So this is it. Borders has officially filed for bankruptcy. They have released a list of 200 stores they will be closing over the next several weeks, and it is expected that they will close at least another 75. How should we be feeling about this? As booksellers, as book lovers? Personally, I am afraid, delighted, and saddened. The part of me that works in a bookstore across the street from a Borders that is closing down is delighted. The part of me that works in a bookstore in a city that is losing two bookstores this month (only one of them a Borders) is saddened . . . but also hopeful we will get their business. The part of me that recognizes the impact of a major chain closing down that owes the six major publishing houses around $40 million each is actually freaked the fuck out. This is a big deal.
BY LAURA PEARSON: News and notes on small presses, periodicals, and literary goings-on
A NEW COLUMN BY LAURA PEARSON: News and notes on small presses, periodicals, and literary goings-on
MOONY HABITATIONS BY LEILANI CLARK: Eliminating publishing’s gate-keeper mentality
A Fairness Doctrine 2.0 would be bad for both conservatives and liberals
Our contributors cut through the doublespeak of the year with succinct year-ending equations
An interview with activist Anne Elizabeth Moore about the tortured birth of the fake New York Times
Looking for a specific way to help preserve your independents? South End Press is in the running for a $20,000 grant from the quirky website Ideablob.
The small, social justice-oriented press became a candidate for the grant via its Community Supported Publishing (CSP) Program, designed to promote sustainability in independent publishing. Like Community Supported Agriculture, this effort helps make available a steady crop of quality books. Now the CSP Program is up against seven other “ideas” in Ideablob’s July Showdown, and the winner receives a generous grant.
To help South End Press receive these much-needed funds, visit ideablob.com and cast your vote. Voting closes July 31, 2008.
The indie literati offers tips on this summer’s best reading
Paul M Davis