Interview Prompts Interesting Reader Reaction
When Auntie’s Bookstore owner Chris O’Harra talks, people evidently listen. Or at least they seem to read.
One of the reactions to the interview that O’Harra gave for this column two weeks ago was particularly interesting.
O’Harra had talked of the struggle that independent bookstores have in this era of cable and satellite television, Internet book-ordering and chain book outlets offering prices that often seem to be less than the books cost to print.
David Heflick of Silcox Productions, a publishing business that Heflick describes as being a “one-room log cabin on 20 remote acres near the Canadian border,” offered his sympathies.
“While I have to agree with Chris’ closing remark, that if anybody can make it, it will be them, the very thought of a Spokane without Auntie’s….”
That’s how his sentence ended. The thought, obviously, was too horrible for him even to consider. Heflick did go on to say, however, that the same threats face small presses and self-publishers.
“As the independents close, it becomes increasingly difficult for us to get our books on the shelves of bookstores,” Heflick wrote by e-mail. “The independents see the value in the focused, regional or niche-market information that we make available; the large chains typically do not.”
When the chains stores do see that value, he added, “the discount they require before buying our books is 55 percent rather than the 40 percent cut we take when dealing with independents.”
That’s a big difference for a company such as Silcox Productions, which specializes in such books as “The Greater Spokane & Palouse Region Cycling Guide,” a book that outlines 40 area bike tours. Spokesman-Review Outdoors editor Rich Landers called the guide “a gem of a book for anyone who wants to sample the best bicycling routes of the Inland Northwest.”
By the way, you can order from Silcox directly. The address is: Silcox Productions, P.O. Box 1407, Orient, WA 99160, or through Heflick’s Internet site at www.bikeguy.com/ guides.htm.
Or you can buy from your favorite local bookstore, whichever one that might be.
Last warning for limericks
All you limerick-writers: Note that the deadline for all submissions to The Spokesman-Review’s second limerick contest is Tuesday. And remember, there is a specific topic that you must address: news events or newsmakers of the Inland Northwest.
Send all submissions to: Limerick contest, c/o Dan Webster, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. Or e-mail them to danw@spokesman.com. Or fax them to (509) 459-5098.
Rhymes in time
Scott Poole, whose day job sees him editing the Eastern Washington University Press, is also a talented poet.
Poole’s new book, “The Cheap Seats” (Lost Horse Press, 80 pages, $12.95 pages, ISBN 0-9668612-0-5) is out in print. He’ll be reading from it at various sites over the next few weeks (see reader board).
You can sample the poems on the Internet by going to www.spocom.com/users/spoole.
Notes for poets
All you area poets take note: Kimera, the Spokane-based literary journal, is accepting submissions for its June issue. The rules are fairly simple: “All work will be considered if accompanied by contest fee, $2 per poem.” No fewer than three poems, please, or more than five.
Other stipulations: one poem (all work must be original) per page; type must be legible (no handwritten submissions); no names on poems (only on cover letter); addresses (e-mail, too) on cover letter only); include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
Send your submissions to: Poetry Contest, Kimera: A Journal of Fine Writing, 1316 N. Hollis, Spokane, WA 99210.
The deadline is April 15. Winners will be announced June 1.
The reader board
Poet Scott Poole, author of “The Cheap Seats,” will read from his book at 6 tonight at Mootsy’s, Washington and Riverside.
Spokane writer David E. Winchester, author of “The Case of the Innocent Corpse,” will read from his book at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Auntie’s Bookstore, Main and Washington. For further information, call 838-0206. On Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Winchester will sign copies of his book at the Coeur d’Alene Hastings, 101 Best Ave. For further information, (208) 664-0464.
Josie Wahharachue, author of “Thai Cuisine at its Best,” will discuss the cookbook and demonstrate some of her favorite recipes at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Barnes & Noble, located just east of the Spokane Valley Mall. On Thursday, the Barnes & Noble Mystery Club will convene at 7 p.m. (participants were supposed to read a new mystery and be prepared to discuss it with the group). For further information, call 922-4104.
Poet Phil Dacey will read from his works at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the University of Idaho Law School Courtroom. For further information, call Moscow’s BookPeople at (208) 882-7957.
David M. Delo, author of “The Yellowstone, Forever,” will sign copies of his books from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Moscow Waldenbooks, 2100 W. Pullman Road. On Friday, Delo will sign copies from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the University of Idaho Bookstore, and from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Coeur d’Alene Hastings.
Mike Oehler, author of “The Hippy Survival Guide to Y2K,” will sign copies of his book from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Book & Game Co. in Coeur d’Alene’s Silver Lake Mall, 200 W. Hanley. For further information, call (208) 762-2304.