March’s WORDs of Love Packages!
As you know from my Read More Romance posts, I’m pretty much an obsessive romance recommender. I can’t help myself. It’s especially bad when I meet someone who has never read a romance novel or who has opinions about romance. You know the kind I mean. The kind that are wrong.
But either way, I can’t stop myself from talking about romance whenever I meet someone who’s interested in talking about it–which makes dinner parties at my house rather rousing and bizarre for newbies who start off simply trying to be polite and end up getting a dissertation on the rights of romance readers. But I’m a halfway decent cook, so it all works out in the end. :)
Three years ago, I started one of my pro-romance diatribes with the manager of my local indie bookseller, WORD in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. WORD is AWESOME. It’s a tiny, beautifully designed store that has a great event space and a tremendously well-curated cookbook section…
Wait.
First, a story:
***
Once upon a time, I wrote a book called A Rogue By Any Other Name. I was very excited about this book, because it was the first in a new series I proposed…the third series of my career — the one that is supposed to make it ok for me to officially call myself a writer in mixed company. I was also excited about this book because it was done. And writing it had been akin to labor. As in, laboring a child. Long, terrible, horrifyingly painful labor, that results in a 10lb baby. Or, in my case, Bourne. But we’ll leave it at that.
My brilliantly talented publicist at Avon Books set me up with a party in Rhode Island (my home state) on the day that A Rogue By Any Other Name was officially in the world, and I took the train north to that cupcake and champagne-laden party, filled with hometown friends and family and a fair amount of strangers. The party was held in an independent bookstore near my hometown that does not carry romance. It was fun. I talked for 20 minutes, took questions for another 40, and a good time was generally had by all. We sold 90 books in 2 hours (and only 2 of them to my mother!); I was thrilled.
Afterward, the manager of the bookstore approached and said, “That was great! We’d love to have you again…if you’d like to come back.”
Would I! “I’d love to. And in the meantime…would you like me to sign the leftover stock?” This is a thing that bookstores ask of us, typically, when we go to visit them. It basically means…we have some of your books on hand, and if given the choice, readers would rather have a signed book than an unsigned one, so would you sign what’s around so new readers can get signed books from us? Honestly? I asked knowing the answer. I’ve never had a bookseller say no to that question, and I’d just sold 90 books! Clearly, people in Rhode Island loved me!
“No,” she said, as I attempted to keep my jaw from dropping. “Our customers don’t read romance.”
I–
I can’t–
WHAT?! 90 Books! She’d been there! In fact, she was the one who told me we sold 90 books!
And yet…her customers…they don’t read romance?
Reader, I’m still bamboozled by this story. I might need to go take a walk before I continue………Ok. I’m back, and Baxter, at least, is happy.
Let’s get back to this “our customers don’t read romance,” insanity. Let’s leave aside the fact that romance holds the largest share of the US Consumer book market and that it’s a $1.4 billion dollar industry and that nearly 75 million people read a romance novel in 2008 (4 years before this conversation), and I’m guessing that at least one or two of those 75 million people live within walking distance of this bookstore.
I’d just filled the store with sixty or so people, who had bought 1.5 books each (I won’t lie–the cutting of books in half did concern me).
And this woman was clearly blind.
Except, it wasn’t blindness.
Blindness I could forgive.
This woman was snooty.
A Serious Book Cover (made for me by the lovely ladies who run the in-person WORDs of Love Book Club)
What she was saying wasn’t “My customers don’t read romance.” What she was saying was, “My customers are too smart for romance. My customers read SERIOUS BOOKS. Literary fiction and nonfiction and sometimes mystery, but that’s as downmarket as they’ll go.” But what I heard was, “I don’t want your kind in here. And you won’t convince me otherwise. Not even with 90 books in a night. Not even with everything you just said about feminism and history and legacy and Jane Austen. I barely accept Pride & Prejudice on my hallowed shelves.”
We’ve all had this moment, right? Any one of us who’s dared admit we read romance or, worse, dared read a romance in public has had this moment. The “oh, you read that” moment. The “Romance is trashy” moment. The “I’m judging your book (and you) by its cover” moment.)
And this is a big problem. Because when romance readers (who read on average somewhere between 12 and 15 books a month) feel like we’re not getting the love from our local indies, guess where we go? Big box stores. Online stores. Chains. And we love them for carrying the books we love. We feel validated when we have a section all to ourselves. Or a whole category that we can click through to our heart’s content. And when we have sub genres? And romance on the FIRST PAGE of the website? Stop it. It’s romance reader heaven.
But guess what? We’re secretly sad we don’t have our own little indie. We’re jealous of people in Houston because they have Katy Budget Books and of the ones in Lansing who have Schuler Books or the ones in Naperville who have Anderson’s. We are book lovers, and we want to go hang out with other book lovers. We love paper and ink and the sound of the cracking spine and the smell of the damn glue. We have hundreds of novels stuffed under our beds, and in our purses and (I’m not ashamed to admit) on our bathroom shelves. We are card carrying READERS, and we have the word counts to prove it. And we shouldn’t have to fight to prove to indies (the captial-B Bookstores of bookstores) that our books are worthy, because owners and operators of indies should see that we’re in the same club! I mean…all hail the printed word! And if there’s smooching, all the better! (Come on. Who doesn’t like smooching?)
Oh my gosh this post is getting long. I’m turning back. Returning to port. I swear.
***
All this is to say…
Boy do I love my local indie.
WORD Bookstore is tucked away on a near-waterfront street in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn. They don’t have much space at all. It’s maybe 1000 square feet of space, but they have used the space in a remarkable way. They have events almost every night of the week — a fabulous children’s section, a brilliantly well-read staff, live music and awesome readings and even a “singles” board, where you can meet another local book lover and maybe get some smooching in (see how it all comes back to smooching)?
Oh, and get this…they carry romance.
They don’t have much space, so it’s not a huge romance section…but they carry the classics — the books that will gateway drug you into the genre (Susan Elizabeth Phillips & Lisa Kleypas & Loretta Chase & Jennifer Crusie & JR Ward) — and local authors (Eloisa James & Maya Rodale & yours truly) — and anything that’s got a bookseller in it (Kieran Kramer’s Cloudy With A Chance of Marriage is a favorite in there) — and anything that’s just plain good (Thea Harrison & Tessa Dare & Meredith Duran). And they’ll order you anything you like, and take recommendations for their own reading lists with pleasure.
Look what kind of book was the bestseller at WORD in January!
Oh, and they’ll take orders for signed copies of my books anytime–you order and I have an excuse to head to the bookstore to sign books “for business.” And to linger for pleasure. :)
The coolest thing?
We recently started a Romance of the Month Club. Every month, I choose six romances (two historicals, two contemporaries & two paranormals) all with a common theme — some of them are brand new and some of them are old-skool (Yes. With a K.). You get to pick the one you are most interested in, and it gets mailed to you with fun goodies. You also get access to a private Goodreads group where we chat once a month about the books and what you liked/disliked/wished there was more of…and you get to meet a few dozen other romance readers across the country who are all excited to read and talk romance.
This month includes:
Kristan Higgins’s My One and Only
Jayne Ann Krentz’s Sweet Starfire
Pamela Palmer’s Desire Untamed
Lorraine Heath’s Lord of Temptation
Jennifer McQuiston’s What Happens in Scotland
It gets even better if you’re in NYC, though…because some local customers of WORD, whom I did not know before the club began, have started an in person romance book club. They choose one of my picks, and then meet on the First Saturday of the month to discuss it. Last Month it was Elizabeth Hoyt’s The Raven Prince, and the discussion was fast and fascinating and fabulously brilliant. Next month, it’s Kristan Higgins’s My One and Only.
I’m so excited to share my favorite romances with readers through the club…but I think I’m even more excited to share my local bookstore. Join us!
**
But seriously. There have got to be more indies out there that embrace romance. Leave your favorite romance-loving indie in comments, and I’ll add it to this post!
Indies That Rock Romance:
* Anderson’s Bookshop, 123 West Jefferson, Naperville, IL
* Hearthside Books, 254 Front Street, Juneau, AK
* Katy Budget Books, 2450 Fry Road, Houston, TX
* Posman Books, Grand Central Terminal, New York, NY
* Schuler Books & Music, 2820 Towne Center Boulevard, Lansing, MI
* Turn the Page Bookstore, 18 N. Main Street, Boonsboro, MD
* Wakefield Books, 160 Old Tower Hill Road (Wakefield Mall), Wakefield, RI
* WORD, 125 Franklin Street, Brooklyn, NY
March 15th, 2013 at 1:17 pm
Hi Sarah -
The problem was you went to the wrong book store in Rhode Island!
In South Kingstown the Waldenbooks (part of the Borders group) which is now closed always supported authors of all genres and even though it was one of smaller Waldenbooks always beat out the bigger stores in sales of Historical romance!
Fortunately on it’s closing the Mall manager respected the booksellers there so much for their support of the community and authors decided to open an independent bookstore which is called Wakefield Books in Waldenbooks old location.
Even though is’t small and they don’t have the perks of the big box book stores they have great support for any author that wants to have a book signing and even send out emails to their customers of the events coming up as well as advertising them in the store.
When ever I stop by they are always not only friendly but will literally take you by the hand to introduce to you to new genres and authors as well as let you know what “seasoned” authors have available. I’ve never seen a customer walk out without not only being satisfied but with more books in their hands than they planned on buying and happy about it as well!
Unlike the “big stores” they don’t have the perks available like getting swag to share with their customers. I have been so impressed by their sharing the love of reading that whenever I get swag from authors I take it in to them and just seeing the thanks on their faces makes my day.
One of their other major goals is to have the bookstore a place for parents to bring their children to introduce them to the love of reading and have a special area set up for the little ones to look at books and to take their time picking out the “perfect” one to buy and take home.
They also support our local teachers by having special events for them. With so many school systems cutting back on supplies and books they try to help out in a personal way.
So for any authors and readers out there remember when there is a local bookstore in your area to be sure to offer them the opportunity to introduce you to their readers. You might not have as many books sold at the signing as you would in a large box store but you will have new readers who end up buying any book you ever publish in the future.
Let’s all go back to supporting our local towns and the great independent book stores that think of the person waking in as a friend and not just a sale of a book and their bottom line.
Hope you get a chance to come back to Rhode Island to sign more books and when you do be sure to call Wakefield Books and tells them I suggested you contact them because you’d like to support them as much as they’d like to help you!
March 17th, 2013 at 2:48 pm
Hi Jeanne!
Thanks so much for this note…I’m thrilled to hear that there are other, pro-romance indies in RI! So, Wakefield Books carries romance? That’s awesome! I remember loving the local Waldenbooks when I was a kid…and I’ve never been sadder than when they closed.
I hope I get a chance to meet the team at Wakefield Books sometime soon…and hopefully I’ll see you there!
Take care,
Sarah
March 15th, 2013 at 2:15 pm
Turn The Page bookstore in Boonsboro, MD carries a lot of romance books. Oh, yeah, it’s owned by Nora Roberts’s husband. It has lots of book parties with romance novelists.
March 17th, 2013 at 2:50 pm
Oh, of course Turn The Page! I can’t believe I left that off my original list, Denise…
And no…it doesn’t hurt that Nora’s connected to them! :)
March 15th, 2013 at 3:04 pm
OMG! Sarah, this has been a very hot topic for me with my local Barnes I know that they are not supposed to treat customers differently because of what they are purchasing, but unfortunately it does happen. In fact, I was purchasing one of YOUR books last year when one of the employees gave me a nasty attitude about buying “trash”. That was not my only complaint concerning that store. The display of the Romance section was(and still is) in an odd place. Many of the shelves are about waist height and down. It pains me to no end that I feel it necessary to avoid shopping at this store, which is in walking distance of my house, and have to drive across town to go to the store that treats me with more respect. Sorry about the ranting…I tend to get on my soapbox about this. Thanks for making this post, Sarah! Love your books! :)
March 17th, 2013 at 2:54 pm
Hi Sandy! Thanks for your comment…it is such a hard issue — shouldn’t we be honoring anyone’s taste in books as…well…legitimate bookloverishness? I’m sorry your local store isn’t showing you the love…but I’m happy you have another at least sort of nearby!
March 15th, 2013 at 5:33 pm
I heart you, Sarah. Truly, madly, deeply heart you. Um…that’s pretty much it. :) Vive le romance genre!
March 17th, 2013 at 2:54 pm
Awww, shucks. Thanks, Noelle!
March 15th, 2013 at 7:05 pm
I love this post for so many reasons! And I will be in Brooklyn next weekend; I may have to add WORD to our sightseeing tour.
March 17th, 2013 at 2:55 pm
You must head out to WORD if you have any free time, Kerrie. They are a fabulous store. I’m only sorry you’ll miss the in-person romance book club! Have a great time in my hometown!
March 16th, 2013 at 9:33 pm
It made me really happy to read your post. I hate the feeling I get when people give me a look when I mention the new book I found in the “Romance” section. They make me feel dirty and I dont understand why that is…
I did want to say I am a NEW fan of yours. My first book was “A Rogue by any other name” and I will say I read it in one day..taking only few breaks and may OR may not called in sick from work ~cough cough~ It was addicting and I have NEVER been drawn into a story and not able to get out, it was addicting and I loved it. One of the best I have ever read..was simply perfect.
So I went from there and read “One good Earl deserves a lover” PRE ORDERED “No good Duke goes unpunished” along with buying all 4 of the other books you have published..again I am addicted.
So THANK YOU for sharing your wonderful stories with us and taking us on a romantic adventure that we never want to leave!
March 17th, 2013 at 2:59 pm
Thanks so much for your comment, Danielle! I’m so happy you enjoyed Rogue. Thanks for trying all the others! I hope they all deliver! xox
March 18th, 2013 at 10:11 am
If you feel the prejudice in USA, i don’t want to tell you how it is here in Italy.
Most of the romance books are translated badly, cut, it means the originals are longer and the italian versions are cut in some parts of the stories, maybe some scenes, or dialogues (and this makes all the italian readers quite crazy, but they do it nontheless) and sold in newspapers shops, not bookstore. It feels really like being of a “class B”… I don’t know how to explain well in English.
Because I read in English, I abandoned entirely the romance in Italy and buy directly from online bookstores in England and USA, so I get the beautiful originals.
Only Nora Roberts and JR Ward and few others aren’t cut, even if sometimes translated badly in my opinion, and sold in official bookstores.
And let’s not speak of the general opinion of the people, which in Italy only reads tragedy and things really boring, they will look at you from the hair to the shoes.
One of my friends, once I was talking of a beautiful, intense romance book, even told me: “Ah, I didn’t know you read the porn for frustrated women.”
And with this I think I can end the comment here, in order not to make all the people that will read it nervous, as I’m becoming nervous again only remembering.
March 26th, 2013 at 6:47 pm
Thanks so much for sharing, Manu…I’ve heard that the Italian translations of romances are really terrible…and that they often simply chop out whole sections (sex scenes) without thinking about what kind of actual plot might be lost in the move.
Thank you so much for reading despite the prejudice!
March 19th, 2013 at 4:16 pm
Of course, maybe independent bookstores wouldn’t be dropping like flies if they carried more genre books. We romance readers buy A LOT of books! Not to mention that many of us read literary fiction and nonfiction, as well. Just because I read romance doesn’t mean it’s the only thing I read.
March 26th, 2013 at 6:48 pm
And it doesn’t mean you don’t want to go to a bookstore, right?!
Thanks for your comment!
March 20th, 2013 at 1:42 pm
I love this post!
I was actually looking your site up because we are reading your “A Rogue by Any Other Name” for our bookclub in April. We pick 4 romance books (Historical, Contemporary, Paranormal, and Suspense). I love that romance authors are so supportive of the genre specific book clubs. I am lucky that I belong to two different ones and both have been around for years.
Book clubs rock!
March 26th, 2013 at 6:49 pm
Book clubs do rock, Felicia! If you’d like bookmarks or anything else, please fill out the form here and we’ll send them out to you!
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dDA2T2RUN1Z3eG8zNlVIcXc3X3FRLUE6MQ#gid=0
March 21st, 2013 at 9:25 pm
I work at an indie that carries romance! Hearthside Books in Juneau Alaska
Romance is not a big seller with us – but, there is tough competition with stores like FredMeyer – they have food, clothes, outdoors stuff, etc. typical big box with a rather good romance selection. Better than ours. You can get romance almost anywhere, even gas stations! There are more convenient ways for folks to get those books – not even mentioning Amazon or Kindle & other e-readers. I worked for an indie that did not carry romance – snoot was involved but, yes there was not demand because of the ease and availability of romance elsewhere. But, I agree that if the romance reading community knew good stock was to be had with fun extras sales would be there.
March 26th, 2013 at 6:50 pm
Yay Cindy! I’m going to add Hearthside to the post! Terrific! (And let me know if I can send you bookmarks for the store! https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dDA2T2RUN1Z3eG8zNlVIcXc3X3FRLUE6MQ#gid=0)
March 25th, 2013 at 12:19 pm
I go to North Central College and the fact that Anderson’s bookshop and Barnes and Noble is right down the street may or may not have strongly influenced my decision to attend college in Naperville.(Before I began college I had a Borders store that I could walk to–which I did like three times a week; I could not fathom not being able to do that anymore so the fact Naperville had TWO book stores I could walk to was a HUGE plus.) I started reading romance novels in eighth grade and have continued all throughout high school and college. And let me tell you I am so tired of the dirty looks and the You Are Stupid stares I get whenever I purchase a romance novel/talk about how they are the best books ever. Anderson’s is wonderful. I have never felt embarrassed buying romance novels from them EVER. Barnes and Noble is a whole different story (To be fair, B&N is not always bad, but I still don’t think they are as great as Borders was). Sometimes, it takes them DAYS after the release date of a romance novel to actually put it out on their shelves. Which leaves me bothering a sales associate to go a fetch them out of the back because no way am I waiting any longer to get my hands on them. Seriously, as a college student my days are so packed that sometimes the only light at the end of the dark and scary homework tunnel is a romance novel. I think that it is even harder for me being in college because in college I am supposed to be reading “literature” and I have been told time and time again that romance novels are not literature.(I need to take a moment of breathing in and out slowly while I deal with the awfulness of that last typed sentence). Okay, moving on, I am so tired of people believing that I am either sexually deprived or stupid (3.9 GPA people!) because those are the only reasons that women would read a romance novel. I try to explain it like this, if romance novels were to be looked at as movies, a really good romance novel would be something emotionally moving like Titanic sans the part where Jack dies. I do not believe that the sex scene in Titanic would be considered porn because well I don’t really have a lot of knowledge about porn but I believe it is just sex. And sex without the story of how you met and fell for one and other and how you overcame life’s curve balls is just sex. Nothing else. So. Why are romance novels not accepted??? I guess it is just pure ignorance and the assumption that women are at their cores not as intelligent as men. Right. Well, I will never stop reading novels and I will never stop trying to explain how wonderful they are to anyone who has something negative to say about them. I am so glad for places like Anderson’s who respect romance novels. And hopefully, one day if I end up publishing one of my own romance novels, I can sign books at a place like Anderson’s that is excited to have me there and respects what I write.
P.S. I wish I could have seen you Sarah when you came to Anderson’s but I had an exam the next day and could not quite convince myself that I had studied enough!
March 26th, 2013 at 4:09 pm
[...] Sarah Maclean is one of the up and comers in the romance genre. Please take a moment to read what she wrote about indie bookstores and romance novels. [...]
March 27th, 2013 at 7:58 pm
Omg! I loved this post.
We only have big book stores left in the Toledo, Ohio area. I love small book stores there so much more personal. I’ve been looking for a romance book club in my area but have not found one as of yet. What do I need to do to join your romance book club?
March 27th, 2013 at 8:56 pm
Hi Sarah!
I’m so glad to see more Indie bookstores on your list! When you think of how much readers can support their local communities and get great service to me it’s so important for us all to remember how important it is for not only getting great service and recommendations but also to help our communities keep independent businesses open and successful.
I’m putting out a challenge for each of your followers to call a friend tomorrow and to go together to your own local Indie bookstore!
March 28th, 2013 at 8:53 pm
Oh my, I can’t even comment on that bookstore, as it would not be nice. My favorite indie carries lots of romance and are more than happy to order a book for you if they don’t have it in stock.
The Bookman, 715 Washington Ave Grand Haven, MI 49417
We also have a Schuler Books & Music, 3165 Alpine Ave.
Walker, MI 49544
I am a indie supporter!
April 4th, 2013 at 11:50 am
Absolutely without question in the St. Louis area it is the Rose’s Bookhouse (www.rosesbookhouse.com in O’Fallon, MO). While they sell used books, they carry new books and the local romance writers meet there. It’s small, it’s quaint, and it is absolutely crammed with books. Better yet, the owner, Wendy Drew and her staff completely know their stuff, particularly about romance. I love these people. As a writer, it’s a haven for those of us who aren’t ashamed to love a good book!
May 7th, 2013 at 1:01 am
Sunshine books in Cypress Ca….it’s a tiny tiny tiny independent ROMANCE book store that’s been around FOREVER.
May 16th, 2013 at 3:37 pm
I’m very late to this conversation as you were only just recently highly recommended to me as an author. Hence, I’ve found your site and this discussion. It’s a subject near and dear to my heart; I loathe box stores and refuse to shop in them for any reason. We have a wonderful indie bookstore here in Lexington, KY – Joseph Beth Booksellers:
http://www.josephbeth.com/Default.aspx
They carry a nice romance section, and I noticed on their website that there is even a romance book club, although either it hasn’t been active this spring or the website hasn’t been updated.
I’m really looking forward to reading your books!