Rick Simonson

This State and That
December 3, 2007

However it was plotted out, the device of profiling states alphabetically for Publishers Weekly's ongoing series found Washington state written up at exactly the right time for Matthew Thornton's lead-in about book reading and the rainy climate that is found primarily on the west (or wet) side of the Cascade Mountain range. This past weekend has offered bits of everything, from tepid and far-southern sun to a day's dumping of some snow (not good for panic-prone drivers/shoppers except for grocery merchants) to wind but mostly to major, deluge-proportions, watercoursing down hill and dale rainfall. As this is typed, it's been thirty-six hours and more without abating. Did I add that it was the dark time of year?

Good for reading, indeed.

Since we have the soapbox we do here, some words to say that the PW profile of the state was mostly right there. Mist Place knows about limits of time and space. Matthew Thornton was able to distill a number of lengthy (no doubt) calls - getting Chuck Robinson of Village up in Bellingham, independent sales rep Kurtis Lowe, the Methow Valley's store owner (Trail's End) Brian Sweet, and Chris O'Hara of Auntie's in Spokane, along with yours truly, all cited for quotes and/or information.

The piece touches on what feels like a strong, if seldom acknowledged interrelationship between the Seattle area's larger independents and the smaller, neighborhood stores. I'd say that there has also traditionally been a sense of the region - big city,smaller community - and relationship that has changed some over time, as stores close or change buying practices (everything from college stores going the chain route to stores doing more buying from jobbers and less direct), and reps' territories change. Some of the loops are much larger geographically - we have less talk of elsewhere in Washington, Alaska or Idaho, and more of Denver and the Bay Area. There are other factors: the larger cities in the region of Seattle and Portland have gotten denser and more complex in and of themselves (traffic patterns, different communities and constituencies). And, three of the region's five largest independents are part of the Independent Booksellers Consortium, which has its own whorls of contact and connection.

A few additional points, either unstated or to be slightly amended (again, we get our soapbox for this here): the University Bookstore, while mentioned briefly, is also a major player in the presenting of author readings, discussions and signings. Counting some campus-originating events, I'd estimate that they're at, or close to what we tend to present and co-present, in the 40 to 50 range, many months, at least. Like Elliott Bay, the University Bookstore does much out in the community, co-presenting with an array of organizations, working offsite, and doing so to good ends.

There is an inference in the piece ('Seattle is still a city where people attend author readings') put out that Mist Place, at some other point and time, intends to go on about, probably with elbows on the table. This is a stance and persistence thing. 

The inference in that being that in many, if not most other places, people don't attend readings (and don't correspondingly buy books, etc.). Mist Place knows about this, from writing in grid-and proposalese (big publishers' excel spreadsheets) to reading last week's Christian Science Monitor piece, in which Powell's nice two (but only two, and at most, however many) little films are lazily trotted out as new ways of getting around, or spicing up, the tired old author tour. One thing keeping us from launching off on this now is that an email has to be written to the publicist at a big New York house for a major new novel by one of the most committed, in-it-for-the-long-haul younger novelists at work today (significant awards and honors), who is very good when out, but whose new book doesn't look easy-friendly to put in people's hands. The pitch for it could be offputting (war, genocide, obsession, all in the most intense and vivid of language). Some wooing is in order in that realm.

Two last little things: the characterization in the PW piece is that I 'run' Elliott Bay's reading series. While I started it, and once upon a time, did everything involved (including 'run' it), it would be more accurate to now say I help run it. There are other very involved and responsible hands here. That also probably says something about Elliott Bay's organizational 'chart,' which may not jibe with more corporate models.

And ... small correction, in the Literary Sons & Daughters box, to point out that Raymond Carver did have his cravings (but that he might still be with us if he hadn't), his name, still, was Raymond Carver, not Raymond Craver.

37 hours now ... no let up in what's coming down ... who wants to go in to work? This is burrow in and read weather. More coffee and back to bed for that ... (we wish).

Posted by Rick Simonson on December 3, 2007 | Comments (0)