Random thoughts...

[Brian861]

Happy New Year, all!

[Sock Monkey]

Happy New Year to all!

[jeffingoff]

Happiest New Year to everyone!

[jeffingoff]

Either Gauntlet Press is doing Bonfire of the Vanities OR they're publishing Green Mile Redemption

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[Martin]

The Earthling newsletter had something for you Jeff:

Josh Malerman - GOBLIN

POSTERS: As mentioned in our last newsletter, Earthling produced approx. 50 posters for the launch event for GOBLIN. We kept 10 of these to offer Josh's fans through this site. These are high quality prints that show the cover of GOBLIN, are approx 16 x 22 inches on heavy paper, printed in color, and signed in metallic Sharpie pen by the author (Malerman) and artist (Allison Laakko). These are $50 plus postage and will be shipped in a poster tube. Please email [email protected] along with your location and I'll provide a total including postage. Few remain!

[jeffingoff]

The Earthling newsletter had something for you Jeff:

Josh Malerman - GOBLIN

POSTERS: As mentioned in our last newsletter, Earthling produced approx. 50 posters for the launch event for GOBLIN. We kept 10 of these to offer Josh's fans through this site. These are high quality prints that show the cover of GOBLIN, are approx 16 x 22 inches on heavy paper, printed in color, and signed in metallic Sharpie pen by the author (Malerman) and artist (Allison Laakko). These are $50 plus postage and will be shipped in a poster tube. Please email [email protected] along with your location and I'll provide a total including postage. Few remain!

I know! Thank you for thinking of me and pointing it out. That was the second time he offered those posters for sale and the second time I had to handcuff myself to the radiator far away from my computer so I wouldn't buy one. I really really wanted to, but my goal is to focus my spending and that means just books and just books that are MUST haves. I've already broken the second part of that plan by buying Tomorrow's Journal when CD announced it. That is definitely NOT a must have and yet I have it on pre-order.

Baby steps.

Though it is easier for me to pass on items that are not books. Like art. I have no wall space. Otherwise I'd be buying Suntup prints and Goblin posters and such. I bought two artist portfolios (Sleeping Beauties and ark Tower) but I think that's where it will end.

[Ben Staad]

How many hot dogs have you eaten in one meal?

Personally I can say that $0.05 hot dogs, $0.25 tap beer, at the dog racing track was one of my lowest moments..,and highest moments. Many moons ago but wow that is memory, albeit bleary one, that will stick with me 'til I die.

[Brian861]

How many hot dogs have you eaten in one meal?

Personally I can say that $0.05 hot dogs, $0.25 tap beer, at the dog racing track was one of my lowest moments..,and highest moments. Many moons ago but wow that is memory, albeit bleary one, that will stick with me 'til I die.

2 lol.

[Ben Staad]

LOL.

2 lol.

[mhatchett]

Was feeling a little melancholy upon hearing that one of my favorite bookstores, Read it Again Sam in Charlottesville, VA closed it’s doors. The original owners, Gene and Dave, passed away, Dave in March of 2017. His wife sold the store on in December of 2017. The current owners were forced to close last month after discovering that a long-time employee had been embezzling cash sales, not just from them, but from Dave for years. They estimate the loses into the thousands and thousands of dollars. Very sad. Anyway, I thought I would post a few bookshelf pictures to cheer myself up. You can see Dave’s bookmark in one of the photos.

Bookshelf 2a.jpg Bookshelf 3a.jpgbookshelfa.jpg

[RonClinton]

Really sorry to hear it…the loss of any bookstore makes the town it’s in a little less special. I’ve seen far too many of my favorites close their doors, and it’s tough each and every time.

[mhatchett]

I met Dave and Gene about 25 years ago at a book show, something else you don't see much anymore. Richmond used to have a Spring Show and a Fall Show. Sadly their demise coincided with the rise of the internet. It was just easier for dealers to list items, rather than it was to lug inventory around. And the customer base changed as well. There is literally one bookstore left open from the time that I first moved to Richmond in 1989 and it's one I don't frequent lol! I mostly hit flea markets and thrift stores now, and of course the internet. It is sad to see them drift away, especially when you knew the owners and had a relationship.

[Brian861]

That is sad, Mike.

[RonClinton]

I met Dave and Gene about 25 years ago at a book show, something else you don't see much anymore. Richmond used to have a Spring Show and a Fall Show. Sadly their demise coincided with the rise of the internet. It was just easier for dealers to list items, rather than it was to lug inventory around. And the customer base changed as well. There is literally one bookstore left open from the time that I first moved to Richmond in 1989 and it's one I don't frequent lol! I mostly hit flea markets and thrift stores now, and of course the internet. It is sad to see them drift away, especially when you knew the owners and had a relationship.

I used to sell display advertising for a local paper, and in the mid ‘90s I sold a special two-page fold that featured a dozen used/secondhand bookstores that all existed in the ten-mile’ish radius that was my territory. They all knew me well as a customer and I knew them and enjoyed talking with them, and I was able to parlay that relationship with some of them as on-going accounts and some of them just for this one-off special. It was a great promotional project that was a lot of fun for me on a personal level to put together, and I was pleased to see that it did well for the stores, brought some new folks through their doors. Everyone was happy, business was good.

Flash forward 20+ years, and all but one of them is gone, and the one remaining has gone from three stores to one. It’s been tough to watch, and as you said, even more difficult when you have some sort of relationship with the owners.

And that’s just in that local area… I’ve seen many more used bookstores go out of business in the downtown metro area. When we moved to Seattle back in the late ‘80s, it seemed like you couldn’t go two blocks without bumping into a used bookstore...now they’re few and far between.

[jeffingoff]

Congrats to Ron and I for winning the SubPress contest by exploiting our pets. It's kinda tacky congratulation oneself, but I got tired of waiting for my kudos and I'm tacky AF.