You may know Roy Blount Jr. as a Southern humorist. He's also the current president of the Author's Guild. This past week he issued the following about shopping at independent book stores.
Subject: Holiday Message from Roy Blount
I've been talking to booksellers lately who report that times are
hard. And local booksellers aren't known for vast reserves of capital,
so a serious dip in sales can be devastating. Booksellers don't lose
enough money, however, to receive congressional attention. A
government bailout isn't in the cards.
We don't want bookstores to die. Authors need them, and so do
neighborhoods. So let's mount a book-buying splurge. Get your friends
together, go to your local bookstore and have a book-buying party. Buy
the rest of your Christmas presents, but that's just for starters.
Clear out the mysteries, wrap up the histories, beam up the science
fiction! Round up the westerns, go crazy for self-help, say yes to the
university press books! Get a load of those coffee-table books, fatten
up on slim volumes of verse, and take a chance on romance!
There will be birthdays in the next twelve months; books keep well;
they're easy to wrap: buy those books now. Buy replacements for any
books looking raggedy on your shelves. Stockpile children's books as
gifts for friends who look like they may eventually give birth. Hold
off on the flat-screen TV and the GPS (they'll be cheaper after
Christmas) and buy many, many books. Then tell the grateful
booksellers, who by this time will be hanging onto your legs begging
you to stay and live with their cat in the stockroom: "Got to move on,
folks. Got some books to write now. You see...we're the Authors Guild."
Enjoy the holidays.
Roy Blount Jr.
President
Authors Guild
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