Today, Los Angeles lost a great bookstore. Authors got an email today from Kirk Pasich and Pamela Woods, owners of the Mystery Bookstore, announcing that they are closing their store on January 31. It's like hearing that close friend has been diagnosed with a terminal, and incurable, illness.
We have very much enjoyed owning the Mystery Bookstore in Los Angeles.
We've enjoyed your books and getting to know you, and the kindness and generosity of spirit you've shown us–as well as your visits and signings. Unfortunately, we, too, are going the way of too many independent bookstores. We simply cannot compete with the Amazons of the world and the impact of the economy. We love the bookstore and mysteries and the relationships we've formed with authors and publishers and agents and publicists. But, we do have retirement to think about (not in the near future!), and family and, well, all of those things that require money. So, it is with considerable sadness that we announce that The Mystery Bookstore, Los Angeles, will–after many years (and as apparently the last-standing bookstore in Westwood, other than UCLA's student store)–be closing. Our last day will be January 31, 2011.
This is very sad news… both for me as a mystery lover, a reader, and as an author. I am really going to miss it.
Even sadder? No bookstore closure surprises me. I’m only surprised when they actually survive. The pain of losing bookstores and record shops is terrible, but like other industries pushed out of the way for progress, the next generation won’t even know what they’re missing.
It wasn’t just authors who got that. It went out to patrons as well.
Mark
I walk by the small independent bookstore (in my tiny mountain town) and wonder what plans they’ve made to deal with not just the Amazons of the world, but also the growing wave of ebooks.
They sell a lot of large-format books to tourists – a market not in danger of being overtaken by ebooks or even Amazon – but after all, a small business doesn’t need to lose 100% of its market to fail.
Perhaps only 20%-30% is enough.
Intresting to read next to your experiments with Kindle. See the connection?