Selling the Facts in Independent Bookstores

Bookstores have always been a locus of ideas, but in the months since the hateful rhetoric and racial violence surrounding the 2016 election, they have become a place of refuge and knowledge-seeking around the country. To celebrate today's University Press Week blog tour theme of "Selling the Facts," we talked to booksellers here in Austin, Texas, about selling books as a form of activism in the misinformation age. 

'Righteous Babe' Sue from BookWoman

We are quite fortunate to have many independent bookstores in this city, where readers are convening to sort through the 'fake news' epidemic and fight intolerance. BookWoman is literally one woman, the incredible Susan Post, who co-founded a collective called Common Woman Bookstore over forty years ago. She is quite busy doing what she loves. However, she enthusiastically shared her forthcoming event on Wednesday, November 8, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. with author Annette McGivney discussing domestic violence and her new book Pure Land. All of Annette McGivney's profits from the books sold will be donated to Austin's SAFE Alliance Family Shelter.

Please enjoy this edited interview with local booksellers from BookPeople, South Congress Books, Malvern Books, and Monkeywrench Books about how the business of selling facts is going.

What has it been like working in bookselling since the election?

Erika Allbright
South Congress Books, in the heart of the South Congress shopping district

Definitely a bigger interest in certain books like 1984. We get a lot of comments about how 1984 was quite prophetic. We've always had a lot of people interested in history, but a few more are trying to see how the past led us to where we are right now in 2017.

Erika from South Congress Books

Taylor Pate
Malvern Books

So we sell small press and independently published books and our focus is literary arts so a lot of it is politically informed and socially engaged. For our community, you know, the air went out of the room when the election happened and since then it's pretty much been business as normal. We just keep choosing the books that we like. Nothing in that regard has really changed.

Abby
BookPeople

Display inside Malvern Books

Our mission hasn't changed at all, but these days it's all about exploring how we can engage our communities in new ways. Some people, yes, they come in for a diversion from current events. They want comfort. But there are also people coming in looking for more information or a motivation to take action. A lot of university presses publish books that people are looking for on policy topics like immigration. Impeachment: A Citizen's Guide was very popular.

Anonymous volunteer
Monkeywrench Books

So prior to the election, most of the people who came in here, I don't want to say had an "ideology" but had formed opinions about the election. But many more people who don't have formed opinions have been in the store recently. 

Instagram post by BookPeople staff

How have your conversations with your customers changed?

Erika, South Congress Books

It's a bit more political. Of course, it's something we try to keep on the soft pedal just because we have all kinds of people here. So when I'm up front talking to everyone who comes in, I just don't bring it up. But if someone brings it up like they did this morning, commenting on the protagonist in 1984 and how he was tasked with rewriting the news to reflect more positively on the government . . . this person was talking to me, he was an older fellow, I'd say he was probably eighty, commenting on how prophetic he had found it. And I just kinda go, "Yeah, you've got that right." And I just have to leave it at that because I'm at work, whereas if we were drinking a beer together...

Taylor, Malvern

Customers have had conversations with us.  I mean, like I said we try to be a safe space, an open, inclusive space for everyone. We feel like we're a space for those conversations to happen and we encourage them. We've had a couple of events that were like "resistance" events, to call attention to the fact that not everyone agrees with the people who are in power right now and the decisions that are being made. Our voices aren't nothing, especially in a bookstore. We have a really big community, we actually have several author communities that use this space as a place to have their community events, so we just kinda sat back and watched all of that happen. And you know, from the old-school Austin poets to groups of disabled folks, these people are all affected in a different way by fears. The customers? Yeah, we've just been talking politics.

Abby, BookPeople

South Congress Books storefront

Yeah, certainly. It's always been rewarding to share in these ways with customers, to steer someone and possibly expand their worldview. You know the groups that had convened here before have seen increased membership from people who are coming to work through issues like race and prejudice. We have a diversity book club that has really increased its membership. They've stepped up their focus on tough conversations. We're lucky enough to be able to turn on a dime as events unfold: you know, put up a display like our "Alternative Facts" one or our Black Lives Matter one. Our literature in translation group this past year has really put their focus on diversity. Our colleague Megan coordinated a staff training with the Anti-Defamation League to talk to our entire staff about how to overcome stereotypes. We also made a special push for Mohsin Hamid's Exit West. We heard a lot of buzz about the book and thought it was the perfect read to address the refugee crisis. We decided to commit a portion of the proceeds from the first 500 hardcovers sold to donate to Caritas of Austin, an organization that works with refugees and vulnerable immigrant communities in Austin. Our hope is to promote empathy, and we hope to keep it going with different books and organizations in the future.

Anonymous, Monkeywrench

Some of them do want to have that conversation with a bookseller. Most people don't come in to debate, but most people who come in are trying to figure out their own ideas. 

Display inside Malvern Books

Do you feel a greater sense of purpose in your job?

Erika, South Congress Books

Absolutely. I love that question. That's something we've even discussed as a team. About how important it is to be a gateway to ideas. We sell ideas here. And I have a great story. It still cracks me up. We had a signed book by Bill Clinton in the front window and this fellow, his friend wanted to come in but he . . . people will jokingly make it clear sometimes that they don't have anything to do with books. And so this guy came in and was kinda talking to himself and to me and he said, "Oh, Bill Clinton, huh? That's some pretty expensive toilet paper you got there." And I just kept my mouth shut, you know, mhmm! And he said just as he was walking out the door, "Books scare me!" It was all okay, you know. Just one of those things. But I wanted to shout out after him, "I bet they do! Because they're full of ideas!" So some people really feel the need to let you know their position. You see when people only come in because their friends drag them in, and they're like, "Oh, you know, I never read." So my little line when they say that is, "Oh, well that's okay! We have books with pictures." And that usually makes people laugh. It softens it. I see sometimes people are a little intimidated because they know they're not well-read and so I very much want them not to be intimidated. It doesn't matter if you don't read. Bookstores are for everybody.

Taylor, Malvern

Sign inside BookWoman

No, we've always felt that sense of purpose here. That's been our message and our purpose as a store, you know, to bring books to the world. But as individual staff members, our staff has always had that purpose. We've seen a huge swing, you know. We have a lot of open mikes. It's a community space and this is a place where people do feel comfortable to just come in and speak whatever is in their heart, whatever is bothering them. So we have seen a ton of that, especially at the open mikes. It's sobering to see how everyone is affected by it. You think that some little thing is no big deal and then someone writes a ten-minute piece about it.

Anonymous, Monkeywrench

Not really a greater purpose, but a greater opportunity. Basically, Trump and Trump-like figures are an inevitable result of the kind of world we live in. The purpose is the same; the urgency might be more.

What is your biggest challenge getting books that matter to readers?

Taylor of Malvern Books

Taylor, Malvern

It's just getting readers in the door for us. Whether people are coming in looking for that sort of thing and event, or aren't really looking for something politically-inspired, you know, it's something we feel really passionate about. When we're making a list of recommendations for a customer, we'll try to have that list be as diverse as possible, always. I mean, for the benefit of the reader but also for the benefit of the writer. Yeah, we just need people in the store. So our biggest sales day ever was on Inauguration Day when we donated 100% of our sales to Planned Parenthood. That was our biggest sale day ever. We promote stuff like that on social media and local radio stations; you know, it was probably in the [Austin] Chronicle. There was a network of stores that day. People would just go on down to Bouldin Creek Cafe for brunch after shopping, you know, saying "I'll keep donating all my money!" That was the biggest single sales day since our opening; it was insane. If you were wondering if people even knew we were here, they totally did! Because they all showed up to support Planned Parenthood on inauguration day. It was really great. And we try to do few a fundraisers a year.


Anonymous, Monkeywrench


Money. Definitely money. There's plenty of books out there and we try to help people get those books. For a lot of people, it's just easier to get the electronic version or go through Amazon. There's a lot of stuff closing in this neighborhood. The skate shop across the street just shut down.

Do you as a staff brainstorm opportunities or do the communities come to you?

Taylor, Malvern

Interior of Monkeywrench Books

Honestly, it's often the owner or someone on staff who has those ideas. But you know, with all the hate that is happening in the world right now, it's not like we're at a loss for causes to donate to. And people are energized. Recently we donated to a "keep guns off the street" organization in response to the Las Vegas shooting and before that we were doing the Southern Poverty Law Center. We try and do what we can. We've got a phenomenal owner who doesn't mind taking the hit on a big sales day to donate to a worthy cause.

Keep going on the blog tour! Today’s theme 'Selling the Facts' has contributions from our fellow university presses:

University of Minnesota Press blogs about Bookstores/Booksellers and/or sales folks (reps and in-house) in the Age of Trump or Selling Books as a Form of Activism

University of Hawai’i Press offers guerilla-style interviews with local booksellers on their experiences serving readers since the election.

Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore Indy The Ivy Bookshop writes about selling in the Age of Trump and working with JHUP in general.

Duke University Press Sales Manager Jennifer Schaper reports on how Frankfurt Book Fair attendees were engaging with Trump and Brexit

Columbia University Press Conor Broughan, Northeast Sales Representative for the Columbia University Press Sales Consortium, discusses the roles of University Presses and their sales representatives in politically complicated times.

University Press of Kentucky  Societal benefits (payoff) in university presses continuing to publish and readers continuing to have access to well-researched, low-controversy, long-form published content in an age of distraction, manufactured outrage, and hyper partisanship.

University of Toronto Press The experiences of a Canadian higher education sales rep, selling books on US campuses.

www.utexaspress.com

Recipes from Fonda San Miguel

Austin locals know the restaurant Fonda San Miguel as a great place to gather with families for a special occasion. Its Sunday brunch is legendary. As one of the Southwest's top restaurants, not only is the food top quality, its ambiance and art transport patrons to

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a romantic hacienda in Mexico.

When the Fonda San Miguel cookbook was first published in 2005, it was an instant hit and won awards from the International Association of Culinary Professionals and Independent Publishers Association. Fonda San Miguel: Forty Years of Food and Art is now updated and reissued with a lavish compilation of recipes and art from one of America’s premier restaurants serving interior Mexican cuisine.

To celebrate, we've pulled a few recipes from the book for Thanksgiving week. Feast well!

We've partnered with BookPeople and Edible Austin for a talk with restauranteur and author Tom Gilliland on Thursday, December 8th at 7pm. He'll speak about the book and there will be some bites to taste along with his talk. Don't miss it!

From Fonda San Miguel: Forty Years of Food and Art

Spicy Red Snapper Bloody Mary—or María

This is your spicy Bloody Mary but with a fun twist. You can make it with your choice of gin, vodka, tequila, or mezcal.

• 5 ice cubes
• 1 6-ounce can tomato juice (the best you can get)
• 2 ounces gin, vodka, tequila, or mezcal
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons bottled hot pepper sauce (Salsa Valentina)
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon brine from a jar of olives
• 1 pinch hot chili powder
• 1 pinch garlic powder
• 1 pinch ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon prepared or freshly grated horseradish

Garnish

• 1 celery stalk with leaves (from the heart of the celery)
• 1 small dill pickle
• 2 stuffed green olives
• 1 freshly cut lemon wedge

Place ice cubes in a cocktail shaker. Pour in all liquid ingredients and season with all the rest. Cover and shake until the outside of the shaker is frosty.

Pour all contents, including ice, into a 12-ounce highball glass. Before serving, garnish with celery, pickle, olive, and lemon wedge. Serves 1.

Higaditos con Higos Y Jalapeños
Chicken Livers with Figs and Jalepeños

This may sound like a strange combination, but the sweet/sour/spicy joining of figs, onions, jalapeño, and vinegar is a perfect foil for the livers and their savory richness. These are great served with cocktails.

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter 
• 2 red onions, peeled and thinly sliced 
• 1 fresh jalapeño pepper, chopped 
• 1 2/3 cups chicken livers, trimmed of sinew 
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 
• 4 ripe figs, stems removed and halved 
• 5 tablespoons red wine vinegar 
• 4 slices sourdough bread, toasted 
• Extra virgin olive oil 
• 1/4 cup fl at leaf parsley, roughly chopped 
• Zest of 1/2 lemon

Melt half the butter in a large frying pan. Add the onions, jalapeño, and a pinch of salt. Cook over gentle heat for 20 minutes, until the onion is soft and starting to brown. Remove to a plate and set aside.

Thoroughly pat dry the chicken livers on paper towels. Season well with salt and pepper. Add the remaining butter to the frying pan and, once it foams, add the livers. Fry over medium heat for about 2 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Cook in batches if needed. Set aside with the onions.

Turn the heat to medium-low. Sprinkle the sugar over the pan and add the figs, cut side down. Cook for about 1 minute, until the cut side starts to bubble and brown; turn over. Add the vinegar and bubble for a few seconds, until syrupy. Return the onions and livers to the pan. Correct the seasonings and stir together.

Spoon the fig and liver mixture over the toast. Splash with olive oil and sprinkle with parsley and lemon zest before serving. Serves 4.

UTP on IndieBound's October Next List

Brick-and-mortar independent bookstores are on the rise in the Amazon age largely because they foster a sense of community through engaging staff, author events, and book clubs. That's why it is so exciting to have Don't Suck, Don't Die: Giving Up Vic Chesnutt by Kristin Hersh on the October IndieBound Next List, a roundup of the best new books based on reviews by independent booksellers.

It's our third book to appear on an IndieBound Next List. First, the hardback edition of Jan Reid’s Let the People In: The Life and Times of Ann Richards (now a $11.36 paperback on our website), made a splash in 2012. Then in 2013, Two Prospectors: The Letters of Sam Shepard and Johnny Dark landed on the list alongside Amy Tan, Wally Lamb, and Ann Patchett. Now Kristin Hersh's haunting ode to a lost friend Don't Suck, Don't Die has deeply moved booksellers across the country. Hersh's new book joins Lauren Groff's Fates and Furies, Mary Karr's The Art of Memoir, and other highly anticipated titles. Browse the full list here.

To celebrate, we've gathered all the bookseller reviews together and thrown in our book trailer, Spotify playlist, and fan zine!

Bookseller Quotes

"Add Kristin Hersh’s Don't Suck, Don't Die to the list of music memoirs that have little to do with music. A book about her friendship with the talented and tragic Vic Chesnutt, the style, tone, and quality of the very personal writing allow this work to sit nicely next to Patti Smith’s Just Kids and Kim Gordon’s Girl in a Band, but the unique tenderness between Vic and Kristin ensure that the book also stands alone. The book sometimes feels like a punch in the gut, and sometimes like a good hug, but it is always affecting. For anyone who is a fan of Hersh, or anyone who loved Chesnutt, or anyone who has a best friend."

— Frank Reiss, Owner, A Cappella Books (Atlanta, GA)

"Vic Chesnutt wrote songs so brilliant and powerful that they drew the attention of the likes of Michael Stipe, Patti Smith, and Jeff Mangum. His direct, bold, and uncompromising honesty through artistry are the very things that made him a legend that never broke into mainstream popularity. In Don't Suck, Don't Die, his longtime touring partner and friend Kristen Hersh draws a portrait of an artist so clear and unflinching that only a true friend could. Hersh takes time to focus on the importance of both the tragedies and joys of Chesnutt's life and art, never dismissing the important fleeting moments in exchange for rock star spectacle. No other book about a musician reaches the level of intimacy, respect, and love for a friend as Hersh's does."

— Kevin Elliott, 57th Street Books (Chicago, IL)

"Hersh's memoir of her time spent touring with the musician Vic Chesnutt is an intimate portrayal of a unique friendship faced with the harsh realities of life on the road. Hersh addresses Chesnutt directly in this book giving the reader the feeling of eavesdropping on a conversation that is still ongoing even though Chesnutt killed himself years ago. The method clearly reveals the open wound of Hersh's heart and the beauty of her love for Chesnutt."

— Arsen Kashkashian, Boulder Book Store (Boulder, CO)

 

“This is an amazing memoir. It paints a beautiful portrait of Vic Chesnutt, his unique friendship with the author and the sorrowful broken darkness they each deal with. The language is warm, intimate and poetic. It's so gorgeous it actually hurts to read. I have not been so moved by a piece of art, any art in years. Even with the inevitable tragic ending, Hersh keeps you hanging on with her delicate and sublime prose. You know you are circling a vortex but the water is so perfect you don't care. This story aches, laughs, stuns, pulls you into it like a siren song. You will put it down with insights that seem natural but impossible. You'll want more of both Chesnutt and Hersh and all the more brokenhearted at the enormity of the loss.”

— Bosco Farr, Bookstore manager, BookPeople (Austin, TX)

Spotify Playlist

Hard Landings: Climate Change and Cheap Wine

In observation of the 35th Annual Earth Day on April 22, we asked award-winning writer Seamus McGraw, author of Betting the Farm on a Drought: Stories from the Front Lines of Climate Change, to combine his signature humor and measured approach to the climate change debate for a guest blog post.

'Hard Landings: A Tale of Cheap Wine, Broken Bones and Climate Change'

By Seamus McGraw

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It wasn’t until weeks later--long after the half-gallon of Carlo Rossi red I had swilled and the painkillers that came later in the night wore off--that I actually felt the impact. Sure, I had some vague recollection of the fall, of trying to hop up on the banister in the atrium of my college dorm, three floors above a flagstone foyer, and of missing it by a good six inches. If I racked my brain while recuperating in my bed at home, I could dimly recall a fleeting Wile E. Coyote moment of clarity as I realized that I had indeed missed. And if I really tried, I could even feel myself plunging ass-first through the air as if I were doing a cannonball down onto the stones.

But that’s all. I had no recollection of hitting bottom, no memory of the thunder clap of savage pain that shot through my whole body as part of my hip snapped. What’s more, I had no memory at all of what happened next; how, in an astonishing display of the power of blind, late-adolescent stupidity, I got up, broken hip and all, and, I’m told by several witnesses, tried to run back upstairs, as if rolling the whole episode back to the beginning and doing exactly what I had done again, only this time a little more gracefully, would erase it.

And then, one night, weeks after the incident, while lying in bed half asleep, it all came back, all of it, unbidden-- the panic as I plummeted, the bone-crushing pain as I hit. It was as if it was happening right then and there. But it was, in a way, worse, because with it came a hot rush of shame, not just for being stupid and arrogant enough to do what I did in the first place, but for being such a coward that I wouldn’t even allow myself to fully feel what it was that I had done until I knew I was safe.That was years ago, and, to the relief of everybody who knows me, I’ve long since given up the Carlo Rossi. But I’ve found myself thinking back to that event a lot in recent days. Most recently, it was when US Senator Jim Inhofe, chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and perhaps that august body’s most strident voice against doing anything to combat anthropogenic global climate change, strutted into the Senate with a snowball in his hand.

Indie Booksellers Praise Two Prospectors

We’re very excited to have a repeat appearance on an IndieBound Next List. Last October, it was the hardback edition of Jan Reid’s Let the People In: The Life and Times of Ann Richards (now a paperback pick for $11.36 on our website). This month, independent booksellers heaped praise on our new book Two Prospectors: The Letters of Sam Shepard and Johnny Dark, deeming it worthy of hype alongside the latest from Amy Tan, Wally Lamb, and Ann Patchett. Check out some of the rave reviews of Two Prospectors from independent booksellers across the country – and thank you IndieBound!

“Two Prospectors is an amazing read and the closest thing we'll probably get as far as a memoir from Sam Shepard since he's stated that he has no interest in writing one. Comprised of nearly forty years of correspondence and taped conversations between Shepard and his ex-father-in-law, Johnny Dark, the book is intimate and revealing (who knew that Shepard was into Gurdjieff?) not only about Shepard's craft but also his interior life. Perhaps even more surprising is the fascinating figure that Dark becomes as we get to know him through the letters. All in all, this is a one of a kind literary treasure that will probably not be seen in coming decades with the rise of email. Superbly edited by Hammett and beautifully put together by UT Press with lots of pictures and facsimiles of letters, this is my sleeper pick for one of the best books of the year.”
—Cody Morrison, Square Books, Oxford, MS

"This collection is unique in American letters. I don't know of any writer as open about his life and work as Sam Shepard. In addition, Shepard's a voracious reader who loves to discus what he's reading. This book is a tale of two life long friends trying to keep it together, living the writing life."
—Bob Contant, Saint Mark's Bookshop, New York, NY

"I loved Two Prospectors. The candor with which Shepard and Dark discuss art, love, sex, mortality, aging, time and pretty much everything else in life made this an addicting read. It's fascinating to watch the evolution of their relationship over the course of decades. This is a unique correspondence that made me think deeply about my own attitude towards friendship. Whether you're a Shepard fan or not makes no difference. Anyone with a creative bone will find a lot to chew on in their conversations. Ditto for anyone who spends any time thinking about what it is to live a life. I'm grateful they saved these letters". 

—Julie Wernersbach, Publicist at Book People, Austin, TX