North by Northwest Bookstore–Kickstarting!

A few weeks ago, I teased in my business blog that we would be doing a Kickstarter for our brick-and-mortar bookstore, North by Northwest Books, here on the Oregon Coast. We’ve been planning the Kickstarter since we bought the bookstore in August…

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Business Musings: Bookstores (2017 in Review)

It is no longer possible for an independent bookseller in the United States to remain in business based on in-store book sales alone. Okay, maybe a handful are doing it in high traffic areas with low rents, but not many at all. The old way is no longer the new way, and unless the bookseller understands that, the bookstore goes out of business.

But readers do want their paper books. And readers love browsing bookshelves. Sometimes readers “window,” meaning they look at books on the shelves, then order them online. Readers recognize that they will discover books that are new to them in person more often than they’ll discover them while shopping online. So book people venture into any place with books.

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The Business Rusch: The Year of The Bookstore

A week ago Sunday, one of our local booksellers, Sheldon McArthur of North by Northwest Books, tossed me the April 22, 2013 Publishers Weekly. The issue has a good review of my upcoming Kris DeLake novel, A Spy To Die For, but it turns out that wasn’t why Sheldon gave me the PW. He gave it to me to see my reaction to the ad […]

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A New Pen Name–And A New Book

Well, since everyone’s talking about this already, I may as well come clean. I have a new pen name, Kris DeLake, and the first book is out in March. This is romance and space opera combined. I like to say that the spaceships go “whoosh!” as they travel through space, which is why I didn’t want this under the Rusch name. And the stories are […]

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The Business Rusch: Bookstores (Changing Times Part Six)

The Business Rusch: Bookstores (Changing Times Part Six) Kristine Kathryn Rusch In September, I attended a science fiction convention in Leipzig, Germany.  Leipzig is in the former German Democratic Republic, or what was then called East Germany.  The science fiction fans who put on the convention had started a science fiction club before the Berlin Wall came down.  The club focused on reading and so […]

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Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Advertising Part One

Artwork donated by Pati Nagle. The Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Advertising Part One Kristine Kathryn Rusch I have had this topic in my topics list for nearly a year, but it became relevant just last week when I got my third request to put an ad on my website.  For once, I didn’t dismiss the request with a polite note.  I actually considered it and as […]

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