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ABOUT THE STORE : NEWSLETTER
DISPATCHES FROM THE BORDER
Events and News from Borderlands Books
February, 2013
Chapter One - Event Information, News, and Special Features
Upcoming Author Events
Cory Doctorow, HOMELAND (Tor, Hardcover, $17.99) Friday, February 8th at 7:00 pm
Brandon Sanderson, MEMORY OF LIGHT (Tor, Hardcover, $34.99) Saturday, February 9th at 3:00 pm
SF in SF at the Variety Preview Room in the Hobart Building, 582 Market
Street, with special guests Sophie Littlefield and Matt Richtel,
Saturday, February 9th at 7:00 pm
Marie Brennan. A NATURAL HISTORY OF DRAGONS: A MEMOIR BY LADY TRENT (Tor, Hardcover, $25.99) Sunday, February 10th at 3:00 pm
Peter Brett, THE DAYLIGHT WAR (Del Rey, Hardcover, $28.00) Sunday, February 17th at 3:00 pm
Editor John Joseph Adams with special guest Seanan McGuire, THE MAD
SCIENTIST'S GUIDE TO WORLD DOMINATION (Tor, Hardcover, $25.99 and Trade
Paperback, $14.99) Saturday, February 23rd at 3:00 pm
Dan Wells, FRAGMENTS (Balzer & Bray, Hardcover, $17.99) Sunday, March 10th at 3:00 pm
(for more information check the end of this section)
We're also delighted to announce that we'll be hosting John Scalzi in May! Stay tuned for more awesome upcoming events.
News
* Overheard in the store: "Mixing random liquids together does NOT count as Science."
"If the end result is tasty, then yes, it does!"
* Sometimes I really love the Internet. The White House has officially rejected a petition to build the Death Star:https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/response/isnt-petition-response-youre-looking and then the Empire responded: http://hypervocal.com/news/2013/star-wars-responds-death-star/
* Call for local writers! Can you write a short science fiction,
fantasy, or horror play? San Francisco Theater Pub wants you!
Details here: http://sftheaterpub.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/call-for-writers/
* Jim Hines, Mary Robinette Kowal, John Scalzi, Charles Stross &
Patrick Rothfuss do something awesome for charity (& to show how
sexist book covers can be): http://www.jimchines.com/2013/01/group-cover-pose-reveal/
* Marvelous video on why the Moon landing couldn't have been faked: http://gizmodo.com/5977205/why-the-moon-landings-could-have-never-ever-been-faked-the-definitive-proof?utm_source=gizmodo.com&utm_medium=recirculation&utm_campaign=recirculation
* Artist Dan Bransfield sketched this patron at Borderlands Cafe: http://danbran.com/2013/01/13/borderlands-cafe/
* Happy 5th Anniversary, io9.com ! Also, Annalee Newitz explains what an io9 IS: http://io9.com/5977774/what-is-an-io9-and-where-did-it-come-from
* Don't miss Naked Dudes Reading Lovecraft at Stage Werks Theatre 2/13 @
8 pm! Cost is $20. (I'm thinking this one is 18+.) http://www.stagewerx.org/shows.html#dudes
* Pssssst! Hey, you there. . .wanna buy a castle? http://www.businessinsider.com/castle-homes-for-sale-2013-1?op=1
From The Office
Little, Fast Mammals
by Alan Beatts
Last month I shared some pretty grim figures about the rate that print
book sales are decreasing. I also pointed out that, if sales
continue to drop at that rate, by 2015 print sales will have dropped by
44% overall since 2009. Sales shrinking to that degree will make
it very hard for bookstores to stay open. However I also suggested that
it could be an opportunity for smaller bookstores as well as specialty
and used bookshops.
This month I'm going to go into detail about how those sorts of stores
can continue to survive, and even grow, despite the contraction of the
printed book business.
First assumption -- People who shop at bookstores now do so because they
want to, not because they have to. Amazon has been around for 15
years, they do an outstanding job of selling books, and everyone has
heard of them. Likewise, ebook readers are dirt cheap, reliable
and ubiquitous. There are a plentitude of reasons people want to
shop at bookstores but one of them is not lack of choice. That
means the people who are shopping now are likely to continue shopping,
unless new factors enter into their decision making. Such factors
could be price increases as the market for print books declines, eroding
some of the economies of scale that currently exist, or store closures
that require customers to travel further to reach a bookstore.
That aside, people who buy books now at stores will probably want to
continue to do so.
Second assumption -- People who buy books buy all sorts of books.
As you would expect, many of the books I buy are in my specialty.
But I also collect books on the history of cities and books about
woodworking and building trades. I read quite a bit of non-fiction
(pirates have been a favorite for several years now) and a fair number
of mysteries. Plus, I give books as gifts. Further, most of
the people I know also buy books all across the spectrum.
Third assumption -- The distance a customer will travel to bookstores is
affected by the number of other stores in the area and the uniqueness
of the store. Why drive for 15 minutes to get to a store when there's
another store only five minutes down the road? You might do that
if the farther store had a better selection of the books you wanted
(let's say it was a science fiction and fantasy specialty store) but
otherwise, you would go to the closer store.
Final Assumption -- The total number of print books produced by
traditional publishers will drop over time as more and more titles with
limited sales possibilities are released either as ebook only or are
ebook / print on demand. Since print on demand is usually
associated with small or nonexistent discounts for booksellers it is not
practical to stock them in most bookstores. The end result is
that the number of titles for bookstores to stock per year will
decrease.
None of the foregoing will help the large, independent general interest
bookstores much. When Barnes and Noble folds (which is, I think,
bound to happen in the not-too-distant future -- a small business can
soldier on for quite a long time while sales drop, but a publicly traded
company cannot), the big stores that are left will pick up a nice bump
in business. But, I think that will peak about one year after
B&N closes most of its stores. After that the sales at the big
stores will decrease steadily as the sales of print books
decrease. The problem that those large stores face is that they
are already capturing most of the sales they can within their trade area
(i.e. the rough circle around a business that describes the average
distance a customer will travel to shop at that business). The
sales will jump up if a B&N nearby closes but after that, it's all
down hill.
But smaller stores are not in the same position. A small, general
interest store is limited in how many customers they can capture in
their trade area because of restricted space for inventory.
However, as the total number of books published decreases, the small
store can expand the inventory relative to the books that are in
print. Which means they can attract more of the book buying
customers in their area. A small store could even expand in size,
and thereby increase sales.
It's a risky proposition to expand your business while your field as a
whole is shrinking, but it's possible. But it is much safer and
easier, however, if you don't need to expand your space as much as you
need to expand your offerings.
As a mature business, Borderlands is probably selling just about as many
books as it can. Unless the popularity of our genres suddenly
increases or the demographics of our region change drastically, the
customers we have are most of the possible customers for us. After
fifteen years, if someone in the bay area is really interested in SF,
fantasy or horror, and is willing to travel to our place, they've
probably found us by now. Certainly, people do come in and say, "I
never knew you were here" but it doesn't happen often. And, the
new customers we get each year probably balance out with the customers
we lose because they move, slow down their reading (kids, school and
jobs can all do that . . . I've been told), or, sadly, die.
But, we can potentially gain huge numbers of customers if we expand our
offerings. Right now I might have all the SF, fantasy and horror
customers I can have . . . but I don't have _any_ customers who only
like mysteries, for example, because we don't sell 'em. But we've
got room to carry them. And, as of two years ago, we have no
competition from a store with that specialty in San Francisco.
And, if we did carry them, our business could take a big jump
upwards. The same thing applies to any other sections that I might
add. Almost anything would both add new customers _and_ increase
my sales to the customers I have. That, combined with a shrinking
volume of titles each year, might mean that, in ten years or so, I'll be
running a general interest bookstore with a special focus on SF / F /
H.
Used bookstores are in the same sort of position. As places to buy
new print books start to vanish, a used book shop could increase sales
just by doing something as simple as putting a display of New York Times
Bestsellers in their window. Not to mention staking out a
specialty of their own and serving those customers with both used and
new books.
When all is said and done, we may be facing an "extinction level" event
for traditional bookselling but, like what happened after the dinosaurs
and, later, the prehistoric megafauna vanished, the little, quick
critters may be the ones that last the longest. Or perhaps the
little bookstores might even be the basis for a new generation of
bookselling. But I'm not betting on that.
Top Sellers At Borderlands
Hardcovers
1) A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
2) Impulse by Steven Gould
3) Gun Machine by Warren Ellis
4) Tenth of December by George Saunders
5) Tiger by the Tail by John Ringo and Ryan Sear
6) Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots by Seanan McGuire
7) Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks
8) Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin
9) Great North Road by Peter F. Hamilton
10) Blood and Bone by Ian Cameron Esslemont
Paperbacks
1) Moonshifted by Cassie Alexander
2) Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
3) Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
4) Snuff by Terry Pratchett
5) Throne of Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed
6) The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
7) Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
8) Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
9) Feed by Mira Grant
10) Soulless by Gail Carriger
Trade Paperbacks
1) Nexus by Ramez Naam
2) Turing and Burroughs by Rudy Rucker
3) Redshirts by John Scalzi
4) World War Z by Max Brooks
5) The Departure by Neal Asher
Book Club Info
The QSF&F Book Club will meet on Sunday, February 10th, at 5
pm to discuss SOULLESS by Gail Carriger. Please contact the group
leader, Christopher Rodriguez, at cobalt555@earthlink.net, for more
information.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club will meet on Sunday, February
17th, at 6 pm to discuss THE STRESS OF HER REGARD by Tim Powers.
The book for March 17th is THE LITTLE BOOK by Sheldon Edwards.
Please contact bookclub@borderlands-books.com for more information.
Upcoming Event Details
Cory Doctorow, HOMELAND (Tor, Hardcover, $17.99) Friday, February
8th at 7:00 pm - We're always thrilled to welcome Cory Doctorow to
Borderlands! This time we've partnered with the awesome folks at
Noisebridge hackspace https://noisebridge.net to bring you an event for
the long-awaited sequel to LITTLE BROTHER. Don't miss this opportunity
to meet Cory - bring your questions on the future of internet privacy
and the future in general! Also, you might want to check out this
blog post of Cory's where he talks about how Aaron Swartz influenced the
plot of HOMELAND and the character of M1k3y http://torforge.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/cory-doctorow-on-aaron-swartz/ .
Brandon Sanderson, MEMORY OF LIGHT (Tor, Hardcover, $34.99) Saturday,
February 9th at 3:00 pm -We are delighted to welcome Brandon Sanderson
back to Borderlands! We've been fans of Brandon's since the very
beginning, and we couldn't be happier about all of the acclaim and
attention he's currently getting. Join us to meet Brandon, hear about
the creation of the final Wheel of Time novel, A MEMORY OF LIGHT, and
get your books signed! As usual, there are no tickets or purchase
required for this event. We expect it will be very crowded, and
seating is limited, so arrive early. Brandon has always been great
about signing everyone's books, but please be advised that it may take a
while to get your books signed; we'll try to be entertaining in the
interim.
Meanwhile, we think you'll appreciate this short, touching video explaining how Brandon was chosen to finish the series: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja3QAV_t3vs
. We're also delighted to announce that we've just been informed
that editor Harriet McDougal will be joining Brandon at this appearance!
Enjoy the video, and we'll see you February 9th!
SF in SF at the Variety Preview Room in the Hobart Building, 582 Market
Street, with special guests Sophie Littlefield and Matt Richtel,
Saturday, February 9th at 7:00 pm - SF in SF welcomes these great
authors! Each author will read a selection from their work,
followed by Q&A from the audience moderated by author Terry
Bisson. Authors will schmooze & sign books after in the
lounge. Books will be available for sale. Seating is limited, so
first come, first seated. Bar proceeds benefit Variety Childrens
Charity - learn more at <http://www.varietync.org/>.
We REALLY encourage you to take BART into the City, or use MUNI to get
here - parking can be problematic in San Francisco, to say the
least. We are less than one block away from the Montgomery St.
station. Trust us - you don't want to be looking for parking and
be late for the event! Phone (night of (night of event)
415-572-1015. Questions? Email sfinsfevents@gmail.com.
Marie Brennan. A NATURAL HISTORY OF DRAGONS: A MEMOIR BY LADY TRENT
(Tor, Hardcover, $25.99) Sunday, February 10th at 3:00 pm -We're very
excited to present Marie Brennen's newest book, an absolutely charming
memoir of the world's preeminent dragon naturalist! "All the world, from
Scirland to the farthest reaches of Eriga, know Isabella, Lady Trent,
to be the world’s preeminent dragon naturalist. She is the remarkable
woman who brought the study of dragons out of the misty shadows of myth
and misunderstanding into the clear light of modern science. But before
she became the illustrious figure we know today, there was a bookish
young woman whose passion for learning, natural history, and, yes,
dragons defied the stifling conventions of her day. Here at last,
in her own words, is the true story of a pioneering spirit who risked
her reputation, her prospects, and her fragile flesh and bone to satisfy
her scientific curiosity; of how she sought true love and happiness
despite her lamentable eccentricities; and of her thrilling expedition
to the perilous mountains of Vystrana, where she made the first of many
historic discoveries that would change the world forever." Please
join us to meet Marie and the unforgettable Lady Trent.
Peter Brett, THE DAYLIGHT WAR (Del Rey, Hardcover, $28.00) Sunday,
February 17th at 3:00 pm - Peter Brett grabbed the world's attention
with his fantastic debut THE WARDED MAN. Now join us to meet Peter
and check out THE DAYLIGHT WAR, the third volume in the best-selling
Demon Cycle, about humanity's last stand against the demons that rise
each night to prey on them.
Editor John Joseph Adams with special guest Seanan McGuire, THE MAD
SCIENTIST'S GUIDE TO WORLD DOMINATION (Tor, Hardcover, $25.99 and Trade
Paperback, $14.99) Saturday, February 23rd at 3:00 pm - From the book
description: "From Victor Frankenstein to Lex Luthor, from Dr. Moreau to
Dr. Doom, readers have long been fascinated by insane plans for world
domination and the madmen who devise them. Typically, we see these
villains through the eyes of good guys. This anthology, however,
explores the world of mad scientists and evil geniuses -- from their own
wonderfully twisted point of view. An all-star roster of
bestselling authors -- including Diana Gabaldon, Daniel Wilson, Austin
Grossman, Naomi Novik, and Seanan McGuire…twenty-two great storytellers
all told -- have produced a fabulous assortment of stories guaranteed to
provide readers with hour after hour of high-octane entertainment born
of the most megalomaniacal mayhem imaginable." Join us to meet
John Joseph Adams, the evil genius behind the anthology, and contributor
Seanan McGuire! We promise the contemplation of lots of nefarious
deeds, and cackling!
Dan Wells, FRAGMENTS (Balzer & Bray, Hardcover, $17.99) Sunday,
March 10th at 3:00 pm - We're always happy to welcome Dan Wells, author
of the book I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER and its sequels. This time's Dan's
showing off the sequel to PARTIALS. From the book jacket: "Kira
Walker has found the cure for RM, but the battle for the survival of
humans and Partials is just beginning. Kira has left East Meadow in a
desperate search for clues to who she is. That the Partials themselves
hold the cure for RM in their blood cannot be a coincidence - it must be
part of a larger plan, a plan that involves Kira, a plan that could
save both races. Her companions are Afa Demoux, an unhinged drifter and
former employee of ParaGen, and Samm and Heron, the Partials who
betrayed her and saved her life, the only ones who know her secret. But
can she trust them Meanwhile, back on Long Island, what's left of
humanity is gearing up for war with the Partials, and Marcus knows his
only hope is to delay them until Kira returns. But Kira's journey
will take her deep into the overgrown wasteland of postapocalyptic
America, and Kira and Marcus both will discover that their greatest
enemy may be one they didn't even know existed."
Borderlands event policy - all events are free of charge. You are
welcome to bring copies of an author's books purchased elsewhere to be
autographed (but we do appreciate it if you purchase something while at
the event). For most events you are welcome to bring as many books
as you wish for autographs. If you are unable to attend the event
we will be happy to have a copy of any of the author's available books
signed or inscribed for you. We can then either hold the book(s)
until you can come in to pick them up or we can ship to you. Just
give us a call or drop us an email. If you live out of town, you
can also ship us books from your collection to be signed for a nominal
fee. Call or email for details.
Dispatches from the Border
Editor - Jude Feldman
Assistant Editor - Alan Beatts
All contents unless otherwise noted are the property of
Borderlands Books
866 Valencia St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
415-824-8203
http://www.borderlands-books.com
Comments and suggestions should be directed to editor@borderlands-books.com
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