A Tour of Independent Bookstores by Sue Roupp
Conkey’s Bookstore
226 East College Avenue
Appleton, WI 54911
920.735.6223 phone 1.800.279.4623 toll free
info@conkeys.com
Conkey’s is 110 years old and is the oldest bookstore in Wisconsin. Appropriately, the floor in the lower level rooms is the original yellow brick. Whether the brick is worn from several old tenants or from students or other book lovers looking for the right read these bricks underlay the on-going endurance of this bookstore.
Old rooms with painted metal ceilings merge into each other with wooden bookcases holding a variety of books on every topic imaginable. Another rack features Wisconsin writers and poets. There is a huge collection of wind chimes partly hanging over a table with wonderful discounted books.
Conkey’s has a rewards program, they pride themselves on filling orders fast whether it is an individual order or a school order. There is a large kid’s section, an adjacent gift shop with a coffee shop behind the gift shop. The gift shop has cards as well as gifts and the coffee shop features homemade treats, coffee, tea, lattes. The first and third Tuesdays
there is an open mic in the cozy wood-trimmed coffee shop. Poets and writers from all over read from their works, then anyone else wanting to read just steps up to the mic.
People in the Appleton community feel included here. After a 100 years, Conkey’s genetic imprint probably comes along with being a resident. One lady who has lived across the street all of her life comes in every morning to get her newspaper. Students from Lawrence University down the street buy some of their textbooks here, Moms and Dads who grew up coming to the store with their parents for books now bring their own children. Next time you are in Appleton go east of the highway to a captivating downtown location named Conkey’s.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Elliot Bay Book Company/Seattle, WA
A Tour of Independent Bookstores by Sue Roupp
Elliot Bay Bookstore in Seattle, WA
101 South Main St., Seattle, WA 98104
206-624-6600
http://www.elliottbaybook.com/
Not far from the Seattle Puget Sound ferry landing in Pioneer Square is a bookstore begun in 1973 by Walter Kerr. Elliot Bay has been under new ownership since 1999 and managing owner Peter Aaron is revitalizing the store while staying true to a love of the written word.
Pioneer Square is the oldest part of Seattle and was rebuilt on the roofs of many old buildings after a fire burned down much of Seattle in 1889. Brick and stone buildings (considered fireproof) replaced timber buildings and this helped the area survive the 2001 Seattle earthquake. The 20 city block area houses about 30 galleries and many coffee shops and restaurants yet now and then you look down and see circles of old glass embedded in the sidewalk and know you are walking on history’s roof.
There on the corner of Main and 1st Street is the Elliot Bay Bookstore. Large storefront windows framed in cedar have a small neon sign hanging in them that says “Read” reminding us that visiting with an author through the written word is as important as it ever has been. Under the sign and on a shelf behind the window are books at all levels of interest beckoning the reader and the curious. Inside the book shelves are made of cedar and the worn wooden floors let you know they have supported reader’s footsteps throughout the store’s many levels for 21 years.
Accomplished authors on book tours often ask that Elliot Bay Bookstore be the first stop on their book tour remembering the warm welcome they were given by the staff for their first book discussion. In this age of no brand loyalty holding a bookstore in that kind of esteem is saying something. Elliot Bay author series has held about 3,000 afternoons and evenings of poetry, fiction and non-fiction readings in many languages over the years.
Tracy Taylor the manager of the bookstore has been there 12 years and for her this is exactly where she wants to be because books – and this bookstore in particular – are her passion. “You don’t make a lot of money” she said “but the rewards of selecting, selling and reading books from all kinds of authors is a reward you really can’t buy”.
They have a huge selection of fiction and non-fiction books, kids books, magazines and anything else you can imagine. There is a used book section and down wide winding wooden stairs is a huge coffee house (after all this is Seattle) next to an enormous room with wooden chairs facing a podium where author talks are given hosting anywhere between 2-200 people.
There are book clubs and pot luck poetry clubs and Uncommon Kids & Others kids book reviews but always there is a feeling of being part of history in Pioneer Square and of being among a sensitive dedicated and caring staff who actually read the books they sell while supporting the authors who write them.
Elliot Bay Bookstore in Seattle, WA
101 South Main St., Seattle, WA 98104
206-624-6600
http://www.elliottbaybook.com/
Not far from the Seattle Puget Sound ferry landing in Pioneer Square is a bookstore begun in 1973 by Walter Kerr. Elliot Bay has been under new ownership since 1999 and managing owner Peter Aaron is revitalizing the store while staying true to a love of the written word.
Pioneer Square is the oldest part of Seattle and was rebuilt on the roofs of many old buildings after a fire burned down much of Seattle in 1889. Brick and stone buildings (considered fireproof) replaced timber buildings and this helped the area survive the 2001 Seattle earthquake. The 20 city block area houses about 30 galleries and many coffee shops and restaurants yet now and then you look down and see circles of old glass embedded in the sidewalk and know you are walking on history’s roof.
There on the corner of Main and 1st Street is the Elliot Bay Bookstore. Large storefront windows framed in cedar have a small neon sign hanging in them that says “Read” reminding us that visiting with an author through the written word is as important as it ever has been. Under the sign and on a shelf behind the window are books at all levels of interest beckoning the reader and the curious. Inside the book shelves are made of cedar and the worn wooden floors let you know they have supported reader’s footsteps throughout the store’s many levels for 21 years.
Accomplished authors on book tours often ask that Elliot Bay Bookstore be the first stop on their book tour remembering the warm welcome they were given by the staff for their first book discussion. In this age of no brand loyalty holding a bookstore in that kind of esteem is saying something. Elliot Bay author series has held about 3,000 afternoons and evenings of poetry, fiction and non-fiction readings in many languages over the years.
Tracy Taylor the manager of the bookstore has been there 12 years and for her this is exactly where she wants to be because books – and this bookstore in particular – are her passion. “You don’t make a lot of money” she said “but the rewards of selecting, selling and reading books from all kinds of authors is a reward you really can’t buy”.
They have a huge selection of fiction and non-fiction books, kids books, magazines and anything else you can imagine. There is a used book section and down wide winding wooden stairs is a huge coffee house (after all this is Seattle) next to an enormous room with wooden chairs facing a podium where author talks are given hosting anywhere between 2-200 people.
There are book clubs and pot luck poetry clubs and Uncommon Kids & Others kids book reviews but always there is a feeling of being part of history in Pioneer Square and of being among a sensitive dedicated and caring staff who actually read the books they sell while supporting the authors who write them.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Writer groups and conferences
I have been in and out of more than a few writer groups over the years. There are aggressive ones where other writers want to demolish your work because it makes them feel important. You know that kind: "can't stand that scene, that doesn't work (accompanied with a sigh), what the...does that mean?".
Then there are those groups of a few people, who, if you are lucky, become mentors and friends. Serious writers making serious comments in an unpatronizing and friendly but skilled way: "try this, this isn't clear to me, is this what you mean or this?"
Ripping the heart out of an author who labored to write something stops creativity and confidence. Abusive tactics don't work in life or in writing. So run away from those types of situations.
I really like the University of Wisconsin writing programs (continuing education). The summer and online programs are positve, direct and clear. The classes give you compassionate, serious, directed help from enthusiastic team members who keep you on track. The Write-by-the-Lake and Writers Institute programs (offered June and July) offer stimulating interaction with novelists, poets, freelance writers, journalists, romance writers, mystery writers and many more. Classes that give you information and energy and mentoring. Quite a combination to take home.
Besides having been to UW-Madison programs, I am in a small support group that is nourishing while not hesitating to say what works and what doesn't. Another drop-out-of writing group friend has a mentor who keeps her on track.
Conferences spring up everywhere during the year. Pick and choose carefully, make sure writers you want to work with are actually going to teach at the conference. Look for accommodations with a conference discount.
Keep writing and believing in yourself. Even on your darkest days when you wonder if you will ever get your manuscript finished or your work published keep at it. Don't lose your grit it's what got you into being a writer in the first place.
Then there are those groups of a few people, who, if you are lucky, become mentors and friends. Serious writers making serious comments in an unpatronizing and friendly but skilled way: "try this, this isn't clear to me, is this what you mean or this?"
Ripping the heart out of an author who labored to write something stops creativity and confidence. Abusive tactics don't work in life or in writing. So run away from those types of situations.
I really like the University of Wisconsin writing programs (continuing education). The summer and online programs are positve, direct and clear. The classes give you compassionate, serious, directed help from enthusiastic team members who keep you on track. The Write-by-the-Lake and Writers Institute programs (offered June and July) offer stimulating interaction with novelists, poets, freelance writers, journalists, romance writers, mystery writers and many more. Classes that give you information and energy and mentoring. Quite a combination to take home.
Besides having been to UW-Madison programs, I am in a small support group that is nourishing while not hesitating to say what works and what doesn't. Another drop-out-of writing group friend has a mentor who keeps her on track.
Conferences spring up everywhere during the year. Pick and choose carefully, make sure writers you want to work with are actually going to teach at the conference. Look for accommodations with a conference discount.
Keep writing and believing in yourself. Even on your darkest days when you wonder if you will ever get your manuscript finished or your work published keep at it. Don't lose your grit it's what got you into being a writer in the first place.
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