In the Shadow of the Giants

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Liberties Fine Books, Music & Cafe
www.liberties.com
One-million-title searchable database. Signed copies, e-mail notification service.

Midnight Special
www2.msbooks.com/msbooks/
Cultural, social, and political books.

Powell's
www.powells.com
One million new and used books in all subject areas. Out-of-print title searches.

Tattered Cover
www.tattered cover.com
Large, iconic, all-purpose bookstore. Site covers services and events as well.

Wellington's
www.wellingtons.com
Specializes in Southern writers and children's literature.

Also see:

BookWire
www.bookwire.com
Very useful index to general booksellers.

American Booksellers Association
www.bookweb.org
Members' home page has links to stores with online services.

Northern California Independent Booksellers Association
www.nciba.com
Lists 48 member operations including those with online book sites connected to real stores.

To survive in this climate takes nerve and skill, and those who do it--Powell's in Portland; Tattered Cover in Denver; Book Passages in Corte Madera, California; Elliot Bay Books in Seattle; Just Books in Greenwich,Connecticut; The Hungry Mind in St. Paul, Minnesota--do it with a vengeance, giving their customers what bookseller William Kramer of the Washington, D.C., independent Kramer Books & Afterwords terms life experiences, not just consumer experiences.

Hungry Mind owner David Unowsky, who says he built his business in preparation for this sort of competition, includes among his offensive tactics more service, more author events, more bargains. 'We do specialized market niches, community outreach, out-of-store events, author series, discounts,' Unowsky says. 'When a Barnes &Noble moved in two blocks away, we picked 25 books each month, called them The Hungry Mind 25, discounted them at 25 percent. Trying to be like the chains, we'll lose, because they can out-discount and out-advertise us. The chains are better at celebrity events. We do literary authors. No one has a poetry section like ours. We specialize in books for the helping professions, selling at conferences on death and dying, social work. This is a very important part of our business. We do two conferences a week, send someone with books. It results in solid sales plus publicity that money can't buy. We cement ties with the community that chains can't do.'

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