Happy Valentine’s Day from Spellbinder!

Since Valentine’s Day is fast-approaching, we thought we should share an excerpt from one of our favorite books in the store, Listomania: A World of Fascinating Facts in Graphic Detail (Harper Design, $25.99). On page 233, this fabulously funny and interesting book lists “15 Critters with Strange Mating Rituals.” Here are eight for you to enjoy:

PORCUPINE: Female porcupines are only in the mood for one day a year. To check if she’s interested, a male stands on his hind legs and, from 6 feet (2 m) away, urinates on her. If she’s into him, she shows her belly; lovemaking ensues.

WHITE-FRONTED PARROTS: One of the only creatures besides humans to kiss, these birds add their own flourish. After they cuddle, lock beaks, and flick their tongues together, the male vomits on the female to show his commitment.

GARTER SNAKE: A female may be courted by up to 100 males, who form a “mating ball” around her in hopes of getting it on. Only one lucky male gets close enough, but he then has to make a crucial choice: Which of his two penises does he use?

HEDGEHOG: The male hedgehog’s way of attracting a mate involves walking around and around the female hedgehog, sniffling and snorting. This can go on for hours until she decides she is ready to mate; often she just wanders off.

ELEPHANT: These massive beasts are actually pretty sweet to each other–nuzzling, twisting their trunks together, and even “french kissing” with their trunks. Oh, he also samples her urine to make sure she’s in heat before sealing the deal.

AUSTRALIAN REDBACK SPIDER: Females require the males to perform an elaborate dance for more than an hour. During the dance, the male aligns his stomach with her mouthparts. If he stops early, he’s eaten; if he finishes in a timely fashion, he is also eaten.

BLUE CRAB: Female blue crabs only mate during molting, when their shells are soft. Before and after mating, the male cradles and carries the female to protect her from predators, until her shell hardens and she’s safe again.

ANGLERFISH: The male anglerfish attaches himself to a (much larger) female permanently and lives his entire adult life as her sidekick, providing sperm when she requires.

If you like what read, there’s more fun facts to be found in Listomania: A World of Fascinating Facts in Graphic Detail, such as “9 Things that Were Lost in Space,” “8 Animals that Darwin Ate,” “12 Products that Radiation ‘Improved,’” “23 Famous Conspiracy Theories,” “15 Unlikely Intoxicants,” “28 Prehistoric Creatures Named for Famous People or Cool Things.”

Drop by the Spellbinder and pick up or order your own copy today!

And, Happy Valentine’s Day to all you crazy critters!

World Book Night

 

World Book Night is an international event designed to share the love of books and reading by finding 50,000 volunteer ‘book givers’ to give away a million free books!

 

April 23rd is UNESCO’s World Book Day, and World Book Night is a non-profit founded by publishers, booksellers, and many others in the book industry throughout the United States, the U.K., and the Republic of Ireland.  Their Board has selected a list of thirty books to choose from – it’s a broad list with a little bit of everything represented on it – and the publishers have donated special editions of their books.  You simply register on the World Book Night web site and indicate your first, second and third choice titles from the list.  If you’re selected as a book giver, you’ll receive 20 copies of your title to give out for free on World Book Night!

To sign up to be a book giver, you must register by February 1st

 

The registration process is easy and only takes a few minutes.  We at Spellbinder have registered to be a pick-up point for books, and are working with the youth center Wunut Novi to co-host a free book party at their building on World Book Night.  If you would like to participate, please register now!  You are more than welcome to come along to our party, or to design one of your own.  Just remember, the idea of World Book Night is to pass free books along to people who, for whatever reason, might not read very often. 

If you have any questions, check out the World Book Night web site or feel free to contact us at the store.  As avid readers, we think this is going to be really fun, and we hope you can join us!

“The A Word”: Part 3- See it here. Buy it here. Keep us here.

Imagine, if you will, that one day you’re driving down Main Street and you see signs taped on Spellbinder’s windows that read: “Going out of business SALE!” and “Everything must go!” In response, you wander into the bookstore, only to find that most of the shelves are bare. The store looks empty, desolate. You buy a few books, and then realize this will be the last time you buy a few books, or any book, at Spellbinder. The next time you drive down Main Street, you notice that Spellbinder is just an empty storefront. It occurs to you that now a few of the only places in town to browse new books are Kmart and Vons.

Luckily, this is not Spellbinder’s reality.

Yet.

We’re doing our very best to stick around. And we appreciate the efforts of our regular customers who are doing their best to keep us here! Thanks! But the book industry is evolving, and in response, we’re trying to adapt to the changes. For example, we revamped our web site, started a blog, made eBooks available through our web site, started a freqent shoppers program, and brought more unique gift items into the store.

We’re trying to do our part, but we need our customers to meet us halfway. That means continuing to shop with us, encouraging other people to stop by our store, and telling friends that if they really want an e-Reader, they should buy any model but a Kindle (because that way, you can buy eBooks through us and not exclusively through Amazon!).

One thing we can’t do is match Amazon’s discounts. As a small bookstore and not a megacorporation, we can’t afford to sell books at a net loss like Amazon. We don’t have stock to fall back on. But we can offer certain things that Amazon can’t.  We can provide helpful customer service from real people who really love books. Our knowledgeable staff loves to meet your reading needs and provide you with in-person recommendations and staff picks. We’ve heard from some customers that all they need to do is look at our ”staff picks” wall to find their next great read. We’ll even take the time to look up that one book (you can’t remember the name of it) by that one author (who you can’t remember the name of) that had a blue cover (or was it yellow?). An Amazon search engine can’t do that for you.

Amazon also can’t offer that valuable ”third place.” The notion of the “third place” comes from the idea that as society becomes increasingly busy, people need a third place other than work and home to connect with people on a real level. We hope that Spellbinder Books provides a sanctuary for those seeking quiet, a meeting place for old friends, and comfortable atmosphere to sit back, sip on coffee and dive into a really good book. We also host events like author readings, concerts, book club meetings, kids’ activities and parties to gather the community in the “third place” we’re trying to create and preserve here in Bishop.

We hope people recognize and appreciate Spellbinder’s services to the community. We try to give back to our customers with small things like free gift wrapping, our frequent shoppers program, and serving as an adjunct visitors center for tourists. But we also give back to the community in big ways like providing local employment, raising close to $10,000 for ICARE and giving discounts to schools. Can Amazon match that?  Nope.

So, if you see a book in our store that you really want, don’t look up Amazon’s competing prices on your smart phone. Instead, recognize that it feels good to be standing in a bookstore browsing through books and that the price you’re paying for your book in Spellbinder will help keep us around a little longer. If you see it here, then buy it here. That way, you will keep us here.  Thanks!

Fleur Jack- Live in Concert!

Wednesday, September 21st

We are excited to announce that we will be hosting Kiwi musician Fleur Jack for her Bishop appearance on her upcoming tour! Singer, songwriter and guitarist Fleur Jack is bringing her fabulous voice and unique style of acoustic folk music to Bishop….all the way from Auckland, New Zealand!!!

Come enjoy an evening of great music– let’s give Fleur our very best Bishop welcome.

Potluck at 6pm

Music at 7pm

Donation at door — suggested minimum: $5.00

To learn more about Fleur and hear a sampling of her music, visit http://www.reverbnation.com/fleurjack.

Join our new Frequent Shopper Savings Program!

Since little Timmy reads so much, he thinks Spellbinder’s Frequent Shopper Savings Program is stellar!

 As book lovers (and compulsive book buyers) ourselves, the staff of Spellbinder is well aware of how quickly money spent on books can add up. That’s why we want to reward our frequent shoppers with an invitation to join our new savings program! For every $100 you spend in the store, we give you a $10-off coupon for your next purchase!

“How do I join!?,” you ask?  It’s super simple and easy and barely takes any time at all!  Not only that, it’s free!  And no, this is not one of those seemingly sweet, yet annoyingly deceptive deals where we get your information and then fire a barrage of emails and phone calls and other irritating notifications at you.

We just take your first name, last name and phone number to record in our system. We may ask if you’d like to join our newsletter, but we won’t feel slighted if you decline.

Once you’ve created an account with us, any purchase (the subtotal amount) you make at Spellbinder (at any time) will be added to your account. Once you reach $100, we’ll print out a $10-off coupon for your next purchase!  It’s as easy as that!  Just remember to hang on to your coupon and use it within a year (because it will expire after one year). Your credit counts toward ANYTHING in the store (books, shirts, magazines, art, mugs, CDs…anything!).

So, the next time you stop by Spellbinder, ask to sign up for an account so you can start earning credit!

“The A Word”: Part 2–California Sales Tax

Let’s be honest. Who enjoys paying sales tax? Yet, as much as we gripe about the additional cost tacked on to our purchases, our tax dollars help pay for necessary and beneficial services like public education, transportation, housing, health and human services, corrections and rehabilitation, and environmental protection.

Up until recently, Amazon.com has been exploiting a loophole in the law to avoid making its customers pay sales tax. Since the company does not maintain a physical presence in the state (even though they own subsidiaries in California), it has gotten away with this. Until now.

A summary of events:

Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed legislation that would have required Amazon.com to start collecting a 7.25% base sales tax on online purchases. Emphasis on would have. In retaliation, Amazon abandoned 10,000 of its California affiliates, who are agents paid to entice shoppers to buy through Amazon. This way, Amazon hoped to remain exempt from collecting tax, since it removed its physical presence from the state. Now, Amazon is petitioning for a referendum that would allow Californians to vote on whether to overturn the new law that forces Internet retailers to collect sales tax. The law was passed to help California increase its tax revenue by $200 million annually. Amazon argues that its referendum would allow the company to continue supporting jobs and investing in the state. Amazon must gather more than 500,000 signatures by late September to put its measure in the statewide vote in February.

In the wake of these events, Spellbinder certainly has its own opinion about the matter. But, we realized that we couldn’t voice our plan of action any better than Green Apple Books (a San Fransisco independent bookstore) did in their recent blog post. So, we got permission to re-post their petition plan here:

Here’s the press release Green Apple Books issued today. Media inquiries welcome.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Pete Mulvihill – pete@greenapplebooks.com (415) 387-2272

 

Green Apple Books to petition state government to become exempt from sales tax

 

San Francisco, CA (August 16, 2011)—In a move spurred by Amazon.com’s campaign to collect 500,000-plus signatures in an effort to overturn California’s Sales Tax Fairness law via referendum, Green Apple Books owners Pete Mulvihill, Kevin Ryan, and Kevin Hunsanger have decided that they, too, will take a step toward not collecting sales tax. “We, too, are fed up with government providing infrastructure, security, and education” says Pete Mulvihill. “Enough is enough.”

Co-owner Kevin Ryan further argues that while Green Apple Books is a long-established presence in San Francisco that has always collected sales tax, there are more compelling reasons for the store to discontinue the practice. “Sure, the sales tax on books purchased at our store contributes to a better quality of life for all Californians, including social services for the elderly and disabled, but collecting sales tax kind of feels like overkill. We do enough for the community anyway,” says Ryan.

“I like Amazon’s angle here, and I think ALL indie stores should be exempt,” adds co-owner Kevin Hunsanger.

Additionally, Green Apple’s ownership provides this list of talking points:

• More than two-thirds of Green Apple’s staff do not have children and therefore should not really contribute tax money to public education;
• Most of the staff members do not own cars, so maintaining good roads isn’t that important. They could just walk;
• Statistics suggest that booksellers are 36% less likely to use emergency services than antiques dealers;
• Although many of the staff at Green Apple do in fact enjoy state and local parks, they sort of think someone other than the bookstore’s customers should pay to maintain them;

On Saturday, August 20, 2011, co-owner Kevin Ryan will hit the streets in an effort to collect enough signatures to put this issue into the hands of voters.

 Thanks Green Apple Books!  Visit their site: http://thegreenapplecore.blogspot.com/

The “A Word”: Part 1-The Discount Dilemma

These days, most booksellers for small independent bookstores wince when they hear a customer utter the “A word”– Amazon.  Much to the chagrin of brick-and-mortar bookstores everywhere, the ”A word” has invaded book-buying vernacular. Not only that, but the “K word” (Kindle) is also tossed around more than booksellers would like to hear. ”I stopped by your bookstore because I forgot my Kindle at home,” a customer traveling through town will tell us. “Let’s go, honey. We can find it cheaper on Amazon,” a thrifty woman will whisper to her husband after eyeing the retail price of a book in our store. “If bookstores would just match Amazon’s prices, I’d be happy to stop buying books online,” confides another customer.

Named after the world’s largest river, Amazon.com is the largest online retailer in the world. Of course, this has sizeable implications for the smaller stores struggling to compete with this big, fast and bold company. Unfortunately, brick-and-mortar stores cannot provide the discounts comparable to those offered by Amazon. Since Amazon sells higher mark-up items like electronics to help defray costs–and enjoys the financial security provided by its stockholders–it has the flexibility to mark down retail prices of books and sell them at a loss. This means Amazon essentially has the power to sell the books at (or often even below) cost, which translates to big discounts that bookstores can’t match.

In contrast to Amazon, bookstores pay for knowledgable staff to help customers one-on-one, and other business necessities like bags, shelves, signage, electricity, heating/air conditioning, and display materials. To pay for these extra costs, bookstores must usually rely on sales from sideline items like toys, candles and souvenirs. In addition, many bookstores (including Spellbinder) donate thousands of dollars to the community every year in the form of donations and discounts for schools, organizations, and book clubs. Small business donate about twice as much to charitable organizations as large businesses, according to a 1991 study by Patricia Frishkoff for the Small Business Administration. Sure, Amazon must pay for offices, warehouses and shipping fees, but it’s not reasonable for brick-and-mortar stores–with more overhead costs– to be expected to compete with the discounts Amazon can afford to give away.

Here at Spellbinder, we try to offer as many discounts as possible to our customers. All hardcover and paperback bestsellers are always 20 percent off. We mark down our remaindered ”last chance” books to 25 percent off. We also just started carrying used science fiction and westerns that range from $1.98 (for paperback) to $9.98 (for hardcovers!). The prices of the books in our “sale” section range from .98 cents (for paperbacks) to $6.98 (for hardcovers!). Schools teachers, and local organizations that promote literacy receive 20 percent off their purchases. Book clubs benefit from 15 percent off their books. We also reward honor students with 20 percent off their book-buying indulgences.  In any given year, the donations and discounts we give add up to $35,000.00 – $40,000.00!

Finally, we offer eBooks through our web site for prices comparable to those posted by Amazon. However, they are only downloadable through the iPad, the Nook and the Sony eReader. Once a customer buys a Kindle, he has resigned himself to only buying eBooks through Amazon.

As much as we can, we’re trying to give our customers the best prices we can afford to offer. We hope our customers appreciate this–in addition to everything we contribute to our community– as much as we appreciate their continued business with us. It’s only through the continued support of you–the readers of this community–that we will remain in existence here in Bishop!

-Devon

Hooked on eBooks?

“I have an electronic reader, but I never use it in public,” a friend of Spellbinder told us recently. “I don’t want to encourage people.”

This friend happens to work in the book publishing industry, and also happens to be one of the lucky few who still has a job in the book publishing industry. She said she would be surprised if she still had her job in two years. Why?

We’ve reached the age of digitization.

An increasing number of people own electronic reading devices and are opting to buy eBooks over hard copy versions. What will this mean for the publishing industry? What will this mean for bookstores? This is not meant to be an electronic reader-bashing blog post, but rather a helpful explanation of the pros and cons of this new development in the book industry. But most importantly, we want to emphasize that supporting electronic readers and supporting local bookstores doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive. Read on to find out why.

Sure, electronic readers have their perks. Our friend in the publishing industry was issued one by her company to offset the cost of printing and mailing manuscripts. In her company’s case, electronic readers save time and money.

Electronic readers may also save a traveler from lugging around a stack of to-be-read books on a long journey, although college students may benefit more from the weight-reduction theory than travelers. The heft of some textbooks is enough to anchor small boats. A more portable, lightweight version of textbooks (such as an electronic reading device) might be just the thing to reduce chiropractic bills.

 So yes, electronic readers can have their moment of glory. But the environmental arguments have to stop. There are more legitimate reasons to validate buying an electronic reader than: “They save trees.” That argument is rendered null and void after assessing the fact that reading devices aren’t biodegradable and many books are now being printed on recycled paper. And, the amount of electricity used to charge electronic readers makes their environmental footprint at least on par with that of books.

But, let’s get around to the most pressing issue here, which is how people can have their electronic readers and their local bookstores too! There are different providers and models of eBook readers– Kindle, Nook, iPad, and Sony eReader, to name a few. But there is only one device that we, as a bookstore, have real qualms about:  the Kindle. Sure, we appreciate when customers say things like, “I have a Kindle, but I still try to support my local bookstore too.” But, in reality, owners of Kindles can really only support their local bookstores to a certain point. Kindle stands apart from the rest by limiting owners to purchasing eBooks exclusively through Amazon.com. Roughly translated, that means that you can’t buy an eBook from Spellbinder for your Kindle.

The other electronic readers are more forgiving. They actually let customers buy eBooks through our bookstore! That way, money can continue to circulate through our community! Spellbinder has now partnered with Google to bring our customers the most flexible way to buy eBooks. If you have any questions, please feel free to come in and the staff will be more than happy to lead you through the process of buying an eBook through our website. Or, you can click here for a tutorial on buying a Google eBook through us.

We want to make it as easy as possible for our customers to access the books they want to read–whether they be hard copy or digital. We just hope our customers will make it possible for us to continue to stay in business. The Kindle doesn’t help. But other reading devices can aid in our continued existence in this evolving industry.

-Devon

Meet Author David Gilligan

“With the perspective of a mountaineer as well as a scholar, David Gilligan presents the geological and ecological story behind the ‘beautiful scenery’ of California. Readers who have enjoyed John Muir and, more recently, John McPhee will revel in this interpretation of the dynamic rhythms that shape our planet.”

-Dr. Roderick Frazier Nash, Professor Emeritus of History and Environmental Studies, UCSB, and author of Wilderness and the American Mind

 

 

 

 Rise of the Ranges of Light: Landscapes and Change in the Mountains of California

by David Scott Gilligan

Come enjoy a reading and discussion with scholar, author and mountaineer David Gilligan on his latest book. In his own words, it’s “a continuation, or modern rendition of, and surely a tribute to Muir’s classic work The Mountains of California.”

California is a place of intense and immediate tectonic activity, varied climate, and diverse habitats, and it is a place where stunning arrays of life meet and intermingle. California is also one of the newest places on Earth, freshly hewn, young and full of vitality, a place where one can literally watch the world in the making.

Rise of the Ranges of Light combines captivating first-person narrative with science writing to tell the story of the ever-changing landscapes of California. Picking up where John Muir left off in the classic The Mountains of California, Gilligan takes the reader on a tour of California’s mountains to show how forces of expansion and contraction have manifested themselves for over five hundred million years to create everything we know.

Event details:

When: Monday, August 1st at 12 p.m.

Where: Spellbinder Books

What: Reading and discussion

About the Author:

David Gilligan is a naturalist and a writer. He has taught natural history courses and led exploratory wilderness expeditions for Prescott College, the Sierra Institute, and Sterling College, where he is currently a professor. His work and personal interests have taken him far afield to mountain and northern regions around the globe. His other books include The Secret Sierra, In the Years of the Mountains, and I Believe I’ll Go Canoeing.

For more information, visit the events page on our web site: http://www.spellbinderbook​store.com/event/author-dav​id-scott-gilligan-visits-e​ast-side

The New Frontier

“A room without books is as a body without a soul.”

-Cicero

Will the digital age render books obsolete?  The mere thought stings like an arrow through the hearts of those of us who are old-fashioned, diehard book lovers.  Many people make sentimental comments like, “Oh! Even with the convenience of electronic reading devices, I could never abandon my love for an actual book.”  Whether people revel in the weight, the smell of the pages, or in displaying a book somewhere prominently in their household, people have a fondness for books.  We can probably safely assume that books are here to stay.  But bookstores?  Now, that’s a trickier question.

If customers forego their local bookstores to buy books from online megacorporations, there may come a day when the “little shop around the corner” is no longer around. This would be a shame, since local bookstores not only showcase a wide selection of books, but they also employ local residents, donate to the community, host events, and provide a welcoming space for people to gather, relax, browse and find sanctuary.

But with more people than ever buying books from discounted online retailers like Amazon.com, bookstores are finding it more difficult to afford to carry such wide selections of titles. To compete, bookstores across the nation are trying to amp up their business strategies to compete and survive in this shifting industry. That is one reason why we at Spellbinder have started this blog. To keep up with the “times” and to thank people who have supported us in our 41 years of business, we want to publish personalized posts to offer insight, updates and information on books, the industry, and our bookstore. In our efforts to become more tech-savvy and hip, we thought a blog would be just the thing to better serve our customers’ book-buying needs.

When Sherman Alexie visited our community in February, he said, “Books will save your life.” Up until the turn of the century, bookstores have been almost exclusively the provider of books. Hopefully, book lovers will continue to save the lives of bookstores. We want to thank everyone who continues to be our lifeblood in this new frontier.

Stay tuned for more on Google eBooks, Amazon.com, staff picks, local events, gift ideas, and other store news!

-Devon