EM magazine ::Vol. 0I Issue 003 ::Declare Your Independence

Visiting the local Borders Books on Thursdays is something I have made a habit of over the past few months. I walk in, drop by the magazine stand, new fiction, science fiction, the kiddie shelves. Looking for good products, of course. What do I find? Besides the periodicals that I can access online and thus don't feel like wasting my money on (they're not printed on plastic, folks), the occasional novel will catch my eye. I try to stay away from what's popular and rarely make a purchase. The clerks must hate me for that, popping in to browse and then leaving. Tough. They don't need my money. The little guy does.

I'm talking about independent bookstores. Places like the sci-fi/fantasy bookstore in Sherman Oaks that has the great signing events, places where you feel welcome and you know the people who work there. No pimply-faced high school kid looking to make a buck and treating you like the scum they think you know yourself to be.

Let's a take a look at a few examples of where the problem lies. Bertelsmann holds a majority stake in barnesandnoble.com along with U.S.-based bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc.

Bertelsmann is a megamedia giant, Europe's biggest, along with Vivendi Universal (that's another article for another time). It also owns publishers Bantam Doubleday Dell and recently bought Random House.

The Borders Group owns Books etc. and Waldenbooks in addition to Borders Books itself.

Oh, and if you ever visit a Bookstar or B. Dalton bookseller--guess what--you're at Barnes and Noble. Surreal.

Amazon ate up the Internet Movie Database, resulting in the latter's stagnation. It's no longer a fun place to visit. The pages are too busy, schools of graphics waving their fins at the visitor. Bah, where's the fun in that? People want hard data, not distractions. Besides, it's been proven over and over again that advertising banners do NOT work and companies all over the Net are losing money because of them. We'll see who gets the last laugh when places like Snowball or About or UGO fold.

Getting back to the mega-bookstore problem, here are three reasons you should hunt down an independent bookstore near you:

1. The staff doesn't change every couple of months, so they'll know what you're into, what you'll be looking for, and materials you just plain want to stay away from. Megastore clerks often get a bleary-eyed look when asked a question with more than five words in it.

2. No stupid three-dollar-coffee-mocha-express-to-go-sit-down-in-the-cushy-chair hijinks. What ever happened to the good old coffee shops of the 1800s? Oh, yeah, we left them there, where they belong. Do anyone really want to pay for the book you spilled some coffee on because you were too dumb to simply buy it or check it out of a public library in the first place?

3. Intelligent conversation. Simple. You'll find all sorts of weird characters lounging about independents, and they'll usually know a ton about whatever the store specializes in. Try finding anybody like that in a chain.