Today, I received news that The Mystery Bookstore in Hollywood was closing. Argh!!
The Mystery Bookstore was known for its author events, sometimes hosting up to three a day on the weekends, and showed consistent support for first-time crime novelists. Stephen Jay Schwartz, author of Boulevard and Beat, laments the closing of the store. “This is terrible – it’s the end of an era,” he says. “My career began at the Mystery Bookstore and I count the owners and booksellers as personal friends. There is a loyal community of authors and readers who will simply not recover from the loss of this iconic bookstore.” The Mystery Bookstore to Close
The reason for the closing is a coupling of losing to book buying clients to Amazon and the decline in store client’s pockets because of the economy.
I’ve participated in discussions both on and offline about the extinction of bookstores and what can be done to stop it. Everything we suggested The Mystery Bookstore has done since its opening in 2008: hosting great events, staffing knowledge & passionate readers, using PR to build community value, change…mys
This sad news has kicked the bricks against my confidence now.
