Observing the bookstore universe

Want to sell your book? Get a leader from another country to hold your book up as he speaks in front of the United Nations. Noam Chomsky -- I'll do some research as to the provenance of the name Noam, but let me know if you already have that info -- is one of the world's leading intellectuallists. How'd ya' like to have THAT as your claim to fame? Over the years, even though he is a relatively down-to-earth kind of guy, he's gotten flack about his staunch anti-American government views. The key here, before any of you patriots get your drawers in a knot, is the 'government' part of that description. Chomsky doesn't believe that it's just the American government that has a problem, it's government in general that is a problem, and historically, he easily supports those views and that perspective.

But, let's not get into his specifics here, although, like anything else that people develop strong opinions about, I STRONGLY suggest you read something he's written (as opposed to reading something 'about' him) before you go off on a tangent.

The point is, finally, that in this world of instantaneous exposure, where few nooks or crannies are left unexplored, one of the smartest guys in the civilized world, who has dozens of published titles known to a somewhat small, selective and educated market, sees a jump in sales of one of his titles because the leader of a country, who is a pain in the ass to our current president, takes the podium at the United Nations and holds up Chomsky's book --Hegemony or Survival -- as he calls our President the devil.

For several days after, people call requesting the book, or they come in the bookstore looking for it. I don't think we had a copy in the store, even though we had a shelf full of other his other titles. I've had my copy for two years.

What a world.

The other way to sell a book is to be Bob Woodward and write an eight-pound tome about the arroagance, ignorance and mind-numbing, ill-advised stubborness of powerful men who are so mission focused on doing things their way that they are blinded, some by choice as to the bigger picture emerging from the war in Iraq.

People who read on a regular basis are also aware of when books are set for release, which is why so many calls come in on the day of or day after the release of a widely anticipated book, especialy one that gets major media exposure weeks before it's actually released. The surprise for me was the number of phone calls and in-store inquiries I fielded from people who, by my own subjective observations, were not the usual readers of government/current events/history non-fiction.

And there were a LOT of calls and requests.

I am still amzaed at the delight that people display when you have 'their' book. My latest giggle came from the young woman with a beaming smile who actually did a tiny jump when I led her to a book on organic chemistry. And there was also the woman who was on hold for six minutes while I searched for a book on overcoming depression, then thanked me with a degree of sincerity that is hard to put into words.

The pay remians shit, but the expreiences are much more enriching than I had anticipated.