To sell books, brew some coffee

It has not been a good month for independent bookstores. Just take a look at today’s “Publisher’s Lunch.”

It reports that Dutton’s Brentwood Books, an LA favorite, has announced that they will close in April. Meanwhile, in Hastings, NY, the Good Yarns bookstore says it is likely to close after 25 years of business.

In Vail, Colorado, Verbatim Booksellers is up for sale and likely to close, while in Boulder, High Crimes Mystery Bookshop is moving to a mail-only-business.

And yet, “Publisher’s Lunch” goes on to report, Starbucks will be featuring David Sheff’s memoir “Beautiful Boy.” The Seattle chain says it has sold more than 100,000 copies of Mitch Albom’s “For One More Day” and 118,000 copies of Ishmael Beah’s “A Long Way Gone.” “

Even their less successful pick, the oral history project “Listening Is An Act of Love,” sold over 54,000 copies at Starbucks,” “Publisher’s Lunch” reports.

So the readers are out there. But authors will have to continue to find ways to reach them – and not the other way around.