Goodbye to Another Independent Bookstore - Do We Blame Amazon?

Yesterday, I was saddened to learn that Twice Told Tales, an independent bookstore in Gloucester VA, is going out of business. Stores like this have been supportive of local authors who are not well-known like the New York Times bestsellers or those published by the large New York publishing houses. They have been good places for friendly book signings where authors become known to local readers. However, these stores have struggled for a long time now.

Monti (left) at Nov. 2011 book signing, Twice Told Tales

Do we blame Amazon for these struggles? Is it because of the Kindles?

Probably, yes and no.

Since my first novel, Hearts Across Forever, was released by Oak Tree in 2001, the publishing world has been changing. Maybe I noticed it more because soon after my book came out, 9/11 happened. That caused the cancellation of one of my first signings.

From that time on, the presence of independent bookstores appeared to decline. For a while, Twice Told Tales had stores in three communities, then it shrunk to one. The Waldenbooks I especially liked went from many locations to just a few. My favorite in Hilton Head, SC closed. The story of the many closings goes on and on.

In the meantime, amazon.com was growing. Then, it really took off. Last night, I watched the Brian Williams Rock Center TV program and was amazed by the enormous size of the Amazon fulfillment center they were visiting. The size of 28 football fields, the reporter Harry Smith said. That's big enough, but it's also three stories high. That's mind-boggling. There are 40 of these fulfillment centers throughout the country. That's even more mind-boggling. Amazon tries to stock everything they can get their hands on, Smith said.

The Amazon giant is overwhelming. No little store can compete.

We all like sitting in front of our computers where it's comfortable and ordering whatever we need or want. But it's also comfortable being in a neighborhood bookstore meeting the people who read your books.

Sorry to see you leave us, Twice Told Tales. Thank you, Nancy Halstead, for bringing your smile to Gloucester.

(Santa will be at Twice Told Tales on Saturday, December 1 in celebration of the Christmas parade.)

--Mary Montague Sikes

Night Watch Doesn't Show Up in Searches

I've waited and wondered. When will my Passenger to Paradise mystery/suspense novel, Night Watch, start showing up on my Google and Amazon searches? It's still not coming in on the Night Watch Google alerts. I hear about everything else with Night and Watch attached but not my book. Even on Amazon, I have to go to page five or six in the search and then it shows up as number 66.

Night Watch is a new book that came out in April 2010. All the other Night Watch books showing on Amazon are older. Those books listed on the first page of the Amazon search have publication dates of  2006 and 2003. The Kindle version of Night Watch was released at the end of May 2010.

Obviously, it was a mistake to title a book with a popular name that has been used many times before, but I did not know at the time. From now on, I will search carefully and not choose a title that I find already in use. My first novel, Hearts Across Forever, comes up number one on all the searches, including Amazon. It gained renewed life when my publisher made it a Kindle book in February 2009. There are no other books with that title on Amazon.

If anyone else has experienced similar problems with a book title, I would like to know about your story. Everything seems to be a learning experience in this crazy publishing business that we all must love a lot since we are still here.

I'm waiting and hoping that one day I'll receive a Google alert about the real Night Watch--my book!!!