Honest thoughts of a debut novelist after visiting a pretty good indie bookstore

A numbered list

1. Visiting a bookstore a year after my first novel came out is emotional and makes me feel unsettled. It’s difficult not to look at the shelves and be like oh yeah, I remember that book (which got more attention than mine); and that book (which got more attention than mine); and I wish my book had been received like that book there. And oh, look, surprise, there’s another book that got more attention than mine. This is a terrible way for a book lover (me) to approach being in a bookstore. I’m hoping this is a temporary state of mind that eventually goes away.

2. I know it’s really hard to be an indie bookstore these days. And that indie bookstores are important to books that actually sell well.

3. To be honest, I’m not sure how important most indie bookstores were to my book personally.

4. That said, I’m going to directly contradict myself. Here are some ways I know some bookstores promoted or helped my book:

   1. Wellington Square Book Shop has a great Podcast / Youtube Channel where they interview both well-known and lesser-known writers, and my conversation with the owner Sam Hankin somehow has 30K views.

   2. Buffalo Street Books in Ithaca, New York invited me down for a conversation with local author Aaron H. Arm. Not a lot of people attended but it was still a good talk and gave me an excuse to visit all of Nabakov’s offices at Cornell with a good friend.

   3. Parthenon Books in Syracuse chose my book for one of their book clubs and also hosted my launch reading.

   4. My other local bookstore (Golden Bee) came out to try and sell my books at a library event where only one copy of my book sold.

5. Despite my emotional discomfort (see #1), it is really fun to visit a bookstore with another writer who likes to read the same books as me (i.e. Bryan Crumpley).

6. I know I’ve seen on Instagram other authors visiting bookstores spontaneously and then, with permission I assume, signing a copy of their book that’s out on the shelves—but wow this felt kind of weird when I did it. And then - what to say afterward to the bookseller who seemed uninterested in talking to me? (Questions I wished I asked: how do books get on the Indie Next list?¹ Have you read my book? Has anyone in this bookstore read my book? How important are pushes from publisher sales teams in choosing which books you’ll order? How is anyone going to find my book in this store? )

7. Why The Future and not The Power? Why Entitlement and not Leave the World Behind? Yes Maniac, no When We Cease to Understand the World? (Answer: only the most recent book of most authors was carried here. This was a painful surprise to me, as many of my favorite books are not the most recent ones.)

8. There was no fantasy section and no horror section here. It appears those books are placed on the bookshelves labeled Science Fiction. Perhaps a sign change is in order.

9. Why is The Future in Literature along with Colleen Hoover while my book After World is in Science Fiction?

10. Why are the staff picks recommending books that are already popular and already being read?

11. Colleen Hoover books take up several shelves. They do carry older books of hers.

12. The Indie Next program: I always thought this was to recognize lesser-known writers. However The Empusium, the new book by Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk², was an Indie Next pick for that month. The book looks fabulous, but at the same time she did win the Nobel Prize. Is it possible there are lesser-known writers deserving of Indie Next attention?³

13. Richard Powers’ new book Playground was at the front of the store in a huge, huge pile of hardcovers. (I also saw his book at O’Hare airport in a convenience store that did not even sell books, yet they were selling his books.) Does Richard Powers also really need to be pushed more? One thing the last year of post-publication has taught me: there are so many amazing books out there that people aren’t reading. The famous authors, though great, are not necessarily better than the non-famous authors. They’re just more famous.⁴

14. My highly impractical dream bookstore in my highly impractical dream world:

    

    (this image took a very long time to make and I made it using Midjourney)

    A bookstore where books are arranged by color.
    Or a bookstore where all books are published anonymously.
    Or a bookstore of good books that have sold less than X copies in the past year.
    Or a bookstore of unknown authors.⁵

1. I’ve learned more about this since my bookstore visit. Essentially I think the publisher generally picks a few titles then pushes them at bookstores via their sales team and the American Booksellers Association as Indie Next hopefuls. I thought it was this grass-roots sort of thing, but I think generally you need your publisher’s backing, and it costs money.

2. I’m reading two Olga Tokarczuk books right now: Primeval and Other Times and also Flights. She is an amazing writer, though perhaps not indie. Also you should read her Nobel Prize speech.

3. Though see footnote 1. Now that I know publishers generally need to push Indie Next books with money, I am less enamored with this program.

4. Wouldn’t it be nice if the more famous authors at a publishing house asked that all the books released in a particular season were treated more equally? If Richard Powers was like — I’ll only let you put my books in every single shop in the O’Hare airport if you also include, in the same display, two other debut author’s books. My friend Laura Carnes Williams has mentioned the idea of “author equity” to me — I want to learn more about it.

5. Because this is my Substack, I am not going to force myself to offer any kind of conclusion merely because this is the end of my little essay. I hate rules like that.