Top Ten Reasons To Shop at an Independent Bookstore

10. An independent bookseller would never, ever send a child to "... go check in the Business Technology section" for Charlotte's Web.

9. Because independent bookstores are smaller, one is less likely to loose one's children. One can also keep an eye on the children while looking at other sections.

8. An independent bookseller does not carry Madonna's latest effort, nor the one by Terrell Owens, nor any other poorly written book (even if it ends up on bestseller lists. An independent bookseller has principles and really good books on the shelves.

7. They have used books for sale as well, intershelved with the new (I like bargains).

6. When you ask for A Seed is Sleepy they don't look at you like you are crazy.

5. The children's section is much tidier and more appealing (although I blame the parents for this, not the chain book stores...)

4. The independents don't have tons of candy at the front counter to tempt you while you are waiting. (Okay, maybe that's just my personal issue!) The indies assume you have higher order tastes in life. They'd be wrong, but I like the assumption.

3. An independent bookstore is likely to have a handy list of all of the titles in the series that you're starting, in order. And they'll have all of the titles, too, not just the new one.

2. An independent bookseller chooses her own manager's picks. They aren't forced upon her by "the guys at corporate".

And the number one reason to shop at indie bookstores is...

1. If you go in to an indie bookstore and ask for that book with the green cover with a title that had something to do with bananas and light bulbs, they’ll know exactly what you’re talking about.

And The Winner Is...

Actually, we like to think of all of you who visit SVP as winners, but today we’re also announcing the winner of the $25 Booksense gift certificate for participating in our NIBM festivities.

First, I’d like to thank all that participated, whether by stopping by a bookstore, linking to the NIBM announcement, or contributing to the Top Reasons to Shop at a Indie.

So a big round of applause to: Ruth McNally Bradshaw, Cynthia Jaynes Omololu, Charlesbridge Publishing, Jen Robinson, Jennifer J. Stewart, Linda Urban, Charlotte, and Mary Quattlebaum.

And the winner is...

::drum roll please::

...Charlotte!! Charlotte, email me (shrinkingviolet@cox.net) and I will get you your Booksense certificate on its way to you!

Thanks again to everyone who played along with us. We'll see you again next year for the Second Annual National Independent Bookseller Month!

Also stay tuned for upcoming list of Top Reasons To Shop at an Indie!

(Winner was chosen by a Random Number Generator, namely my son. From my computer I called out “Pick a number from one through eight, and he picked seven.)

B.S.S.

I think I’ve discovered a new syndrome, and I’d like to claim it before the medical texts get a hold of it: bi-social syndrome.

Please note that it is most emphatically not a disorder, but rather simply a condition, a state of being, a state of swinging wildly (okay, sometimes not so wildly) from the state of embracing social activity to running far, far away from it.

And I have it in spades.

Of course, it took me a decade to figure this out, let alone name it, but now that I have, I wanted to share it with you.

In bi-social syndrome, one can go along perfectly fine, interacting socially with the world on many levels until one day, WHAM! one slams into a brick wall and one can no longer form a single social thought, let alone deed. Selective memory asserts itself and any and all social commitments are easily forgotten, and excuses multiply as to why we can’t put any new ones on our calendar. Sometimes, it is so marked that even emailing is too much of a social effort.

I have recently bumped into such a wall, which is why Mary has so graciously been posting alone for the last week or so.

For introverts, hitting this wall is a clear sign that it’s time to go inward. In fact, we are often unable to do anything else, but face inward. Many times it is a sign that our batteries need recharging, that we missed the blinking light on our internal indicator that warned we were getting perilously close to extending too much of our Self in our interactions with people.

But not always. Sometimes it can be brought about by stress rather than an excess of social interaction. Remember, the key indicator to whether or not one is an introvert is how one recharges and collects their energy. Much like the turtle, I turn inward when feeling battered or vulnerable, or even just exhausted or overwhelmed. Truthfully? It feels like I have this little spiritual shell that I draw inside of when I’ve hit my anti-social cycle, or hermit phrase—as I prefer to call it.

And it doesn’t have to be horrible, upsetting types of stress, either; it can just mean being handed one more thing to think about, cope with, or accomplish, that tilts us out of balance. So it’s not about not wanting to fulfill that role or meet our other social obligations, which often bring us much joy, but more like a law of physics—the source must replenish before it can be drawn upon again.

So for any of you out there who happen to bump into this invisible wall, be aware. It’s merely bi-social syndrome and nothing to be overly concerned about. A short time filling your well and honoring your need to recharge is all that’s required.

And if you’re lucky like I am, friends and family will not only understand, but help out and pitch in when it strikes.

Thanks, Mary!!

Spotlight is on our Independent Bookseller of the Year

Congratulations to KRIS VREELAND of Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, California, our 2007 Independent Bookseller of the Year. Let the confetti fly and clapping resound!

Kris is the children's buyer and kid's department manager of Vroman's Bookstore which is the largest and oldest Indie (since 1894!) in Southern California. As our Bookseller of the Year, we will be posting a bio and pix of Kris very shortly, and she will be receiving a gift certificate for dinner at her favorite Pasadena grub station.

And for nominating her favorite bookseller, we will be sending Linda Urban one of our Shrinking Violet coffee/tea mugs. Thanks, Linda for letting us all know about Kris!

Hats off as well to our panel of judges and all our 2007 nominees. A simply amazing cast--

Robin & Mary

A Final Celebratory Salute

Thursday, May 31st marks the last day of our National Independent Booksellers Month 2007-- we hope you'll join us in our final fiery fling! Many of you have posted a link to NIBM on your blog or website, and if you'll send us a quick message with the URL, we will enter you in our contest for the $25.00 Book Sense gift certificate. Or, if you've visited an Indie this month, please let us know the name of the bookstore you visited. We want you in our raffle as well.

And, tick-tick-tick--you've still got a number of hours left on 5/31 to send us one or more entries for our contest The Ten Best Reasons to Shop at Independents. We've had some great entries! We'd love to hear yours as well.

We will be posting our winners over the weekend, so do make sure to send us your info and come on back.

Robin and I planned a four day Southern California Indie Tour as part of the month's celebration. Unbeknownest to us, we both were about to suffer an unscheduled visit by a Series of Unfortuitous Events that rendered us both non-ambulatory and a smidge insane. We did, however, did get to spend hours last Sunday in the company of two luffly booksellers as consolation. We are saving our maps, contact sheets and intinerarys for our May 2008 celebration when we will put pedal to the metal. Perhaps by then we will be dripping in the proceeds from juicy new book contracts, and we'll be able to travel all month all over the country. A girl can hope, for god's sake!

We want to thank you all for joining us this month, and for the appreciation, support and goodwill you've put out on behalf of our booksellers. And, if you haven't yet had a chance to thank them, and no time to visit today, take a quick trip to Book Sense website and buy a book.

May your generosity come back to you a hundred-fold. And, do keep shopping!

Mary & Robin

Last Call for Nominations (Shouldn't it Be Your Favorite Bookseller?)

Just wanted to pop in and give you all a quick reminder that there are just TWO days left for you to nominate your fave candidate for Independent Bookseller of the Year. Robin and I are dying to send one of these deserving souls out to their favorite resturant on us!

In 100 words or less, send us a post letting us know why we should select your nominee. You can even do it by haiku, by jingle, by george-- just do it! Simply add it as a comment to this post, or if you prefer anonymity, send an email to
Top Secret Nominee Collector.

Once all the nominations are in, we'll send the names to a highly sequestered, talented panel of judges. The winner will be announced this Friday, June 1st.

Here's a simple way you can pay it forward to the people that keep your work and children's literature alive, and in the hands of readers.

Thanks, everyone--
Robin and Mary

We're Still Laughing

We like to think we're two reasonably bright women, but this
one sailed so far over our heads it may have well been in another galaxy. Since launching Shrinking Violets last February, we've been really ThRiLLeD by the number of visitors to our site. And, amazed at the people we've run into at conferences and signings that say they know about us and are regular readers.

So, it gave us pause... if we have the readers, why so few comments from them? Are our links working properly? We fiddled with them. Turned them on, then off, then on. Off/on a few more times for good measure. Seemed okay. Uh-oh! Maybe an evil genie had put a Blog Curse on us!

Or, is our site meter hyperkinetic, and actually only our mothers are reading?

So then the lightbulbs started humming, fizzing, flashing and sending off sparks! And still, yet, we pondered puzzledly until they started exploding in our hands. Ka-BAM!

We're talking to introverts.

:-> Oh, yeah. We kinda sorta forgot. Introverts love blogs. We love the whole anonymity of it. It's like being able to go to a party wearing an invisibility cloak. It's our dream come true!

So, enjoy, everyone! Comment if you like-- we'd love to hear from you. Or, just slip in and out.
You are most welcome here.

Mary & Robin