Sometime I wonder if kindness still exists...

[reviews_and_ramblings]

I own an independent bookstore. It's little, it's beautiful and it's mine. Really from the bookstore I gain very little, my profit is from the connected restaurant-caffetteria, still I struggle to mantain my bookstore. I'm specialized in minor publishers and new authors. When I host an author I post the event on my site, I send for two weeks the newsletter (1000 email address!), I print posters to hang on my bookstore and I send the news to the local newspapers. And I ask nothing to the author or to the publisher: other bookstore ask money to host authors, specially new authors, but I want to give the opportunity to people and writers to meet by person. Most of the time the event has a medium average success, sometime a big success and sometime is a total flop. One week ago I hosted a new author, not very famous, but he has the lucky that his novel was published by a medium important italian publisher. But the event was a disaster: three people, and the author was very pissed. But what could I do? drag the people inside the bookstore? Other times when it happened authors were sorry but they didn't accuse me. Today I discover on the author's website that he has written that I'm an amateur bookseller, that other authors must not trust me, he says "fuck me" (I don't know is this is the exact translation, in italian is a very bad bad expression). I'm angry but I'm also sad: I don't understand why people are so brute and so negative.

Comments

[zehavit-lamasu.livejournal.com]

Sounds like he dissapeared up his own arse for no apparent reason. This annoys me on so many levels. First because it scares me off going for book signing with authors I truely care about and mostly because it does damadge to independent book stores. I ADORE independent book stores and there are not enough of those around... please don't let one nasty individual put you off from running the store. I also love small print publications so I think what you are doing is great!

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

thanks. it's not simple, many people say to me not to organize event with small authors, and also to try to open my bookstore to titles of more success, but I opened my bookstore because it is my dream, and I always hope that if I like what I do, also other people like it.