Rebel Bookseller: How to Improvise Your Own Indie Store and Beat Back the Chains

by Andrew Laties

Renowned bookseller Andrew Laties offers a radical and creative new paradigm for independent booksellers on all sides of the cash register, written to inspire a revival of community bookselling. In his 20 years of revolutionary retail, Latie's ideas were adapted by Barnes & Noble, Zany Brainy and scores of independents. Rebel Bookseller challenges today's bookstore workers to improvise the wildly imaginative indie bookstores of tomorrow, and includes a behind-the-scenes history of the book industry, humorous anecdotes and bittersweet lessons, ten interlacing Rants, and three Rough Rules of Rebel Bookselling Blending adventurous memoir, satire and sharp-tongued jibe, the author dares the chains to sell this revolutionary book.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Books About Books

320 pages, Paperback

First published June 10, 2005

About the author

ANDREW LATIES co-founded Easton Book Festival, Book & Puppet Company, Vox Pop, The Children’s Bookstore, Chicago Children’s Museum Store, and The Eric Carle Museum Bookstore. He shared the 1987 Women’s National Book Association’s Pannell Award for bringing children and books together. His Rebel Bookseller: Why Indie Businesses Represent Everything You Want to Fight For—From Free Speech to Buying Local to Building Communities won the 2006 Independent Publisher Award and is available in a second edition from Seven Stories Press.

Reviews

[Megan Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Co-owner of two bookstores here, and I️ can’t recommend this book highly enough. It’s more of a memoir with advice than a how-to guide, but it’s exciting, informative, funny, honest, and forthright, and I️ can’t wait to shove it into the hands of bookseller friends. I️ found experiences printed in this book that are so familiar to me but I’ve never heard another person share before. Even having been updated 7 years ago, there’s so much still so very relevant to bookselling today. I️ found myself feeling very validated, better informed, and overall empowered even when reading the author’s stories of closing his shops, and I️ heartily urge all bookstore owners, managers, and anyone interested in the profession to get a copy!

[Max Nemtsov · Rating 2 out of 5]

Книжки о книжках и их жизни — это любимое навсегда, но вот эта не весьма полезна и совсем не увлекательна. Милые заметки из окопов обскурной войны между независимыми книжными магазинами и сетевыми суперсторами в Чикаго, страница из истории книжного дела в Америке. С практической точки зрения очень устарела, к тому же Лейтиз в ней, такое ощущение, постоянно оправдывается.

[Bobby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit that I feel a little uncomfortable rating a book that I skimmed, so I will preface this review by stating I read all of the rants and only selected pieces of the remaining chapters.

That said, I really appreciated the honest and direct opinions of an obviously passionate and successful bookstore owner. Similar to another reviewer, I found myself extremely excited and frightened at the prospect of owning a bookstore. Fortunately, because I have been a bookseller and known small business owners, most romanticized visions had already been stripped away and I'm open to learning more harsh realities as well as the encouragement presented in this book.

Overall, the author does a great job of walking the line between providing helpful business insight and personal narrative to illustrate and elaborate. Much appreciated.

[Bricoleur (David) Soul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I need help. There I've said it.

I've finished the book I bought yesterday, but still I want my own indie bookstore. Even when the best rant in the book starts: "so you're thinking of opening a bookstore. Are you crazy?"
A well written and entertaining view of the trials and tribulations of one serial bookstore owner. Worth a read by anyone that misses their own favorite bookstore and dreams of when they might again floorish... and an necessary sanity check if you ever had dreams of joing the fight...

Don't even think about opening an indie bookstore... but then again its not about rationality, is it?

http://www.bricoleursystems.com/2008/...

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Laties uses anecdotes from his long and fairly successful career as an independent bookseller to show the average indie seller a little of what works and what doesn't. However, these anecdotes frequently are not on the subject at hand, that is if you bought the book expecting to get out of it what the title promotes. Half memoir and half how-to guide for the bookseller, it's a good read (and useful) if you can either enjoy Laties' off-topic anecdotes or ignore his occasionally self-serving stories.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

One man's struggle in keeping his indy bookstore alive.
I read this before owning my own bookstore, and, while his writing is a bit choppy, I enjoyed reading his story. This won't teach you the ins-and-outs of running a bookstore, but it will give you some idea of the insanity it requires.
Now that I'm running a store, I plan on re-reading it. I'm sure I'll have a different perspective.

[kaitlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It depressed me and encouraged me by turns, and I'm not sure where I ended up. But it had a lot of interesting ideas and information. I could totally beat back the chains!--despite the fact that I shop at them regularly...

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book read pretty fast for a book about business. It was about primarily running stores geared towards children, but some of the strategies could be used for other bookstores. It made me want to move to a small town and open up an indie bookstore.

[Ivory · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provided instersting and thoughtful insight into the book-selling industry, and renewed my conviction to shop at locally owned bookstores as often as possible. At the same time, I got bored with the author's tone after awhile.