NW Authors on Shortlist for Major Prize

Two northwest authors of bestselling novels have made the shortlist for the 2012 IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award: Karl Marlantes (who grew up in Seaside and now lives in Western Washington) for his Vietnam-era novel Matterhorn and Willy Vlautin (who lives just outside of Portland) for his Oregon-Book-Award-winning novel at the racetrack, Lean on Pete.

Karl and Willy join Jennifer Egan (for A Visit from the Goon Squad) to represent the US. A total of ten books are on the shortlist, representing a variety of countries, including Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Israel, Sierra Leone, and Scotland. Titles were nominated by public libraries in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Portugal, Russia, The Netherlands, and the United States. The five-member international judging panel will select one winner, who will be announced in June

The award is the world’s most valuable annual literary award for a single work of fiction published in English. Previous winners include Colum McCann, Michael Thomas, and Per Petterson. Congratulations to all of the shortlisted authors, but especially to Karl and Willy! Here's a little video clip of Willy talking about his book.

Gift Idea for the Teachers in Your Life

Usually in the spring/summer months we see an uptick in our sales of Broadway Books Gift Certificates (which never expire, by the way, and can be purchased in the store or online), as many of our thoughtful and generous customers buy end-of-the-year gifts for their children's schoolteachers. And really, who wouldn't want to get a gift certificate for a wonderful book-browsing-and-shopping experience??

This year we have a recommendation for a terrific little book into which you can slide those gift certificates that you pass along to the educators in your life: What Teachers Make: In Praise of the Greatest Job in the World, by Taylor Mali.

My sister, who teaches at a middle school in Walla Walla, turned me on to Mr. Mali several years ago. He is a poet and former teacher who is a huge advocate for teachers and for the nobility of teaching. Through his New Teacher Project, he has a goal of creating 1,000 new teachers through “poetry, persuasion, and perseverance.” Mali is formerly the president of Poetry Slam, Inc., the non-profit organization that oversees all poetry slams in North America, and is the author of two books of poetry and four spoken word CDs. In 2001 he received a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant to develop Teacher! Teacher!  --  a one-man show about poetry, teaching, and math which won the jury prize for best solo performance at the 2001Comedy Arts Festival.

In his new book, Mali pays tribute to the joys of teaching -- with a sharp, funny perceptive looks at life in the classroom -- and explains why teachers are so vital to our society. The poem that made him famous, "What Teachers Make," is a passionate and unforgettable response to an arrogant young lawyer at a New Year's Eve party who insulted Mali and the entire teaching profession. The poem, which leads off this book, went viral in its various YouTube iterations. I've pasted one version below -- I dare you to watch it and not get goosebumps; I do every time.

This sweet little book is delightfully packaged and, at only $19.95, will make a wonderful vessel for your thoughtful gift certificates. It will be welcomed and treasured by every teacher and everybody who has ever loved or learned from one.

Let's All Have Some Pie

"You will find my story is a lot like pie, a strawberry-rhubarb pie. It's bitter. It's messy. It's got some sweetness, too. Sometimes the ingredients get added in the wrong order, but it has substance, it will warm your insides, and even though it isn't perfect, it still turns out okay in the end."

These words are from the prologue of Beth Howard's memoir Making Piece: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Pie. Howard joins us Monday (4/9) at 7 pm with Kim Carlson, editorial director of Culinate, in a conversation about grief and the healing power of pie.

Howard was married to her husband Marcus for seven and a half years, during which time they lived in Germany and Mexico and Portland. But because of his work they spent much of their time apart. She asked for a divorce in a cry for attention -- spend more time with me, in an equal partnership, and less time with your job -- and seven hours before he was to sign the divorce papers he died of a ruptured aorta. His heart broke. And so did hers.

In an effort to heal her heart, Howard packed up the RV he left behind and hit the highways, using pie as a way to connect to people and find purpose in life. Eventually she returned to her Iowa roots and moved into the American Gothic House made famous by Grant Wood's painting, where she now lives and sells pies at the Pitchfork Pie Stand and teaches others how to bake pie.

Her mother's banana cream pie led her father to propose to her mother. Her own heaping-with-fruit apple pie prompted Marcus to propose to her. Pie led to her creation and to her happiness, and it helped her heal from her grief. This open and moving memoir is about the journey of healing and recovery, about the role of fate and second chances, and about the strength found in community. And in pie. Learn more about Howard's book in this interview from The Oregonian and in this article about her story in the Portland Tribune.

We hope you can join us Monday night at 7 when we will learn about Beth Howard's journey and enjoy ourselves a little pie as well.

Broadway Books Celebrates 20 Fabulous Years

 

We think surviving twenty years as a small independent bookseller is a big deal. And we owe a lot to all of you for helping us to ride the waves that have carried us up and down over the years. We promised you a big celebration, and we’re going to deliver: a party, lots of prizes, and specials all year long -- and of course there will be cake. Here are some of the highlights:

 

Party Day

·         On Sunday, May 6^th, we’ll party in the store from noon until 7pm, and we’ll have cake and bubbly.

·         From noon to 4 pm we’ll have a photobooth. Yes, you heard us right. A photobooth so you can have your photo taken holding one of your favorite books – and you can take the photo strip with you!

·         The first ten customers to spend $50 or more on that day will win a free Broadway Books Twentieth Anniversary Book Bag.

·         On party day, we’ll be gathering email addresses from all of our customers who are willing to give them to us. From those names, we’ll draw one person’s name who will win a Nook Simple Touch eReader.

·         But here’s the real kicker: On that day and that day only, you can get double value for one full pink card. So, if you have a completed pink card that’s worth, say, $15, on that Sunday you can cash your card in for $30 toward the purchase of anything in the store. Word to the wise: make sure you fill up a pink card between now and May 6^th! [One per customer, and the card must be cashed in all at once – no store credits will be issued.]

Celebrate All Year

·         Our good friend Brian Doyle has written a beautiful piece about the store that has been made even more beautiful by the wonderful folks at Letterary Press, who have turned it into a gorgeous broadside. If you’ve seen their greeting cards (and we just got in a new supply), you know what great work they do. Thanks to the donated efforts of Brian and Marty at Letterary Press, these broadsides are available free to customers upon request until the supply runs out.

·         From now through the end of May 2012, if you “like” us on Facebook and wish us a happy anniversary on FB (or just the wishing part, if you already “like” us), you will be entered into a drawing to win a Nook Simple Touch eReader.

·         From June 2012 through May 2013, we’re going to give away five $20 Broadway Books Gift Certificates each month. Here’s how you get entered in those drawings: starting in June 2012, each time you cash in a completed pink card, write your name and phone number on the back. Each month we’ll draw five winners from those pink cards.

·         From June 2012 through May 2013, we’ll highlight one book each month on the home page of our website. For one week each month that book will be available for 20% off (no additional discounts or pink cards can be applied). Check our website each month to see what that month’s book is! Some will be new hot reads and some will be staff favorites, new or old.

State of the Union 2.0

THE STATE OF THE UNION AT BROADWAY BOOKS 2.0

Last April, in response to many concerned queries from our customers, we issued The State of the Union at Broadway Books, which outlined just where we were and what we were doing to address the many changes that had hit the publishing and bookselling worlds in recent years. In our statement, we listed things we were doing or planning to do in the near future to address those changes and stay afloat. We also listed things that you could do to help us in our stay-afloat effort.  After a year, we think it’s a good time to assess and report.

We guess that adage about change being the only constant is true, because changes continue to rock our world. We are happy to say that we are learning to roll with the punches – in fact, some of the changes are not punches at all, but little love pats (more about those in a minute).

The biggest pledge we made was to revamp our infrastructure to enable us to sell ebooks, and to make our website available to customers for ordering ebooks and print books online. This was a huge step for us, and we are proud to say that we have been up and running for several months, and it’s working. Not only are we able to interact with you in this way, other things are now possible. For instance, we are now the place for customers to get personalized, signed copies of books by Cheryl Strayed. We are also the place for local performer Storm Large’s fans all over the country to get signed copies of her memoir. We love partnering with authors in this way and hope to do more of it.

We also promised to expand our schedule of readings and other events in the store, and we have. These events have made us more visible to the public and are also engendering more invitations to do out-of-store gigs for private parties and author events hosted by non-booksellers. Although we cannot do every event offered to us, we do the ones that we can afford to take on and appreciate these new opportunities.

Our support of local schools and literary entities has also grown. In December, we were able to join with you to give a huge number of books to Roosevelt High School’s library. We’ll do it again this December. And in May, we are honored to host two readings by students from Literary Arts’ Writers in the Schools program at Grant High School. These continuing associations are important to us and fostering them remains an integral part of our mission.

The short of it is that a lot has been accomplished in the past twelve months, and here’s where you come in, and we get to talk about the “little love pats.” Your response to these changes has been overwhelmingly positive. You are visiting our website! We take orders every day on our website for print books and ebooks. You are reading our blog, liking us on Facebook, and following our Twitterfeed. We see you in the store, bringing your own bags and your friends and paying more often with cash and checks rather than credit cards. We know that you heard us last year, and we have been amazed by your support and thoughtful (and constructive) suggestions.  

And here we want to say something about the Occupy movement. This is the piece we did not expect and could not have planned.  Both nationally and locally, the movement that hit the streets last fall has been a boon to many small businesses like ours. For the first time in years, independent booksellers across the country are posting sales increases. It is clear to us that consumers have been affected by this movement, and are taking action to ensure that local economic entities (credit unions, non-chain businesses, brick-and-mortar stores) do not disappear. There are many who complain that the Occupy movement has no focus, no goal, and no effect. We are here to say that our business is experiencing the positive effect that education and public awareness can have on a community. Our sales have consistently increased since October. These increases are crucial to our survival.

We have not reached the end of our story. We are still fighting increasingly predatory, deep-pocketed, nationally based competitors who love to play on an uneven field. And as reading habits change, we continue to restructure our business model.  But we’re still here, and we’re stronger than we were a year ago. As we celebrate our twentieth anniversary next month, we are mindful of the many customers, both the ones who have been with us for years and the ones who have recently discovered us, who have made it possible. Thank you. Truly.

It’s been a wild ride these past twenty years. We’ve gone from a computerless beginning through two inventory control systems. From one partnership to a single proprietress to another partnership. From a few sparsely attended events a year to several popular events a month. From a small public presence to a feature article in a national magazine, lots of local news coverage, and being the subject of a Twitter-produced video that has been seen by thousands of people around the world.  From a tiny nibble to a burrito to what feels more like the whole enchilada.

What will the next twenty years bring? We can hardly wait to find out. Stay tuned.

An Intimate Evening with Jacqueline Winspear

Broadway Books is thrilled to announce that we will be hosting award-winning author Jacqueline Winspear, author of the bestselling Maisie Dobbs series, on Wednesday, April 11, at 7 pm. A limited number of tickets will be sold to this Intimate Evening with Jacqueline Winspear. Tickets will go on sale on Monday, March 12.

Tickets will be sold for $25.99, and each ticket-buyer will receive a copy of Ms. Winspear's newest hardcover book in the series, Elegy for Eddie (which is priced at $25.99, so essentially the evening is free). You can buy tickets to this event at our website, over the phone (503-284-1726), or at the store. If you purchase through the website, be sure to purchase the event ticket only, and not the copy of Elegy for Eddie. You can also purchase the other books in the Maisie Dobbs series through the site or in person.

The Maisie Dobbs series is one of the most popular series we sell at Broadway Books. The books are set in the late 1920s and early 1930s, with the roots of each story set in the Great War, 1914-1918.

Jacqueline Winspear was born and raised in the county of Kent, England. Following higher education at the University of London's Institute of Education, she worked in academic publishing, in higher education, and in marketing communications in the UK. Ms. Winspear moved to the Bay Area in 1990, eventually embarking on her life-long dream to be a writer.

Ms. Winspear's grandfather was severely wounded and shell-shocked at The Battle of the Somme in 1916, and it was as she understood the extent of his suffering that, even in childhood, she became deeply interested in the "war to end all wars" and its aftereffects.

"As I grew up my curiosity about the “war to end all wars” deepened, so that I always seemed to be reading something about the war. However, my interest was not in the politics of the time so much as rooted in the experiences of ordinary men and women, boys and girls, not only on the battlefield, but on the home front."

"My research is ongoing. Books and records from and about the period are the mainstay of my personal library. I also read memoirs and fiction from the period, mainly to enhance my sense of language, of societal mores, etc. In addition, I do a considerable amount of primary research, which includes, for example, consulting the archives at the Imperial War Museum in London, walking the streets where I am setting scenes and then comparing what I can see and feel today with old photos and accounts of life at the time. I've been to France and Belgium several times to visit the Great War battlefields -- and each visit was a profound experience."

In Elegy for Eddie, the latest Maisie Dobbs installment (the ninth in the series), Maisie sets out to investigate the death of an extraordinary man who had lived in the south London neighborhood where she grew up. Maisie's search for answers begins in the working-class streets of Lambeth—where Eddie lived, and where she grew up—but quickly leads her to a callous press baron, a "has been" politician named Winston Churchill lingering in the hinterlands of power and, most surprisingly, to Douglas Partridge, the husband of her dearest friend, Priscilla. As Maisie uncovers lies and manipulation on a national scale, she must decide whether to risk all to see justice done.

Because of the limited number of attendees at this event, you will be able to interact with the author and ask her questions about what led to the writing of the series, how she develops her plots and her characters, what authors she admires, where she sees Maisie going, and what other writing plans she might have -- or whatever other path you choose to explore with the author.

Jacqueline Winspear is a wonderful author and a truly delightful person, so this evening will be a special treat for all fortunate enough to attend. We expect the evening to sell put quickly, so please don't delay getting your tickets.

Cheryl Strayed & Sugar Signed Copies!

We are thrilled to announce that Broadway Books will be the exclusive online source for signed (and personalized) copies of Portland author Cheryl Strayed's three books: Her novel Torch (first published in hardcover in 2006 and now available in paperback), her forthcoming memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (publishing in hardcover on March 20th), and Tiny Beautiful Things, the collection of her columns from the "Dear Sugar" internet advice column on The Rumpus (publishing in paperback on July 10th).

Read more about Cheryl's books and how to get signed copies on the Cheryl Strayed page (under "What's New) on our website.  And just to pique your interest, here's a video of Cheryl talking about Wild and about the journey that forms the basis for the book. [Please join us on Tuesday, May 15, at 7 pm when Cheryl reads at Broadway Books.]