Yep, sent my suit to the cleaners and picked out a new pair of flip flops, we’re going to the big city to meet with the publishers. As John said in his last blog the two of us are hopping on a jet airplane Monday at dawn – heading to New York in an attempt to make our store better, find authors for the fall, and explore the future of our industry. It’s our book industry trade show – Book Expo America or BEA.

John asked me to give a round-up of the authors we’re excited about this fall,  he mentioned three “big fish” – Jim Harrison, Michael Ondaatje, and Paul Hendrickson – here are a few more:

Authors we think we have a pretty good chance of scoring:

Charles Frazier is firmly in the category of bookstore friend. He’s been here for both of his books and is truly a wonderful person. The rumor is that Frazier’s new book is going to be great – a page turner set in the 60s so a bit of a departure.

Our new friend Karl Marlantes of Matterhorn fame already has another book coming out. This is non-fiction, the title says it all: What It Is Like to Go to War. Read all about his visit to Lemuria last year here.

I’m pretty sure we’re going to be able to get Jeffrey Eugenides. The author of The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex‘s first book since winning the Pulitzer in 2002.

A few authors that have been to Lemuria before, but we would love to have back include: Daniel Woodrell of recent Winter’s Bone fame, Tony Horwitz author of Confederates in the Attic and A Voyage Long and Strange, Hillary Jordan who wrote Mud Bound, Tom Perrotta, and, it’s been a while, but we can always hope for James Lee Burke to come back to Lemuria.

A couple of new up and comers that we’re excited about are:

Erin Morgenstern author of Night Circus. A bunch of folks on staff have already this book and really really want to meet Erin.

Jesmyn Ward grew up in DeLisle Mississippi and is currently the Grisham writer in residence at Ole Miss. We’re hearing a lot of good buzz about this one.

We’re thrilled to announce that we already have Chuck Palahniuk on the Schedule!

Authors who have never been to Lemuria, but we’re shooting for are: Mark Bowden, Ha Jin, and Haruki Murakami. Murakami’s 1Q84 is said to be his Magnum Opus and is certainly a huge book for this fall – think Cormac McCarthy big or Jonathan Franzen big.

and last but not least a few Children’s authors that we’re working on:

Christopher Paolini, Anna Dewdney (Llama Llama), Loren Long (Otis the Tractor), Rick Riordan, Jane O’Connor (Fancy Nancy), William Joyce, Mem Fox, and Kate DiCamillo (again!).

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The Bookstore Key Series on Changes in the Book Industry

Lemuria’s Headed for NYC (May17) Barnes & Noble Bankrupt? (April 28) Decluttering the Book Market: Ads on the latest Kindle (April 14) Independents on the Exposed End of the Titantic? (April 6th) Border’s Bonuses (March 30) The Experience of Holding a Book (March15) Finding “Deep Time” in a Bookstore (March 8th) Reading The New Rules of Retail by Lewis & Dart (March 3) The Future Price of the Physical Book (Feb 18) Borders Declares Bankruptcy (Feb 16) How Great Things Happen at Lemuria (Feb 8th) The Jackson Area Book Market (Jan 25) What’s in Store for Local Bookselling Markets? (Jan 18) Selling Books Is a People Business (Jan 14) A Shift in Southern Bookselling? (Jan 13) The Changing Book Industry (Jan 11)

Borders has missed its deadline of May 6th for bids that would keep the company operating. B & N expressed interest to buy 10 stores. Another offer is rumored to buy 200 stores. This unknown company seems to be interested in the large retails outlets that garner the bulk of the company revenues.

Borders may be forced to close all of its remaining stores if no bidder is found in the next few weeks. With this news and lots of other things on our minds, we’re headed to New York to attend our once-a-year trade show. Many of you may wonder how Lemuria can bring so many first class writers to a small community like Jackson. The answer starts next week when Joe and I land in NYC. The 2011 show should be especially interesting with Borders declining in the brick model and the rapid emergence of the e-book.

Our challenge will be to find  out which publishers are interested in working directly with Lemuria to enhance our reading community. We’ll be exploring what the future will hold for Lemuria’s work with the nation’s top publishers.

Lemuria is particularly challenged by this opportunity with our industry’s change. We want to come out of this paradigm shift giving Jackson a better and more successful bookstore. Our work next week will be important in determining if that quality growth will actually come about.

Lemuria doesn’t know what attitude the publishers will have toward our work. Will publishers and authors care about the physical book or just put up a smoke screen? Will the overall focus be on the e-book? I expect we will be shined with both attitudes. However, I’m encouraged that our good publishers will still want quality physical books to thrive and will need local booksellers and plan to enhance their efforts.

On this trip, I’m out to catch these three big fish:

1. Jim Harrison’s new book The Great Leader, published by Grove.

The word is that our longtime favorite, Big Jim, is not coming South. But that is not going to stop me from trying to get a Dixie trip out of the Old Bear. I just started reading Great Leader yesterday. Fans, get ready for Jim’s new counter ego hero. He’s grand again.

2. Michael Ondaatje’s The Cat’s Table, published by Knopf

Michael Ondaatje has never been to our bookstore. A Jax trip is a long shot we hear, however, we are going to try for it. I have read all of Ondaatje’s novels and a goodly bit his nonfiction and poetry. He is one of my favorites and we will work hard to lure Ondaatje South. This is an author whose market size hurts us, but we’re going to let out a lion’s roar for a Mississippi trip.

3. Paul Hendrickson’s Hemingway’s Boat 1934-1961. Five hundred and sixty pages about Papa and Pilar sharing everything Papa loved in life and lost.

Well, that’s just a taste. Watch out for Joe’s round up of our upcoming work in New York in a couple of days. We will share some of the authors who have already made it to our events list and other writers with new books coming out this fall.

We will also be giving you a preview to some of the projects we have in the works for our local community. We’re planning to enhance our physical book reading community this fall through our efforts in the Big Apple. Stay tuned.

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The Bookstore Key Series on Changes in the Book Industry

Barnes & Noble Bankrupt? (April 28) Decluttering the Book Market: Ads on the latest Kindle (April 14) Independents on the Exposed End of the Titantic? (April 6th) Border’s Bonuses (March 30) The Experience of Holding a Book (March15) Finding “Deep Time” in a Bookstore (March 8th) Reading The New Rules of Retail by Lewis & Dart (March 3) The Future Price of the Physical Book (Feb 18) Borders Declares Bankruptcy (Feb 16) How Great Things Happen at Lemuria (Feb 8th) The Jackson Area Book Market (Jan 25) What’s in Store for Local Bookselling Markets? (Jan 18) Selling Books Is a People Business (Jan 14) A Shift in Southern Bookselling? (Jan 13) The Changing Book Industry (Jan 11)

If you have ever been back to the children’s area of Lemuria, lovingly known as Oz, you probably have heard us rave about Kate DiCamillo, if not by name, then by her book titles. Because of Winn-Dixie, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, The Tale of Despereaux, the Mercy Watson series, these books are just a few of the amazing works that Kate has given us.

In a blog I wrote last year, I discussed Kate’s 2010 Indies Choice Award “Most Engaging Author” and her love for indies. Well, I am here to say that we love you in return, Kate. One of the best parts of my day is handing a book to a child knowing that it will open their hearts and minds and leave them with that amazing tingly feeling you get when you finish a good book. Often, the author of that book in my hand is Kate DiCamillo.

Kate has won so many awards that it is hard to keep up, but just to name a few:

Newbery Honor for Because of Winn-Dixie (which was turned into a great live action film)
National Book Award Finalist for Tiger Rising
Newbery Medal for The Tales of Despereaux (which was also turned into an animated film)
Geisel Award for Bink and Gollie

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We recently read The Magician’s Elephant with my 5th grade girls book club. One of the girls described the language in the book as “layered,” and I couldn’t agree more, not just about The Magician’s Elephant, but about all of Kate’s books. These are books that you read to your small children and then give back to them when they are in second and third grade for them to read again and find their own magic. They connect with such a wide audience, from people such as myself, a twenty-something with no children, to grandmothers, and three-year-olds. In a blog I wrote last Christmas, I gushed about my love for her newest format of book, Bink and Gollie, which won the Geisel Award, an award given to books that encourages reluctant readers.

As you can see, I am in love with Kate DiCamillo works and what they do for children’s literature, but it’s not just me. Others at the store and in the community are in love with her books as well. She appears on more bookcases and on more summer reading lists in the area than any other writer. I am so excited that she will be here this Sunday, May 15th at 1:00! She will be signing and reading, so please come meet this amazing children’s writer!

There are some rules associated with this signing that you will need to be aware of:

• Kate will sign AND personalize one title per person and just sign up to two additional titles per person. So all in all, you will be allowed to get three books signed by Kate the day of the signing. Also, one of these books will need to be bought from Lemuria.
• Kate will NOT sign promotional items, posters, autograph books, personal items, etc.
• Kate will allow photos in progress, but there should be no posing or going  behind the signing table.

by Kelly Pickerill

This week at Lemuria we’ve got some great events. The books, one about an Episcopal priest who was an integral force in the civil rights movement, another a collection of letters between one of Jackson’s most beloved authors and the editor of The New Yorker, and the third a chronicle of the blues people and places that shaped Mississippi music, are all worth checking out. The events themselves, however, are what will be most exciting. They’ll all be in our Dot Com building, and each will be a unique experience, featuring either a guest speaker, great food and fun, or live music.

First up, on Tuesday, May 10th starting at 5pm:

Araminta Stone Johnson presents And One Was a Priest: The Life and Times of Duncan M. Gray Jr.

Duncan M. Gray Jr. served various Mississippi parishes from 1953 to 1974, when he was elected bishop of Mississippi. But the story of his life is more than a story of his religious commitment to the Episcopal Church in Mississippi. Gray was a devotee of civil rights and a great player in the fight for racial equality. During our event, not only will Araminta Stone Johnson speak about her book and the life of Gray, but Bishop Duncan M. Gray Jr. will also be here to answer questions and sign the book. Book Friends of the University Press of Mississippi are hosting the event.

Then on Thursday, May 12th starting at 5pm:

Suzanne Marrs presents
What There Is to Say We Have Said: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty and William Maxwell

Marrs is best known as Eudora Welty’s friend and biographer, and her new book contains never before published letters between Welty and William Maxwell, the editor of The New Yorker, of whom Welty wrote, “For fiction writers, he was the headquarters.” Reading their letters gives one a personal peep into the life of writers of the time, including James Thurber, William Shawn, Katherine Anne Porter, J. D. Salinger, Isak Dinesen, William Faulkner, John Updike, Virginia Woolf, Walker Percy, Ford Madox Ford, and John Cheever.  There will be food and wine and lots of good literary talk.

And to end the week with a bang, on Friday, May 13th starting at 5pm:

Roger Stolle presents
Hidden History of Mississippi Blues

Stolle’s book focuses on the blues musicians who shaped our music heritage and those who keep it alive. Cathead Vodka, born in Mississippi and a proud supporter of live music, is co-sponsoring the event, which will include performances by Jimmy “Duck” Holmes before and afterwards. Come out to hear the blues, talk about music, and drink our famous $1 beer.

She Walks in Beauty: A Woman’s Journey Through Poems by Caroline Kennedy (Harper, April 2011)

I enjoyed Caroline Kennedy’s talk with David Letterman this week. I was even more charmed when I flipped through this collection of poetry. As Kennedy notes in the introduction, poetry “shapes an endless conversation about the most important things in life.” She has collected poems familiar and unfamiliar and arranged them into sections which mark the stages of a woman’s life. Beautiful.

The Paris Wife by Paula McClain (Random House, February 2011)

I have not heard one negative comment about this book. Our staff and many of our customers LOVE this book. Nan had this to say in her blog:

“Told from the point of view of Hadley, the first wife, or the “Paris wife”, this novel gives an “up close and personal” view of  Hemingway, the man, and his newly emerging career. As he and Hadley travel throughout Europe, and particularly Spain, the reader watches as the writer gathers details for his first short story collection In Our Time, and for his first novel The Sun Also Rises”

This is a fantastic read for fans of Hemingway or readers who are just looking for a “good” read. Read more of Nan’s blog here.

A Classical Journey: The Houses of Ken Tate (January 2011)

With A Classical Journey Ken Tate gives us his first book since 2005. Filled with photographs of homes across Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, Journey sets an easy pace into Tate’s world of “intuitive classicism” with beautiful foldout reflections, poetry, quotations and mini-interviews. Read more on Ken Tate here.

Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks (Penguin, May 2011)

I couldn’t put this one down. Brooks inspiration for the novel stems from this one historical fact: In 1665, a young man becomes the first native American to graduate from Harvard College. Her story revolves around this young man, Caleb, and a young woman named Bethia who befriends Caleb at a young age. As they both grow up, they must make cultural choices that will affect them for the rest of their lives.

Two Wonderful Cookbooks: A Southerly Course by Martha Hall Foose and Sara Foster’s Southern Kitchen (both new this April)

A Southerly Course has beautiful photography, recipes and stories by Martha. Sara Foster’s Southern Kitchen stays true to the simple southern tradition of cooking. I would have a hard time picking between this two. I’d want both!

Street.com published an eye-popping article today for anybody with an interest in the tumultuous book market.

The headline reads: Barnes & Noble to Go Bankrupt Next, Poll Says

Source: Bankruptcy Scores: 20 Riskiest Retailers

We’ve watched B & N stock lose close to half its market value over the past 12 months and it remains the company no one wants to buy. But bankrupt? Here’s the scoop from The Street.

Street.com has analyzed retailers using the 1968 Altman Z-score, a formula which has shown to be 72% accurate in predicting bankruptcy within 2 years. Twenty retailers, one of them B & N, were found to be in the danger zone for bankruptcy.

Then Street.com polled its readers with this question: Which retailer (out of the 20 retailers) do you think is most likely to file for bankruptcy?

Barnes and Noble won the prize with 31% of the votes. The poll also showed that readers did not think that Barnes & Noble’s great hope, The Nook, would be enough to ward off bankruptcy.

Click here to read the full article. You can also learn about some of the other 20 retailers who were in the the Altman zone for bankruptcy here.

The Bookstore Key Series on Changes in the Book Industry

Decluttering the Book Market: Ads on the latest Kindle (April 14) Independents on the Exposed End of the Titantic? (April 6th) Border’s Bonuses (March 30) The Experience of Holding a Book (March15) Finding “Deep Time” in a Bookstore (March 8th) Reading The New Rules of Retail by Lewis & Dart (March 3) The Future Price of the Physical Book (Feb 18) Borders Declares Bankruptcy (Feb 16) How Great Things Happen at Lemuria (Feb 8th) The Jackson Area Book Market (Jan 25) What’s in Store for Local Bookselling Markets? (Jan 18) Selling Books Is a People Business (Jan 14) A Shift in Southern Bookselling? (Jan 13) The Changing Book Industry (Jan 11)

Lemurians were elevated Monday as Greg Iles came to visit us.

I’m happy to report our time together was like old times, yakking about books and the current book business confusion. Just out of the hospital after a car wreck, Greg is back but he’s got a tough row to hoe this spring sportin’ around his ole self physically. When it comes to his own books, he was juiced about giving his fans two new books due out in 2012. Though most importantly, the joy of being alive radiated off his being.

The curtain was opened yesterday on Greg’s health. He is alive with desire and Lemurians were overjoyed and inspired  by his presence of will. Now is the time for good words and good thoughts from his readers he’s touched. Feel free to share your love and care with a message to cheer him onward: giles34@gmail.com

Lemuria is overjoyed to lead this charge of support for Greg.

Man-o-man I can’t tell you the joy I felt when I saw the smile on Greg’s face as he looked around and talked books in our bookstore.

Independent bookstores to financial analysts have been watching Barnes & Noble’s strategy closely since the rise of the e-book. As an independent bookseller, I couldn’t be more pleased with the impending pressure on big box bookstores.

J. P. Mangalindan of CNN Money.com made the argument for “why Barnes & Noble should go from bookstore to Nookstore.” He makes these key points about the changes at Barnes & Noble:

• B & N stock is down 80% over the last five years.
• Since B & N went on the for-sale market last August, there has been no buyer.
• B & N did beat Borders in branding its very own e-reader as opposed to Borders’ poorly marketed, little known Kobo reader. The B & N Nook has also beat the Sony reader in sales and remains second to Amazon’s Kindle.

Analysts like James McQuivey note B & N’s advantage with the Nook, but caution that changes to store space cannot come quickly enough. E-book sales are predicted to dominate the market within the next 24 months with B & N expected to cut retail space. However, McQuivey urges a faster and more drastic reaction:

“In a conservative market scenario, the company would shutter at least 30%, or 211, of its 705 retail locations, within the next three to five years. ‘If it were me? I’d cut deeper, faster–like two to four years,’ he says, suggesting a boutique model where B & N reduces store capacity by 50% through a combination of store closures, reduced store footprints, and decreased shelf space.'”

Meanwhile, Amazon announced this week that they will now be selling a reduced price Kindle–with ads. With ads?!?

The device is called “Kindle with Special Offers” and features ads from Proctor & Gamble, Buick–and the worst of all–Visa credit cards. If that weren’t enough, the screen saver is sponsored as well. Another layer of ads is Amazon itself–promoting their own products. Amazon assures its customers that the ads will not get in the way of reading.

One of the last questions Mangalindan asks in his article was important because he used the phrase digital company:

“Barnes & Noble has already gotten one thing right in having an ereader ready to help it do battle with Amazon. But as far as successfully transforming itself into a digital company? Well, that’s just Chapter One”

It made me ask myself: Can we say that B & N is moving out of the book business?

Thank You B & N and Amazon for focusing on a digital product and for taking much of the beauty and aesthetic enjoyment out of a book and allowing true book lovers to sell them! To me, putting ads on an e-reading device was the last straw.

What do you think?

The Bookstore Key Series on Changes in the Book Industry

Decluttering the Book Market: Ads on the latest Kindle (April 14) Independents on the Exposed End of the Titantic? (April 6th) Border’s Bonuses (March 30) The Experience of Holding a Book (March15) Finding “Deep Time” in a Bookstore (March 8th) Reading The New Rules of Retail by Lewis & Dart (March 3) The Future Price of the Physical Book (Feb 18) Borders Declares Bankruptcy (Feb 16) How Great Things Happen at Lemuria (Feb 8th) The Jackson Area Book Market (Jan 25) What’s in Store for Local Bookselling Markets? (Jan 18) Selling Books Is a People Business (Jan 14) A Shift in Southern Bookselling? (Jan 13) The Changing Book Industry (Jan 11)

In 1975, Lemuria was born as an independent bookstore. It was a brain-germ product of the counter culture movement that started in the 60s. Middle America was a little later in the culture realization of those times. I remember that independents were approximately 50% of trade sales for publishers. We were also in the middle of the “malling of America” retail growth stage and the mall chain bookstores were the primary competition for independents.

Above: The original Lemuria sign used at The Quarter.

As the “malling” strength took effect, a parade of cattle-like customers looking to consume enhanced the growth of chain bookstores. Somewhere in the 80s, I remember independents strength of sales declining to 40%, then 33%, thus decreasing the importance of independent book selling in the marketplace.

Left: Lemuria was actually a converted apartment and held a modest $8,000 in books.

In the 90s, independents were challenged by the development of the big box stores, and their strategy branding (B&N, Borders and in the South, Books-A-Million). Wholesale Clubs, Wal-Mart, etc. began to erode small store sales using heavy loss leader discounting. Independent market share continued to drop 25% to 20% and so on.

Amazon was also birthed in the 90s, and the loss leader book price was exaggerated to its height of influence and product devaluation as the new century began. Airports became the new malls as bookstores prospered from the busy traveler. Independent market share dropped like a sunk boat to around 10%. Product printed price seemed to have little meaning as independents struggled to add customer value from their reading skills, inventory editing using their buying skills, and loyal author/publisher support with bookstore signings and readings.

In the 2000s, box stores boomed, Amazon sales exploded and price clubs continue to devalue our market place and product. Now 2011, Borders appears busted, B&N seems on the run, though end of year sales figures don’t prove that fact. Amazon’s Kindle is in a beast-like growth cycle and seems to be the lead market dictator followed by the nook and iPad. (See previous Bookstore Key: The New Rules of Retail)

Please note, these exact sales figures are not my point, for I am reflecting basically from memory. However, 3 1/2% of market share is where independents stand today according to a recent Publisher’s Weekly article.

Market Share of Major Outlets for Trade Books, 2009–2010

(based on dollars)

(See full article in Publisher’s Weekly here.)

You may ask why I write this as it appears that the independents industry strength is at the exposed end of the Titanic about to sink with the band playing a swan song: I disagree.

Our time for redefinition is now. We can be vital again, and if we made it through the Great Recession, we’ve done a few things right. As we’ve flattened out, it’s now time to bust a gut and grow, utilizing what we do right. We need to keep refining our bookstores to our community. Do we have the energy left and can we muster up the juice it takes to grow again?

So much depends on our publishers and their desire or need for our good work and services. Three and a half percent of trade sales is so little, however, can our influence be 10% or more in 2 years? I’m not so sure it can’t, and who knows if that can happen. We need help from the publishers that care about our work, helping us to make our presence more felt in our communities to enhance good books, good authors and good writing.

And once again, I ask: Can the publishers lower retail prices to give us a chance? Please help us stop the prostitution of our product and so much hard work by the authors. Good readers and good booksellers want the care and good help of publishers.

See previous blog on The Future Price of the Physical Book