I was proudly showing my new boardgames to a regular customer yesterday; he suggested that I display the games near the new books, instead of with the rpg's.

FLASH....INSIGHT! I knew he was right, and it wasn't something I'd thought of myself. I love that kind of thing. I try for original thinking, or at the least, to recognize original thinking when I hear it. His suggestion not only was right (nothing turns off the general public like half naked barbarians) but it solved my space problem as well. I had put up a new shelf for the board games, but just the few I've gotten in, Zombies, Arkham, Apple to Apples, and a few others, already filled the shelf. And I want to bring in quite a few more. But I have space near the entry way, on top of the bookshelves, that haven't been used very efficiently until now.

It is those FLASH....INSIGHTS! I'm always looking for. When Linda and I started the used-bookstore, THE BOOKMARK, 3 1/2 years ago, we had plenty of time to think about it. Ran it through our minds for years, trying to distill the plans to their essence. We have a saying that we are trying to stick to; "Keep it Simple, Stupid."

The store has performed well, and I'm pretty sure that it was our more than 20 years experience that helped us start off on the right foot. The most crucial decision was that we would be very open to all books that came in the door, except those so damaged that we couldn't do anything with them. My wife chafes sometimes under the deluge, but we both realize that our open door policy has really helped spur our growth.

When I asked other used bookstore people why they didn't accept every book, since most bookstores have a policy of half credit/ half trade which meant that a customer has to spend a dollar for every dollar of credit he or she redeems? Not one of them had an adequate anwer. "Too many books to deal with..." most of them mumbled.

I understand their concern, but it's a lousy reason. That FLASH....INSIGHT! has been the basis of the BOOKMARK's success ever since.

So I'm always looking for original thinking, in both small ways and big ways.

This will probably show just how obsessive/compulsive I really am, but I have a bit of a mantra I use, at least once a day, usually as I'm going to bed at night, or before I go to work in the morning.

"What Have I Done That I Shouldn't Have Done? What Haven't I Done That I Should Have?"

This isn't meant to lay in the guilt. It's meant to open my mind to brainstorming. All ideas accepted. It starts me down a path of thinking. "Did that Work? What if I tried that?" And every once in a while, if I do it often enough and let the subconscious work on it, I get that FLASH...INSIGHT! that makes all the difference.