April 10, 2020

ISOLATED PAGES #20

BOOK NEWS

TREASURE HOUSE BOOKS TAKES CREATIVE STEP
As you know COVID -19 has changed everyone's lives in just a few short weeks. John Hoffsis of Albuquerque's Old Town bookstore Treasure House Books hopes everyone is doing fine, practicing social distancing and staying safe. John said: "This has been a challenging time for my bookstore, as we were declared a nonessential business and had to close our doors per the governor's orders. We are still accepting phone order and stock inquiries via phone at (505) 242-7204, and via email at treahobooks@yahoo.com. If there is a book you would like that we regularly stock, please contact us. Shipping is free on any order shipped directly from us through April 30. However, to help us stay afloat during this time, I've hooked us up with Bookshop.org for an online sales portal. These folks specifically exist to to provide book readerswith an alternative to Amazon, and to help out indie bookshops. They do the fulfilling and shipping, and Treasure House Books and Gifts gets a percentage of each sale. You can find most of you favorite titles from the our store here, but also, you can order just about any book of any subject you want from them. Looking for a book on ancient Chinese pottery or an advanced chemistry textbook? Bookshop probably has it. And if you order through Treasure House Books & Gifts' Bookshop website, part of the money will go to help us. Here is the direct link to our site: Treasure House Books & Gifts Bookshop

FARMINGTON BOOKSTORE FOCUSES ON CUSTOMERS NEEDS
The Farmington Daily Times newspaper ran a nice article yesterday on local Farmington bookstore, Amy’s Bookcase. Here’s the link to the article.
https://www.daily-times.com/story/news/local/2020/04/07/amys-bookcase-offering-pandemic-packs-curbside-delivery/2965566001/ Amy is providing “pandemic packs” to her loyal customers, and many distant new ones. People ask for a certain genre. She picks 3 books from the approx. 100,000 used books in the store, puts them in a paper bag with the person’s name and sets them outside the door for pick-up. This month, Amy’s Bookcase is celebrating the 40th year of operation. An accomplishment for any small business, but especially for an independent bookstore. Before the Corona Virus shut down, Amy had planned celebrations, author signings, and workshops for the entire month of April. Now all cancelled. For most of the past decades Amy’s Bookcase operated mainly as a used paperback exchange. In recent years, Amy, her family and staff have updated their offerings and included new books by local authors. As one of the authors and a member of San Juan Writers that she has promoted with signings and events, I was glad to see Amy’s Bookcase recognized for making reading accessible to our community. Website https://www.amysbookcase1.com/

NEWS SUMMARY from Publishers Weekly
Barnes & Noble is furloughing employees amid protests. Europe's publishers are seeing massive revenue declines. PRH has begun furloughs in the U.K. The Pulitzers have been postponed. It's another day of dreary news for the book business. But the efforts to keep things moving continue—even at B&N, which is refurbishing its closed stores. Industry sales rose in January, even though that trend won't last. A new relief fund for artists has been founded. Children's book events are surviving and thriving in a digital space, and international publishers are going online to keep in touch. Authors are sharing their lockdown experiences with the world, in the Guardian, the New Yorker, and elsewhere. It's a struggle, but one that the book biz is in together.

ONLINE MEETING
NMBA has gone to a virtual meeting online. Everyone can join in. Their 1st online meet will be on Friday April 17 at 11:30am. To join in the meeting you meet to set up with a Test Meeting on Monday April 13 at 11:30am. For more on this go to https://www.nmbookassociation.org/payment-983757.html

CORRECTION
The SWW conference"Writing IS a Business" is actually Saturday, September 26, not 25.

The New York Times NEWS
* The current coronavirus crisis is hard for readers — even though, for many, it has come with the unexpected gift of free time and nowhere to go. Sarah Lyall reflects on the books that helped her in past emergencies.
* Here’s our handy guide to getting books and other reading material from stores and libraries, including some options that are free.
* With her debut novel, “How Much of These Hills Is Gold,” the Chinese-American author C Pam Zhang writes herself into the Wild West. While working on the book, she worried that her depiction of racism toward Asians “would seem too extreme, too maudlin.” Now she feels it’s more relevant than ever.
* Since the 1970s, Annie Ernaux has poured a lifetime of memories into intensely personal books such as “Cleaned Out,” “A Frozen Woman” and the Booker International finalist “The Years.” Now, readers in English are catching on, with her latest, “A Girl’s Story,” coming out in the U.S.
* Kids stuck inside houses and apartments have inspired literary classics from “The Cat in the Hat” to “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” Here’s our list of books to help this generation through this cooped-up time.
For more go to https://messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/template/oakv2?campaign_id=69&emc=edit_bk_20200407&instance_id=17447&nl=books&productCode=BK&regi_id=51434909&segment_id=24198&te=1&uri=nyt%3A%2F%2Fnewsletter%2F9b8e0cb6-d735-4608-b7cd-9628ebca3269&user_id=6ac0534282a55044638a2e258b89413b

WHAT'S SELLING
Ingram, one of the largest book distributors in the world, has compiled a list of what genre of books are selling right now. Very Interesting. Check it out at https://www.ingramcontent.com/publishers/lp/best-selling-bisacs

SUPPORTIVE COMMENTS

We have been getting a lot of feedback and many comments on our HELP CENTER, including from Ramona Gault, GE Nordell, Sarah Kotchian, Ann Zeigler, Sue Houser, Norma Libman, Vicky Ramakka, Patricia Walkow, and Lynda Sanchez

Lynda Sanchez said: "For a short time pdfs of books from many presses, including UA, are available for download for free. A number of university presses are included in the link below. https://muse.jhu.edu/search?action=browse&limit=subscription:n&limit=publisher_id:208&limit=discipline_id:168&limit=format:book&min=1&max=10&t=format_facet_select

Patricia Walkow said: "I look forward to reading Isolated Pages every morning."

Norma Libman said: "Thanks for the jokes. Just what we need in these times."

Sue Houser said: "I loved A Good Laugh. Here is another one:
My car is now getting three weeks to the gallon."

Ann Zeigler said: "Many thanks for gathering the "A Good Laugh" items in Isolated Pages 19--every one of them was a keeper! Off they go to my FB page."

Sarah Kotchian said: "Thank you! Appreciate all the good news and the jokes, too! Thank you"

GE Nordell said: “Social distancing is not a problem for me because of my many years of practicing anti-social distancing.”

Ramona Gault said: "Your daily emails are becoming a "must-read item" for New Mexico writers--so much info and so much encouragement, building solidarity as we get through this together but alone. Please consider mentioning my New Mexico Author Q&A blog. Every couple of weeks or so, I post an interview with a NM author of fiction or memoir. I started this before the corona virus epidemic because it's a fun way for me to talk to other NM authors and show them some "love" on my blog. Here's the latest post: https://www.ramonagault.com/blognewmexicoauthors/new-mexico-author-q-amp-a-2?fbclid=IwAR0xeWFw1OThfMtu8TNweL0Gnk2CrJJwTWtP_VGpSblBP4ZyLt_vw_FRyS4"

A GOOD LAUGH

This edition is coming to you on Good Friday of one of the most interesting years we have ever experienced. Most of us have been in isolation now at least 4-5 weeks, and some as long as 8 weeks. I personally started my stay at home routine back right after the last in-person Book Co-op meeting on Feb 28.

It has been a long time for many of us; but imagine my surprise this morning when I woke up and the radio was playing Christmas music. For a moment I thought I had been in a Rip Van Winkle type of moment. And then I understood that people had been sending in requests for holiday music as a way for experiencing other times and feelings.

In my world, a neighbor who has a statute of a giraffe at the end of their driveway, regularly dress it up to observe special events and holidays. Below is the way it looked this morning. On the ground is a large Easter basket and a sign that tells the kids passing by that they should take an egg or candy to help them celebrate the holiday. One cannot help but smile every time one goes by on our daily walks.

My oldest granddaughter sent the meme below this morning. It pretty much sums up how most families are dealing with the world.

A FUN READ

Here is a fun read from Lynda Sanchez ... http://www.nmbookcoop.com/The-Adventurers.docx

And now how about a funny video: http://www.nmbookcoop.com/MarriageTherapist.mp4

RESOURCES

KUDOS

Here is a reminder of what the book biz was all about just a few short weeks ago, compliments of Croak and Dagger.

KEEP SAFE & HEALTHY—Wash Your Hand and Don't Hoard TP
Paul Rhetts

NM Book Co-op's main mission is to foster community and support for authors and publishers and books.