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Hot take: that big bookstore chain near Union Square is lying about their local author events
I went to one of their "local author showcases" last month in Manhattan and it was a total joke. They had 3 authors crammed into a corner near the bathroom and the staff didn't even know the event was happening when I asked. I counted 12 people total showed up over 2 hours and half of them were just lost tourists looking for the exit. Meanwhile they got a whole window display for some celebrity memoir that came out the same week. Has anyone else been to one of these and felt like the bookstore just wanted the tax writeoff instead of actually supporting writers?
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fiona98527d ago
My local indie started doing a small monthly thing where they actually promote it on social media and have the author do a short reading near the front counter with real seating. That made a huge difference because people actually knew about it and it had a dedicated time with staff clearly pointing people to the spot. Sounds like this chain just dragged some writers in for the tax writeoff without giving them any real support.
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hannah_perry27d ago
Went to one of their events in Brooklyn last year feeling pretty good about supporting local authors, but it totally changed my mind. The author was nice and all, but they had her set up next to the employee bathrooms and the speakers kept cutting out. I saw more staff restocking shelves than people actually watching her talk. Honestly felt more like a checkbox for their marketing than any real effort to help her sell books.
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