damned Benchmarks	p. 81
Holding onto Shorts	p. 87
Make It Up	p. 111
Symbiotic Solution	p. 117
He Who Cannot, Teaches	p. 131
Trading Places	p. 133
Puke Apotheosis	p. 141
The Conquest of Chicago	p. 145
What's Selling	p. 157
Debtors' Prison	p. 163
Publish, Perish	p. 187
Paying the Price	p. 199
Selling High	p. 211
Giveback Time	p. 217
Amazon Attack	p. 225
An Appreciation of Rebel Booksellers: Afterword	p. 239
Appendix: Showcasing Your Store	p. 245
Acknowledgments	p. 267
Notes and Sources	p. 271
Bibliography	p. 315
Index	p. 323
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