Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Independent Book Stores

  • Celebrating National Bookstore Romance Day: A Love Letter to the Magic of Bookstores

    Fall in Love at Your Local Bookstore

    Our own Village Books right here in Bellingham, WA

    It’s National Bookstore Romance Day!

     

    August 17th is a day dedicated to celebrating the intersection of two of life’s greatest pleasures: romance and bookstores! National Bookstore Romance Day is a time to revel in the joy that comes from discovering a new favorite book and the unique charm of independent bookstores. It’s a day to honor the places that have been the backdrop for countless literary love stories and to celebrate the romance genre that captures our imaginations and hearts.

    The Enticing Allure of Bookstores

    A book covered in flower petals with the pages formed into a heart

    Bookstores have long been cherished havens for readers. They’re more than just retail spaces. They’re sanctuaries where stories come to life, where every shelf holds a new adventure. Independent bookstores, in particular, have a special kind of magic. Their cozy nooks, eclectic selections, and knowledgeable staff create an atmosphere that invites readers to linger, explore, and connect with the books they love.

    Our love of bookstores is growing! Bookstore sales finished the first half of 2023 up 6.9% over the comparable period in 2022, proving once again that the love of readers have for their favorite brick-and-mortar bookstore can never be underestimated.

    On National Bookstore Romance Day, we pay tribute to these beloved spaces, including our beloved Village Books! Whether it’s a charming local bookstore with a café, a historic shop with creaky wooden floors, or a modern indie store with a curated selection, each bookstore offers a unique experience. It’s where we find the books that move us and connects us with the community that shares our passion for writing and reading.

    Instead of sending flowers, we suggest doing this to show your love on National Bookstore Romance Day!

    1. Visit Your Local Bookstore: Head to your favorite independent bookstore and immerse yourself in its unique atmosphere. Spend time browsing the shelves, chatting with the staff about their favorite romance novels, and perhaps even start writing the book you’ve always imagined.
    2. Find Your Next Great Literary Romance: Look for novels that you haven’t read before. Many bookstores will feature special displays or recommendations in honor of the day. You might find a new author or series to fall in love with.
    3. Attend Events: Many bookstores host special events for National Bookstore Romance Day, such as book fairs, author signings, readings, or themed parties. Check out local listings and participate in these celebrations to meet fellow book lovers and connect with the romance genre in a new way.
    4. Support Local Businesses: Buying from independent bookstores helps support the local economy and ensures that these cherished spaces continue to thrive. Consider making a purchase, whether it’s a book, a gift, or a gift card to share your love with another fan of bookstores.
    5. Share Your Passion: Use social media to share your love for romance novels and bookstores. Post about your favorite romance reads, recommend books to friends, or simply celebrate the joy that these stories and spaces bring to your life.

    National Bookstore Romance Day is a perfect opportunity to celebrate the magic of bookstores and the joy of romance novels. It’s a day to acknowledge the spaces that nurture our love for reading and writing and illustrates our love for stories that touch our hearts. So, explore your local bookstore and take a moment to savor the romance in every book on the shelf!

    Romance Fiction Chatelaine Award
    The Chatelaine Awards are where we find all our romance books about bookstores and beyond!

    Happy National Bookstore Romance Day!

    Begin your National Bookstore Romance Day celebration with the stories that make our hearts soar!

    Loving Beth Cover

    LOVING BETH
    Chatelaine Awards First Place Winner

    In Loving Beth, a Christian historical romance by Bonnie Rose Ward, a young woman finds herself in dire straits when her widowed mother dies unexpectedly.

    Beth’s father had taken out loans to improve their property, but he was killed in the Civil War, leaving his wife and daughter to struggle to keep up with the payments. Now, Beth is alone without any means to keep her home—finding and taking in two young, abandoned children certainly doesn’t help. But even amidst her troubles, Beth’s thoughts keep going back to the mysterious and handsome stranger who found and brought home the body of her mother.

    Life is not easy in her tiny settlement in West Virginia, and young, pretty Beth finds that it is not about to get any easier. The new banker holds a grudge toward her for having rejected his advances, and the man’s snobbish wife is determined to make Beth’s life even more miserable. The loans that Beth and her mother worked to pay each month are suddenly due in full— but the banker’s unwanted and ugly advances are foiled with the appearance of the mysterious stranger.

    Read more here!

    Guarded Hearts Cover

    GUARDED HEARTS
    Laramie Awards Grand Prize Winner

    Guarded Heartsby T K Conklin is a sensual romance in the Wild West, with all the passion and excitement natural to the setting.

    Sparks fly between a man with an outlaw past and a woman with a terrifying gift to heal or harm. Strykes is a man haunted both by a violent childhood and his time in an outlaw gang. But he has found a place in Rimrock, where he met LaRisa, an auburn-haired woman whom the townspeople have labeled a “witch” due to her healing herbs and rumors of her “powers”.

    LaRisa has kept her distance from people, afraid of her gift of healing touch that can turn dangerous, even deadly. But, when she comes to town to deliver her medicinal herbs, she makes her way to the livery with tasks for Strykes such as shoeing her horse or fixing a spring in her wagon. He is only too happy to oblige the auburn-haired beauty. The attraction between them is instantaneous, yet they both are hesitant to act on it, fearing they would hurt the other– he from his violent past, and she from her “witch” power.

    Read more here!

    Air Boat Cover

    AIR BOAT

    For readers interested in a unique romance,Air Boat: Love is an Adventureby Jacek Waliszewski offers a distinctive cast of characters and tense excitement in the sky.

    Air Boat brings together a former Special Forces soldier, Luke, who prefers to keep to himself, an independent and sarcastic female pilot, Stella, and a three-legged Husky named Saint who marches to the beat of his own drum. These captivating characters embark on a fast-paced, page-turning tale.

    Waliszewski starts this romantic adventure with a suspenseful scene of a vintage plane barreling towards the Twin Cities, accompanied by two F-16 fighter jets, before setting the stage for the two main characters to meet. The mystery of this scene will stick in the reader’s mind, drawing them forward with stark curiosity that only grows in excitement.

    Read more here!

    Summer Thunder Cover

    Summer Thunder

    Lily struggles to keep her business, her son, and her home. But inSummer Thunder,first book of theMagic at Myers Beachseries by Alan B. Gibson, Lily’s luck begins to turn as she connects with the enigmatic beach king Theos.

    With the help of her friend and fellow business owner Greta “the Witch,” Lily tries to revitalize her fairy-themed decoration and figurine store. Her divorce from her abusive ex-husband Kelly is pending, and she must present a calm and reliable home to ensure full custody of her son Jamie. But when her kindly landlord, Ms. Coffey, passes away, she’s confronted with two options: lose her prime business location and upstairs apartment, or somehow make enough money to buy the building herself.

    Enter Theos, a kitesurfing champion with adoring fans. He shows true appreciation for Lily’s fairy figurines, bringing her many more sales. But more importantly, Theos becomes deeply interested in Lily herself. Their romance begins on rocky footing, as Theos has a strange air about him and seems to vanish whenever a storm comes into town. But when he begins modelling for a new fairy figurine– aptly named Theos, the King– the two are drawn inevitably closer.

    Read more here!

    What Remains of Love Cover

    What Remains of Love

    Suzanne Trauth’s What Remains of Love begins with the discovery of a family secret.

    Siblings Kate and DJ meet with their late father’s lawyer to go over the contents of their father’s will when it is revealed that a woman named Emilie had been added without their knowledge. DJ, an all-business, no-nonsense person, wants to deny the request. Kate wants to fulfill their father’s wishes even though they don’t understand the reason behind it. When they send a letter to Emilie, her daughter replies, stating Emilie has passed away and that she will not accept the money.

    Her brother’s curiosity is satisfied, but Kate can’t help but feel there is more to the story, especially given that their father withheld his experiences in the war from them both.

    Read more here!

    Do you have a book that deserves to be discovered? You can always submit your book for an Editorial Review with Chanticleer!Chanticleer Editorial Review Packages are optimized to maximize your digital footprint. Reviews are one of the most powerful tools available to authors to help sell and market their books. Find out what all the buzz is about here.

    Is your book an Award Winner?

    The tiers of achievement for the CIBAs

    Submitting to Book Awards is a great way to get your book discovered! Anytime you advance in the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards, your name and book are promoted right here on our website, through our newsletter, and across social media. One of the best ways to engage in long tail marketing!

    Spread the love on National Bookstore Romance Day! Visit your neighborhood bookstores and find your next great read!

     

  • Are You CURIOUS about the AMAZON BOOKS Brick and Mortar Stores? – Kiffer Brown

    Are You CURIOUS about the AMAZON BOOKS Brick and Mortar Stores? – Kiffer Brown

    Aren’t you curious? About the AmazonBooks stores?

    I certainly was!

    I have heard of the Amazon Books stores, but living in Bellingham, a little city north of Seattle in the Pacific Northwest, I haven’t had the opportunity to visit one. And Bellingham probably does not have the demographics to support one and probably never will. We don’t even have that many chain stores—no Banana Republics here,  nor P.F. Chang restaurants.

    However, and more importantly, we do have two Village Books stores in the county.

    Village Books is an Independent Bookseller that Publisher’s Weekly rated as #5 Indie book store in the U.S.A. and they have opened a second location in Lynden, Wash.

    Nevertheless, I was still very curious about Amazon’s new brick and mortar bookstore concept—the antithesis of what I thought Amazon was all about.

    What does it look like? Does it have author readings? Does it have author signings? Does it promote Indie authors or bestsellers? Will it have that cozy bookstore feel that I love to lose myself in for hours?

    Or would it just feature its own 15 imprints: Thomas & Mercer, Lake Union, Montlake Romance, 47North, Topple, and so forth?

    So many questions! 

    I promised myself that the next time I go Seattle I would seek out an Amazon Books store to quell my curiosity.

    For those not in the know or have been without news, the Amazon empire is the most valuable company in the world and like Microsoft, is based out Seattle. Amazon is currently valued at over one trillion dollars (USD)—that is a lot of zeros. $1,000,000,000,000,000—I  think that is enough zeros…

    The Amazon Books store I decided to visit is also the very first physical storefront of Amazon and is located in a shopping center in Seattle that is known as the University Village located in the neighborhood of Ravenna. It opened on  November 3, 2015.

    Also, in the shopping center are other “temples to tech”  (as my husband, Argus, calls them) such as a Microsoft store, an Apple Store, three Starbucks (yes, three), a TESLA showroom, a b8ta retail store (get it? Beta) that specializes in the latest in tech products, along with other high-end retail stores such as a top-tiered make-up and skincare lines—oddly named (imho)— BlueMercury.  (imho– “tech speak for “in my humble opinion”).

    From my online reading, I discovered that Amazon has opened 17 bookstores with another three in the planning stages.

    Since Amazon is the largest seller of books in the world, I thought their journey into brick-and-mortar bookstores would be of interest to authors.

    What did I learn from my Amazon Book Store visit?

    The book store was very organized and neat. And very quiet. Aisles were big enough for strollers, and there was a children’s area at the rear of the store that was more brightly lit.

    The center of the store was filled with the latest Alexa gadgets, Kindle readers, and etc.

    And there were huge video screens playing video-clips. I found the large screens playing videos to be very distracting and not very bookstore-ish (imho).

    I walked the aisles of books labeled “Fiction” or “Non-fiction” alphabetized by authors.

    What I saw were tall rows and rows of the best-sellers. I then started to look for a few of my favorite Indie authors—no luck there. Next, I then looked for some of my favorite traditionally published authors only to find just a title or two.

    I thought that the reason Amazon started the Amazon Books stores was to showcase authors and small publishers who published with them along with their own imprints. I even remember some Facebook posts where Indie authors were excited to see their books in print and face out on the shelves of the Amazon Books stores.

    But that was not the case that day in early January 2019 when I checked out this particular store.

    I thought then that perhaps there was a section just for Indie authors, so I decided to find a staff member to ask this question. Maybe I just haven’t found the section yet. But, I was told that there wasn’t a special section for Indies and that the store generally tried to stock the best-sellers on the shelves.

    I was becoming increasingly frustrated.

    I then asked the staff member if there was a section for Pacific Northwest authors. You know, since the PNW is known for being home to a lot of famous authors such as Robert Dugoni, Jim Lynch, Jamie Ford, Garth Stein, Cat Rambo, J.A. Jance, Chelsea Cain, etc.

    I was shown this small section (see photo below).

    Amazon Books display table of Seattle authors.

    Yep, that little round display tower was it—about 12 titles from “Bong (yes, Bong) Appetit” next to Jamie Ford’s most excellent “Love and Other Consolation Prizes” at the Amazon Books store.

    Certainly, they must have J.D. Barker’s books. I have seen them for sale in Paris, Lisbon, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, etc.  But I didn’t see any.  So I asked, the staff member didn’t know who J.D. Barker was, but he did check the computer records for Barker’s books. He told me that they did have The Fourth Monkey in stock last week.

    I didn’t see any comfy areas for reading or hanging out. Or perhaps, I just didn’t see them…because of the orderliness of the store.

    One of the many reading areas at Village Books.

    The photo above was taken by leaning over the staircase at Village Books. 

    I didn’t see any “shelf-talkers” or posters promoting the next author event like the ones that I see at Village Books. See photos below.

    Village Books shelves — cozy and personal with shelf talkers.

     

    One of the many Author Events poster areas at Village Books.

    What are the bottom line take-aways of my research trip to Amazon Books store?

    • Amazon Books exist for Amazon Prime Members. As do the Amazon Go stores & kiosks where no money or credit cards are taken and there are not any cashiers. Amazon Go can tell if you want to purchase something and automatically charges your credit card. Here is a link if you want to check out the Amazon Go stores.
    • Amazon Prime members spend approximately thirty percent more than non-prime members in shopping at Amazon. That is significant! No wonder Amazon wants to keep them as prime members and will make it as easy as possible for them to shop.
    • Indie authors do benefit from having their books available on Amazon to reach the North American market — especially digital and audiobooks. There is no question about that.
    • But Indie authors should realize that Kobo/Rakuten is where the rest of the world shops for digital and audiobooks.
    • Scribd (the Netflix of publishing) is acquiring subscribers at an accelerated rate. Scribd focuses on digital books and magazines along with audiobooks that can be downloaded. Indie Authors and Small and Medium presses should check out Scribd as a distribution platform to reach new readers.

    And the #1 Take-Away is: 

    Authors should support your local Independent Booksellers wherever you live and wherever you visit—whether or not if you traditionally published, Indie published, or small press published because it will the Independent Booksellers that will introduce you to their clientele, book reading groups, and will host your author signings and author events.

    • Independent booksellers are where you will build your grassroots readership.
    • Independent booksellers will give your books a place to be displayed.
    • Independent booksellers will give your books a chance — if a title sells 4 books a year, there is an excellent chance they will continue to stock and allow retail shelf space to your book.
    • Independent booksellers will host your author signings and events.

    Below is a photo of a Village Book’s author event.

    Long live Independent Booksellers! They are community support for authors at all stages of their writing careers.

    Also, Village Books manages the BookRoom for the annual Chanticleer Authors Conference and promotes the award winners from the Chanticleer International Book Awards.

    Would Amazon do that? 

    Thanks to Village Books and Paul Hanson (owner and steward for Village Books) for staffing the CAC book room!

    Yes, Amazon is necessary and is beneficial for authors and publishers. There is no denial of that. However, we cannot forget to support our local Independent Bookstores that build community for authors and readers.

    So the next time you are about to purchase a book, remember to take and make the extra effort to shop at your local Independent Bookseller store. If you are out of town on vacation or business, make an effort to stop by the area’s local bookstore.

    Don’t let this be the LAST BOOK STORE (Los Angeles, Calif).

    Support your local Independent Bookseller!