Earlier this year, I started a monthly feature called Locally Sourced Romance, which aimed to highlight independent bookstores who were romance-friendly! Unfortunately, I’m here to say that we’ll be retiring that feature. And honestly, that makes me really sad. I’m so grateful for all those who commented, tweeted, and emailed with suggestions of bookstores in their local communities. However, getting those bookstores to be interviewed proved extremely difficult. Radio silence abounded whenever I tried to reach out and contact them.
As a romance reader, I’m often disappointed in independent bookstores and I’ve been very vocal about my frustrations. I live in Boston, which has so many great bookstores, but my needs as a romance reader aren’t being met. Instead, I take my money to places like Amazon or Barnes & Noble where I can try to browse as best I can. I do think it’s important to shop locally and support your community, but when a store’s stock makes me feel like I’m not part of their customer base, it’s a little disheartening.
That’s why I started Locally Sourced. I know there are people out there in the same boat I am, and I wanted to help introduce readers to bookstores they may not have known existed or even carried the books they wanted to read.
I’m by no means discounting the role independent bookstores play and I have had such great experiences in many of them. I want to help them reach a larger audience, whether by encouraging them to broaden their stock or highlighting them on Smart Bitches. But for whatever reason, it’s like I’m meeting a brick wall over and over and I don’t know how else I can support the cause for independent bookstores, especially since I can’t shop with them for the one genre I read most often.
Maybe I’ll pick up Locally Sourced again in the future because I’d love to see how The Ripped Bodice fares after meeting its Kickstarter goal. And if you’re a bookstore manager or owner and your store stocks romance, I would love to hear from you!
For now, though, we’ll be hanging up the feature, but we have plenty more coming up in 2016. Trust me, SBTB HQ is chock full of a bunch of masterminds!
I note that if people would like to buy from an independent bookstore, even if it isn’t local, powells.com — the online arm of Powells Bookstore in Portland — has a pretty good selection of romances.
Too often when I approach bricks & mortar bookstores about signings, even now when they need as many customers as they can get in off the street, I’m told they don’t carry romance novels. We can’t help stores that won’t be helped, and I hope Ripped Bodice (whom I supported in their Kickstarter) and all the other romance-friendly bookstores have a wonderful and profitable 2016.
This makes me SO SAD. I seriously want to open my own, but academia owns me.
We have a great independent bookstore in our neighborhood – except for the romance section, which is tiny and in a back corner and they could obviously care less about! So I shop there for children’s books, general fiction and cookbooks and when I do find a romance title I want I buy it to encourage them. And then I go to Barnes and Noble to find the new releases. “Sigh”
This makes me sad. How many of us dream of finding that perfect little bookstore that understands your needs? We have a lovely used book store in town, but romance is not it’s thing. I had hope that someone in my area would recommend a reasonably local place that I have no knowledge of. Oh well.
Amanda, I hope you get to bring this feature back.
Sad to see this, and even sadder at what is apparently a common experience with indie stores for other readers, but very happy to report that I’ve had the opposite experience. I get all my reading materials from Village Books here in Columbia, MO (okay, fine, I get a lot from the library too — my budget only stretches so far) where owners Becky and Doug have always kept up a strong romance selection in every subgenre you can think of. They are very welcoming of romance readers; they even host a monthly Chic Lit and Chocolate book club where attendees visit over chocolate treats about what we’ve been reading — much of it romance. As I said in my email nomination for them, Village Books (https://www.facebook.com/Village-Books-142301510096/?ref=ts&fref=ts or http://villagebooks.org/) is like Cheers, only better, because, you know, books. When I win the lottery someday I’ll absolutely be investing in my favorite book store. If you don’t have a similarly awesome option in your neck of the woods, you can order from mine (and help keep them going 🙂 — they even offer e-books through their website. I’ll stop gushing now, but will close with a wish that readers everywhere, of every stripe, someday have access to a welcoming book store to call home, because it’s a pretty awesome experience.
You know what? I am also disappointed by B&N selection, too! They have turned their bricks and mortar locations into glorified toy stores that sell books on the side. Last time I visited they had not stocked the following authors: Courtney Milan, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Beverly Jenkins (although I’m sure there are many more).
I have noticed that used book stores are actually the best way to get my hands on the books I want, especially many author’s blacklists that wouldn’t be stocked in a normal bookstore. Titles range from $2 -$3. Can’t beat that!
Valerie: I noticed the same thing at Hastings! When I walked in I thought I was in the wrong store! Seems like the books were an afterthought
It’s never occurred to me to look for romance novels at indie stores. Used book stores? Maybe. But the independents? Hah. After all, they’re all trying to be “better” and “intelligent” alternatives to the big boxes. Which kicks romance out first. Why do I say this? Because I remember asking, at 19, where the romance section was at a great independent store in LA, one that’s still around. And I’ll never forget the look of utter condescension on the man’s face when he said, “Oh we don’t carry *that*.”
Whatever. I kept going there to get key academic and intellectual things I couldn’t find at the Borders across the way. I went to the Borders, and then the Barnes & Noble, for everything else, where I wasn’t judged when I went to the checkout.
I’ve never found an independent bookstore that had the slightest interest in romance. If they do have a romance section it’s always tucked in a back corner, and I never ask for help because of their dismissive attitudes toward romance. As a business owner, if you ignore and refuse to stock the items that are the highest sellers in your market, you really don’t deserve to be in business. This is why I can’t really feel sorry for all of the indie bookstores that have gone out of business in the past few years.
I’m also not in the least surprised that even those bookstores that do have a decent romance section are turning down free publicity. Why, just imagine the harm it would do to their “high-brow” reputation if it actually got out that they also cater to those “low-brow” romance readers!
When I was in school my best friend’s father ran a second hand bookshop specialising in left-wing books (and by left-wing I mean European left-wing into communist). He was able to do this because he also sold Mills & Boon, he had an extensive, faithful customer base for them who would return the books they had read at half price and choose new ones every week. He didn’t let prejudice about them interfere with subsidising what was close to his heart. A lesson too many independants have failed to learn to their cost.
My local bookstore told me that, aside from author signing days, Romance didn’t sell so it was hard for the people there to convince management to stock more Romances.
AHHHHHHHH, how did I not know about this Ripped Bodice kickstarter until now? It’s in my town! I am so super excited for this. Will report back when the place opens.
@Valerie, I agree. Trips to B&N are frustrating in the extreme. If it isn’t less than a year old, you’re unlikely to find it there. I miss my Borders.
It’s a vicious cycle: Romance readers go into these stores to look for romance, and the stores don’t carry romance novels. Then the booksellers say they can’t sell romance because the readers don’t bother to look in independent bookstores anymore. Add on the layer of condescension that so many of us have been subjected to at independent bookstores, and you deepen the chasm between these voracious readers and those stores.
Another factor, honestly, is cost. The number of books romance readers purchase makes us cost conscious. Most independent bookstores can’t afford to discount books. You often have to be dedicated to an independent store to purchase there, because savings don’t necessarily materialize the way they do at B&N or Amazon with their coupons and discounts.
It’s a true push/pull for any romance reader.
let me introduce myself–I own Phoenix Used Books in North Bend, WA, and I love romance (which is why I’m a subscriber here!). I have a large romance section in the center of the store. Unfortunately, I have to say that the advent of e-readers has seriously eroded the sales in romance. But I love it when a romance reader comes in and I’m more than happy to discuss books, authors, series, all things romance. I may start carrying new books in 2016 so I can maybe attract some authors for book signings. I’m working on a website now but you can find me on Facebook (Phoenix Used Books North Bend).
I am deeply saddened by the demise of the independent bookstore. Although, I have to also confess to being a hypocrite because I read all my fiction on my Kindle. So I have helped in their demise.
I live in San Diego, CA. I don’t mind admitting that here. It’s a huge city. We used to have a lot of independent bookstores here, although most of them were for used books. I’ve lived here since May, 1993, having moved from the Boston, MA greater suburbia, and in that time, have seen so many of these wonderful stores close.
The used bookstores that were the most romance friendly were the ones where a person could trade in their books. They would gigantic romance sections.
One independent bookstore that I know of that sells new books is called Mysterious Galaxy. It is named that because it sells mysteries and science fiction/fantasy. Since some romance novels are mysteries and science fiction/fantasy, the Mysterious Galaxy sells them.
They are not found in a special section. Mysteries are sold in one half, arranged alphabetically by author. As is the SF/F in the other half. That is the reason I did not mention this bookstore previously.
Although I am fairly certain they would have responded positively to a request for an interview.
http://www.mystgalaxy.com/
We (my family) have two bookstores on the Oregon coast. Our other store, Robert’s Bookshop, is the largest use bookstore on the Oregon coast and the one I run, Bob’s Beach Books, carries both new and used books. We’re big romance fans! I find it surprising to hear so many stores aren’t carrying romance novels, they’re hugely popular. We have customers who pre-order books (it gets them a special discount and they know they won’t miss out), and customers who just come to check out what’s on the shelf. And the romance authors we’ve met are so NICE. If we don’t have what someone is looking for we’re always happy to special order for people. If you’re ever in Lincoln City come on by, we’d love to find you something to read!
As Katherine C. said in response 6 I’m sorry as well that others have had bad experiences in finding romances in used bookstores. I’m particularly sorry as I’m the Becky that is the owner of Village Books of which she spoke and I sincerely hope I’ve never ignored a possible contact such as yourself. As there are several of us that can be found at program tracks for booksellers at various conferences including RT I know that we are out there and are more than willing to talk about our stores. I would be happy to work with finding bookstores that are very romance friendly with readers if you decide to bring back the column at some point Amanda. (I tried clicking the “I would love to hear from you link” and only saw a blank page.)
Ah, I live in Rural America. Our one local bookstore, creatively named “The Bookstore”, carries a bit of everything, but pragmatists that they are, the largest selections are in the biggest selling categories: Thrillers, Westerns and Romances. If the titles have an inspirational angle, so much the better.
Still, I go to Amazon for most of my purchases, because there is only so much floor space, and only so many readers in this town, so the selection is still somewhat limited.
I virtually never shop in brick and mortar bookstores anymore, but it was definitely a mutual parting of the ways. The local indies have long been too high-brow to carry much in the way of genre fiction, much less that yucky romance drivel. And the UBSs aren’t much better. The one closest to me carries zero romance. I love trawling for old cooking and craft books (some OOP needlework books can go for big bucks), but the owner just isn’t interested in carrying them, either. So, if I want a used/OOP book, Amazon is my first stop for those, too.
My heart still mourns for Borders. I occasionally ran across a condescending salesclerk, but that was the rare exception. They happily, even excitedly, catered to all of my various book, magazine, and music needs. And, they had enough seating to entice me to stay hours and hours–which was at least as important as the selection. Sob. You’ll never be forgotten, Borders.
I volunteer with my local Friends of the Library group. We sell books online, but also have a bookstore. Ours is in the library, some groups have separate locations. Go see if your local library has a Friends bookshop! Ours didn’t sell much Romance until I showed up and asked if they’d give it a try.
It’s become popular in both the bookstore and quarterly sales. Since all our books are donated it’s a win/win. Readers can get new titles at very low cost and we make money for out wonderful library!
My local library hardly has any romance novels! How am I supposed to see if I like a new author? They used to have a great section of paperback romances, and I’d check out a stack of them every few weeks. Then they remodeled and decided they were too fancy to have that section. Occasionally I can find a romance book in hardback, but that’s it. When they still had romance novels, the librarians would look down their noses at my stack of books. I read all day at work–complicated, academic material. When I read FOR FUN I don’t want to be judged. Honestly the Smart Bitches posts about free or cheap ebooks have replaced the library for me.
@Ellie , I am so sorry that librarians are doing that to you. It is no part of their function and I’d report them to their supervisor.
I was wondering, do you have an e-reader? I have a kindle and I am able to download books to that via my laptop and I never have to see the library or a judgmental librarian at all. The catalog of the library is online.
Might that work for you?
I still grieve the loss of Borders, too. The Borders at Redmond Town Center, Redmond, WA had the best romance section I have ever shopped in. The woman who ran the romance section was a firm believer in hand-selling and had an informal “book club” once a week where romance readers congregated to talk about their favorites.
There are more than 300 romance authors living in a 100 mile radius of Seattle (many of which are the most famous in the genre), but the vast majority of independent bookstores here do not carry romance because they claim “it doesn’t sell”.
Why did Borders go out of business? Someone told me they couldn’t compete with Kindle. If that’s true, why didn’t they do what B&N did and develop an e-reader?
We used to meet in Borders once a month to knit and always left having purchased knitting mags, knitting books, and other books.
Of course, it was not an independent bookstore, but part of a chain.
@Julie, if you’re in Redmond, you’ve been to McDonald’s Book Exchange, right? They have a WHOLE ROOM full of romances! I live in Seattle and drive out a few times a year to fall in love all over again.
@Jackie my in-laws live in Issaquah and are in NB constantly, I’ll send my MIL your way!
I love University, Secret Garden, and Elliot Bay, but I never find romance at any of them, so they lose money every time I walk out unsatisfied. (If anyone knows of good romance stores in Seattle, let me know! I’m one of the bigger romance fans in the library system and I’m always excited to meet other people.)
I am finding it simply amazing, what with Debbie Macomber putting Seattle on the map, that bookstore owners disdain romance so much. LIsa Kleypas, Jayne Ann Krentz, Kristin Hannah, Julia Quinn and others: http://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/books/10-top-selling-washington-state-authors/
Spoiler alert – major rant ahead:
Why DID Borders go out of business? If you ask a long-time employee (book & multi-media seller) who watched helplessly as Corporate played “Operation” with our livelihoods (& love for our product, and {most} customers), their technological short-sightednesses doomed us. Giving away fulfillment business for five years to a competitor (that Management never saw as such) – check. And bringing in a guy whose expertise (if that) was supermarkets – check. You see the obvious comparison, right? Books are to be sold as one would sell produce, Deli and TP. You DON’T see it? Neither did we in the field.
And other things: the “let’s sell Kobos/Sonys/5 other brands of e-readers all at the same time, but let’s give what’s left of our sales staff ultra-minimal training on them so we aren’t increasing payroll at all”, so the sellers alienate shoppers with our lack of proficiency on 7 diverse (and often malfunctioning)instruments (remember: e readers in 2009-2011 were usually first or second generation, at best). AND THEN cut our payroll even more for the immediate weeks before and after Christmas so that customer service is negligible when it’s needed most. I could go on and on (and sometimes I do), but the bottom line is that the systematic demoralization of employees during the last three years (2008-2011) left barely a skeleton crew to go down with a ship that ultimately no one wanted to rescue.
It still hurts. I had to sue to get any of my earned severance for almost eight years of loyal service. I ended up with about 6% of that amount. And most people got nada.
But please don’t give up on large chains. Because many of us are still out there. We’ve sucked it up (some more quickly than others) and ended up at Books-A-Million or Half-Price Books, or of course, at B & N. We may have a different name and location, and a different corporate ethos (which is usually a good thing, but **), but we still LOVE to sell books. Yeah, there’s toys (but they’re pretty cool toys; really), and the kudzu-like graphic novels/manga section has eaten away at the Romance floor-space, but if what you’re looking for is not where you think it should be, PLEASE ask! Things get moved around with great frequency (don’t ask me; I’m sure there’s a “proven algorithm” or something for it), but it’s our job (and my joy) to look things up and treasure-hunt them down for you. Not in stock at the moment you want it? Please let me order it in – usually it arrives in 2-3 days. Or CALL to order it in if you don’t want to make two trips. It’s not ideal, but it’s where we are now. Just please don’t give me absolutely minimal info then ask me a lot of questions (that I happily answer) to find out what it is you want, and THEN stand in front of me and order it on your phone (using my store’s free wifi) from (adjectives self-edited) Jeff Bezos, who has some sick need to destroy bricks and mortar bookstores (except his new one) and put a lot of people out of work . Because, drones. Ugh.
Sorry I just lost it. This always sets me off. What I’m getting at is that (since in 2016, there are fewer indie bookstores stocking romance), IF you can’t find people in one who will bend over backwards to make you happy, please try me at B & N (or other ex-Borders people at other big-box bookstores). It’s much more fun to have me help you, and share suggestions than to wonder if A*****n’s review are auto program-generated by sneaky software.
And yes, I have a fully-loaded Nook with about 175 TBRs (most from SBTB links**). AND I visit my librarian friends twice a week (and pay my share of overdue fines – I’m ok with directing some of my money to them instead of always adding to the toppling stacks in my home). So I think I’m flexible about getting reading materials. And I understand that not everyone has the access or the ability to get to a bookstore. So do what you have to. But ask around if you can. We’re still out there.
** However – the thing about B & N killing all of SBTB’s (and all other “associates'”) sales links as of midnight with barely any notice – well that’s just a jerk thing to do. And I hope the person/people responsible get fired.
Thanks for giving me the space to rant. I love you, SBTB and community. Happy New Year!
we stock romance – we just don’t have time to list all our books. If you are in search of, please email us and ask – we’ll be happy to search our stock for you. Our stock is older – I like the old ones with the interesting dust jackets. books.themadhouseartists.com
As a bookstore I am horrified that you had trouble getting interviews from bookstores. You didn’t call me, I always have my hand up in the air. We recently started selling Local Indie Author ebooks in addition to print books in the store. These are by and large romance titles.
I belong to a group of Independent Bookstores and we are saddened that you have had to abandon the endevor.
Debbie Burke
Jan’s Paperbacks
Beaverton Oregon
I own a little, new and used bookstore in a small town in Florida. Both my new and used romance sections are pretty much comparable in size to my other genre sections. We also have a UF/PNR subsection. SBTB’s reviews have helped me stock and suggest some great romance. We’ve been open for a little over four years now and I have noticed that my new romance sales have been trending down since the fuss over Fifty Shades has blown over. I try to have a little of everything though, so there’s no way I would ever think of trashing my romance sections. Plus, in our store, we are going for cozy and quirky more than erudite. That said, we do carry a good bit of nonfiction.
My insight into part of the problem with interviewing booksellers is: 1) Many of us are quite introverted (even if we can muster a good salesperson facade for the store). 2) Personally, I feel a lot of pressure as a bookseller to sound well-spoken and well-read. There is so often a feeling of inadequacy on both counts. Ask me for Instagram pics of some of my favorite reads, I’m your girl! Ask me to respond to interview questions, I’ll write and rewrite my responses until I’m cross-eyed.
I’m sorry that this venture didn’t turn out for you. If you’re ever in Palatka, Florida check out my store, Read (Think) Books. Sally will help you find something good to read 🙂 – https://www.facebook.com/readthinkbooks/photos/pb.297857116924153.-2207520000.1452029392./520252974684565/?type=3&theater
Half Price Books of the Ozarks is celebrated 30 years in business in 2015. We are locally owned new and used bookstore. We have a large romance section. We have over 100,000 books. I wish I had known about your blog. So to see you close it. We do not have a website but are on Facebook.
Reading all these comments, I am thinking there is no need to close this section of the blog. Seems as if many bookstore owners have volunteered to be interviewed. Maybe this would spark more.