Steven Hart, author of The Last Three Miles: Politics, Murder, and the Construction of America’s First Superhighway posts about Terry Pratchett’s comments on writers promoting their books. His killer quote, good for those of us who kvetch about promotion:
When I was at the Collingswood book fest a few months ago, I had the
good fortune to [...]
The customer was typing slowly. Very slowly. With her face close to the keyboard, she would move her hand gradually toward a letter, like a spacecraft attempting to dock. Her pointer finger would reach out toward a key, then, more often than not, withdraw, as she reconsidered the apparently awesome responsibility of committing a letter [...]
Acts of Hope (aka Jane the Eminently Quotable) lets us know of the sad closing of one of Berkeley’s best restaurants, both in terms of food and of feeling, Café de la Paz. The way that the economy is tanking, they’ve looked ahead and seen that they just can’t afford to stay open.
One good thing, [...]
There's more at josephzitt.com.
From the author of 19th Nervous Breakdown: Making Human Connections in the Landscape of Commerce
"Customers have told me that I approach bookselling like a ministry. Sometimes I find people exactly what they want; I hope that sometimes I find what they need. And helping the store make a profit is probably a good thing, too. But what I look for is the human contact, the communication, the chance to help people leave the store happier than they came in."