You want to watch me talk myself into buying books I probably can't afford?
I keep a list of books that I glean from the internet. Books that just seem to call out to me. Cool books. Good books. Books that fit my store. Books that I yearn to have....
Books I can't really fit into the budget.
Damn.
'Wait a minute,' I tell myself. A little red figure pops up on my shoulder. 'Christmas is coming!'
'Yeah,' says a little white figure on my other shoulder. 'But what if it does what last summer did, and comes in well below average? Besides, you already spent a bunch of money on sale product that you have to recoup at Christmas.'
Meanwhile, I go on Shelf Awareness, and see these wonderful pictures of covers, I read interviews of authors who proselytize certain books with an evangelistic fervor. 'Oh, I want that book. I really should have that book.'
Then again, every other entry is about another independent bookstore closing. ' Ouch.'
'Yeah, but you're in good shape financially,' I say to myself, my little devil nodding vigorously'-- sure, the cash flow is starting to look iffy, especially if you order too much, but....but.....you have plenty of credit, and these are GOOD BOOKS!'
A thousand dollars would buy a lot of good books. 'A measly thousand dollars....' Says the little devil on one shoulder. 'You'd recoup that in no time!'
'That's what you always tell yourself,' says the angel on the other shoulder. 'You've already got plenty of good books, and you have a budget that will allow you to order more. Just not crazy more.'
'Yeah but Salmon Rushdie is writing a fantasy book! A fantasy book, dude! Salmon Rushdie!" I visualize the little devil with a bunch of books speared on his little tail.
The angel, on the other shoulder, is empty handed, beatific. "When was the last time you sold a Rushdie book? Or a new hardcover?'
And so it goes....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
That little devil is a well travelled fella. Like Santa's evil elf.
Curious to know if you have ever considered writing a book about small business? Something along the lines of a humourous collection of anecdotes, essays and words of wisdom for the fool-hardy, but brave, budding enterpreneur? From what I've read on your blog so far, it would be a hoot. But... would it sell? You would be a better judge of that.
Spockgirl has a good idea. You probably could draw much of the material from this blog.
Writing this blog is easy.
Writing a book is hard.
I believe writing a novel would be much harder than writing a book. Now, translating your blog into a book would be serious fun, akin to re-arranging your store. Heh.
Duncan, to make the book relevant, I suggest that you team up with someone who has a successful on-line business so you can show both sides - brick and mortar business, plus web business. Alternatively, you could start selling your products on-line as well as in your store, and let us know how it goes. It would be fascinating!
By "more relevant" I meant that such a book would appeal to a bigger audience. And I'm sure that many store owners would want to know how to get in to on-line sales if they could see the success that others are having.
mugmkr:
Nope, I didn't mean a "how-to" type of book... there's probably too many of those on the market. I was thinking more on the lines of a small business version of what "I Feel Bad About My Neck" was to women over 40 (or 50). In retail, as in life, you need a sense of humour to get through it.
I'll stop commenting on this post now. Still think the book would be great.
Hi Spockgirl, I've learned a lot from this blog in terms of how small business folks run their businesses. It does not quite translate to how I run my on-line business, but there is some crossover. Hence my comment. But yes, a book of Duncan's stories would be good as you suggested!
Post a Comment