Nineteen Years, and Maybe Stop Counting

First, let's apologize for waiting so long for a new post.  We were initially planning on doing at least one a month, but there really wasn't anything to report on, so we didn't post anything.  We still updated the rest of the site on a fairly regular schedule, but this part just fell to the wayside.  Since the last post, many things have happened.  First, we had to stop taking credit cards again.  Things were just getting too expensive for what we were getting in return.  We have been trying to look into alternatives, but nothing has come of them yet.  Second, we have had to severely restrict our ordering due to having to go through a different distributor.  We have basically only getting special orders in and nothing new.  We simply cannot order extra without more people placing orders and paying for them up front.  We hate doing that, but it is the only we can place the orders.  Third, today marks the nineteenth anniversary of our opening!  October 7, 2000 was our opening day.  It was a Saturday.  Our first sale was for three books, paid for by check.  We were not able to have a lucky "first dollar" to mark the opening.  We only had about four people come in that day, and the day was mostly quiet, a harbinger of the things to come.  Ever since that day, were have been quiet and empty the overwhelming majority of days.  We have gone a week and more without anyone coming in, and we don't just mean in the depths of winter during major snow events when six foot plus drifts get piled up in the center's parking lot.  We are trying to do better, but the odds are that we will be closing by the end of the year.  As we do every year, we would like to thank our friends and customers who have come into our store over the years.  While we know we aren't the biggest or always the best, we have always tried to do so.  We will continue to try for as long as we can.  We hope to see all of our loyal friends at least one more time before anything else happens.  Thank you all for your support.

And That's All He Wrote, for Now

This will be the last regularly scheduled post for this blog for the foreseeable future.  Quite frankly, there is nothing to write about.  Nothing much is happening with the store.  No events are planned.  No news to report.  Nothing.  Last year, when we decided to initially change the format mot twice a month, a large part was because the regular author had so much extra to do outside of the store.  Two times a month worked out fine then.  However, another part of the problem was that was less to write about.  When this blog first started, the author did not have as many outlets as he does now.  With those outlets, the need for writing here has decreased somewhat, especially since more is happening in his life outside of work than with it now.  With more avenues for communication and less need for this one for Booknotes, the urgent need to write about anything in this space has lessened to the point where it is no longer viable.  As of now, we will still publish at least one post per month, but it will not be on any sort of regular schedule.  If there is any pressing news, it will be commented on here, but it would be announced through our other social media channels first.  While this section of the site will be slowing down, the rest of it will b e updated on its regular basis--weekly book debuts, monthly sneak peaks, and holiday themed colors and pics will still be changed on a regular basis.  Store pictures and videos will also be present on our Facebook page.  In fact, a new video will probably debut in the next few days.    So, be on the lookout for new postings, though our Facebook page, and then come back here to read them.  We will be waiting for you.  Until next time.

What Had to Be Done

First, sorry about this post being so late after the last one.  These posts are supposed to be on the second and fourth weekend of the month.  Well, June had five weekends, so the second weekend of July is three weeks late.  There was supposed to be a mini-post, but we forgot to do one.  Our bad.  Second, we are now having to ask customers to prepay for most special orders.  It is a consequence of having to deal with a different major distributor.  Our previous one, Follet/Baker and Taylor, went out of the retail market.  With this change, also came a change of payment plans.  This means we must pay for our deliveries before they can be shipped out.  This means that most books will now have to be paid in full before ordering them.  It is the only way we will be able to get them for you.  Some books on the lower end of the price range will not have to be prepaid, unless multiple ones are ordered.  In that case, they would have to be paid for up front.  We regret having to ask our customers to change the way we do business, but it cannot be helped.  We are doing all we can to try and ease this burden, but there is not much more we can do.  Stay tuned for more updates, either here and elsewhere on our website, or on our social media pages, such as Facebook.  See you in two weeks.

Thanks for Everything

If everything goes right, there will be a picture of our certificate from the Appalachian News-Express for winning the award for best place to buy books.  We would like to thank everyone who voted for us.  We would like to thank you in person, so please come in at your earliest convenience.  However, we do have a few problems.  After one last order, going out this Monday, June 24, if possible, we will b e making major changes.  After this time, we will have to ask for at least half down on all orders.  We may have to add shipping and handling fees as well.  Also, we don't know how much longer we will be able to place orders.  We should know more by the next post.  Check our Facebook page for any immediate news.  In any case, we will have one more post this month, next week.  And again, thanks for everything.  It took awhile, but we were finally able to add the picture.

A Video Is Worth at Least a Few Words

We are nearing the one year anniversary of our video series:  Making the Logo.  First, some history.  Within a year of our opening, we put an easel with the store's name on it, as well as other pertinent information that we deemed important to our customers.  Usually, this was when we would be opening/closing at an unscheduled time or when we would be closed for a day.  We would also place announcements for events we were having, mostly author signings or sales.  We would even place some major arrivals, such as new Harry Potter books, up there.  However, we would also start doing interesting things with the store's name.  Rather than just put "Booknotes" in whatever color that seemed appropriate for the time of year, we would jazz it up.  The earliest example, as we have mentioned numerous times, was by changing the first two O's into eyes and the straight line in the K into an exclamation point, forming "Boo!" for Halloween.  Since that early attempt, our logos have gotten more elaborate.  Remember, this was before we at the store knew about Google's similar explorations into graphic logos. We didn't know what we were doing.  Last year, after finally getting a computer, we decided to show our customer base the process of creating these logos.  Hence, the series was born.  At first, these were posted only on YouTube, as part of the writer's personal channel, as well as on the store's Google listing.  However, that part has mostly faded away.  It was just too difficult to place the web address in a post, especially since the link would never show up correctly.  Now, we cross post the vid to our Facebook page.  This allows more people to opportunity to catch it, as well.  Currently, we update the logo every two to three weeks.  The next time, the theme will probably tied to the fourth of July, but it is somewhat too early to be sure.  Anyway, be on the look out for this new logo, and vid, a week or so after this.  See you again in two weeks.

State of Flux

We still are not sure how we will be dealing with the fallout of losing our primary distributor.  We might be able to have one more order go out before Follett/Baker & Taylor leaves the retail market.  Once that happens, we don't know what to expect.  Aside from dealing with one distributor only, there will be many secondary problems that will pop up.  Along with shipping out books, Baker & Taylor provided online catalogs, two main ones as well as many secondary specialized ones.  While access to these catalogs might still be available, they may chose to discontinue them or limit their access.  The same holds true of their on-sale date lists.  We have using these lists to create both our Books page as well as our Upcoming Releases board sign in the store.  We have lists for the next two months, but we might not have anything to go on after that.  The library market isn't as strict in needing to know street dates for books.  Speaking of books, we should be able to continue to get most of your books, as well as many sideline supplies, but there could be some problems.  The biggest one would be for the customer.  We will have to have people pre-pay in total almost every book ordered.  We will not be able to get the books in otherwise, as we would need to pre-pay the distributor before shipping as well.  Also, shipping charges would be needed, especially if books are needed within a certain time.  Things are still up in the air, so stay tuned for official announcements of what we will be doing.  See you soon.

Where Did All the Books Go

As we mentioned on Facebook last week, our primary distributor, Follett/Baker and Taylor, has decided to leave the retail market to focus more on libraries and schools.  In a little over a month, we will no longer be able to place orders through them.  What does this mean?  First, if there are any books you want, we suggest placing the order as soon as possible.  Many backlist titles might no longer be carried, and some newer books might not be carried in some formats either.  Second, we will be needing to change some store policies.  From now on, we will be needing down payments in full for all books.  We will probably have to charge a shipping fee as well.  This will be due to the fact that the distributor we will be dealing with has a policy where we will have to pay for our orders before they are shipped.  Because of this, we will need most customers to pay for their books beforehand, as well as helping to cover any shipping fees incurred due to not placing a minimum order.  Lastly, we might not be able to keep going on, even with these new changes.  It will be difficult for us to place minimum orders and still have customers receive their products in a timely fashion.  While it is possible, some people might have long waits before we can place orders.  We are not sure just how long we will able to keep up once this takes place.  However, this is still month away before this takes place.  This will mark the third time in our store's history that we have had to change primary distributors.  Back in 2005, our first prime distributor, Koen, filed for bankruptcy, just before the sixth Harry Potter book came out.  Koen managed to hook us up with Baker and Taylor in time to get our order in time, even though the initial contact got delayed due to a missed phone call to our original contact number, instead of our current one.  Koen did get out of bankruptcy, but it only managed to go on as Koen-Levy for a year and a half or so, before going out of business.  Later on, about three years ago, Baker and Taylor either merged or got bought by educational book distributor Follett.  At first, there were only minor changes.  The biggest one was the discontinuation of their print catalogs in 2018.  Then, earlier this year, they ended their distribution of electronic media, which had been a cornerstone of their business for decades.  We didn't even get notice of this news directly either.  We found out about the ending of their retail division from an outside news article.  We are still recovering, so we don't know how everything will go, but we are trying to do something.  We appreciate both Baker and Taylor and our customers to do otherwise.  See you next time.