The Signed Page is a service provided by Shawn Speakman of Suvudu. Speculative fiction authors stop in at The Signed Page to sign stacks of their books for fans. Sometimes they’ll write personalized messages, too. Readers can purchase these special first editions for reasonable prices. Shawn also takes photos of the authors signing their books. I enjoyed looking through these!

Jacqueline Carey told us about The Signed Page. She says, “Strictly speaking, The Signed Page in Seattle, Washington isn’t a bookstore, but owner and proprietor Shawn Speakman provides a great service in making signed copies of selected books available to fans who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity. I truly appreciate all his hard work!  Here’s a photo of me seated on a throne of signed copies of Naamah’s Blessing, along with fellow fantasy author Peter Orullian.”

You can purchase one of these copies of Naamah’s Blessing at The Signed Page for $31.99. I can attest that it’s truly a gorgeous book. Kelly recently reviewed it (she loved it).

Other SFF authors who’ve recently been in to sign books include George R.R. Martin, Patrick Rothfuss, China Miéville, Scott Westerfeld, Patricia Briggs, Richard Kadrey, Terry Brooks, and Erin Morgentern. Of course, there’s plenty more. Just take a look at The Signed Page. You can also follow Shawn’s signing and shipping updates at Twitter.

Have a bookstore you love? Please contact Kat.

Eileen Kernaghan wrote in to let us know about one of her favorite bookstores: White Dwarf Books in Vancouver. You can find White Dwarf Books at 3715 West Tenth Ave, Vancouver, B.C., V6R 2G5 Canada, Phone: 604-228-8223, Email: whitedwarf@deadwrite.com.

Eileen Kernaghan (pictured above at a book launch at White Dwarf Books) says:

“For over thirty years White Dwarf Books on Vancouver B.C.’s west side has been a favourite  gathering place for readers — and writers — of SF and fantasy.

Jill Sanagan and Walter Sinclair have hosted countless readings and book launches, by local writers and by international SF stars. Their knowledge of the SF/fantasy field is legendary, and they’re always ready to recommend a new or lesser known author in your special area of interest. They fill mail orders worldwide from the huge selection on their shelves, and they’ll find you that elusive title the big box bookstores have never heard of.

For crime and detective readers, there’s their sister store, DeadWrite Books.”

Thanks, Eileen! (And, readers, be sure to check out Kelly’s reviews of Eileen Kernaghan’s books!)

Got a great bookstore to tell us about? Please contact Kat.

We’ve been getting a lot of great bookstore recommendations — thanks for sending those in! Today we’re featuring Kepler’s Books and Magazines in the San Francisco area. You can find Kepler’s at 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (phone 650-324-4321).

Blake Charlton wrote in to tell us why he loves Kepler’s:

“Kepler’s Books and Magazines is a wonderful indie with a unique history, great staff, large SFF section, and a lively community. Kepler’s is a wide, well-lit, and comfortable store that opens onto a plaza it shares with the bustling and popular Café Borrone. The store resides in the town of Menlo Park, about halfway down the San Francisco Peninsula and only a few blocks from Stanford University.

During the 1960s, Kepler’s became a Counterculture hotspot: the Grateful Dead performed there and Joan Baez was often seen in the stacks. For decades, Kepler’s remained a community meeting spot, keeping its doors open when many other indies were closing shop. But Silicon Valley boomed and costs of business rose until in 2005 Kepler’s succumbed. However, the local community rallied and, with some local investment, transformed Kepler’s into a non-profit, which it remains today. I’m a very proud supporting member of this non-profit.

I grew up not five miles away from Kepler’s and spent many of my teenage years browsing the shelves and reading in the many comfy sofas. One of the happiest moments of my life was launching my first novel at this, my hometown bookstore, in front of family and friends. If you ever find yourself on the San Francisco Peninsula, you couldn’t find a much better way to pass an afternoon than wandering about Kepler’s.”

Thanks, Blake!
Got a great bookstore to tell us about? Please contact Kat.

Thanks to all the authors who’ve written in to tell us about the great bookstores they’ve been visiting! This week we hear from Janny Wurts and Karen Miller who wanted us to know about Galaxy Bookshop in Sydney Australia.

Galaxy Bookshop was established in 1975 and is an independent bookseller owned and operated by Abbey’s Bookshop (also independent). They focus exclusively on science fiction, fantasy, horror and paranormal romance genres.  Most of their books are US imports of titles that don’t have local distribution or whose author doesn’t have a deal with a UK publisher. Mark Timmony, the store manager, says that the Galaxy staff reads the books they sell and are passionate fans of genre fiction.

Karen Miller reports, “I first encountered Galaxy Bookshop way back in 1981, when I was in university. Making my way along Bathurst Street, in Sydney, I heard the unmistakable strains of John Williams’ Star Wars soundtrack… and the rest, as they say, is  history. Since then, Galaxy Bookshop has shifted location a few times, changed managers, and rolled with the punches that come with the business of bookselling. Through all the changes, one thing has remained constant: if  you’re a lover of speculative fiction,  there is no better place to go book-buying. The wonderful people at Galaxy did right by me when I was a customer, and now that I’m an author too, they continue to support me. The book trade is riding out yet another storm at the moment, but it helps to know Galaxy is still there, a champion of speculative fiction.”

Janny Wurts, who you see signing books at Galaxy Bookshop in the photo below, says “Few people in the world have as much enthusiasm as the Australians, and Galaxy Bookshop is no exception. A specialty store for Fantasy and SF, they won my heart for their warm reception of authors and readers, alike. They carry an incredibly wide selection of genre titles, and can throw a memorable signing party. Every corner of the world should be so lucky as to have a book store as devoted as this one!”

The Galaxy Bookshop has a great website. Check out Janny Wurts’ and Karen Miller’s books at Galaxy Bookshop by clicking on the book covers in this post.

Readers and authors,  if you’ve been to a great bookstore recently, please send us a photo (the SFF section would be great!) and a paragraph or two about why you love that store.

Today I’m turning it over to Leanna Renee Hieber who wants to talk about one of her favorite bookstores, Word in Brooklyn, New York. Our own Kelly Lasiter is a big fan of Ms. Hieber’s (read Kelly’s reviews of her work) and is looking forward to her new young adult series, Magic Most Foul. which begins with Darker Still, releasing on November 1. You can follow Leanna Renee Hieber and her work at Leanna Renee Hieber’s website, Twitter and Facebook.

“Leanna Renee Hieber here, author of the award-winning, bestselling Strangely Beautiful saga and the upcoming Magic Most Foul saga of Gothic Victorian Fantasy novels. I’m thrilled to feature WORD Bookstore in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York City.

Why I love WORD is that they cater to every reader’s taste, regardless of genre.

They celebrate books of all stripes and colours, and they treat authors wonderfully with exciting in-store events and special personalized pre-order opportunities, like they’re offering for my new YA Gothic saga set in 1880 New York City, beginning with Darker Still: A Novel of Magic Most Foul.

So not only can you pre-order the book, but get one signed for yourself or someone you think might enjoy a spooky Gothic paranormal tale full of mystery, intrigue and magic — the holidays are coming up and a book personalized and signed by the author is always a unique gift!

Plus it’s a great way to support an awesome, community-involved, community-beloved independent bookstore!”

Readers and authors, if you’d like to tell us about your favorite independent bookstores, please contact Kat.

A.A. Attanasio wrote in to recommend Bookends in Kailua, Hawaii. Bookends doesn’t have a website at this time, but you can find it at 600 Kailua Rd, Kailua, HI 96734. Phone: (808) 261-1996. Mr. Attanasio says:

“To enter Bookends in Kailua Shopping Center is to find oneself in the mind’s eye of the western psyche. It’s a hodge-podge of every subject, a cultural kaleidoscope of both new and out-of-print titles. The street façade looks like a franchise outlet, but the inside of this independent bookstore is a well-lit and airy bibliocave crammed with both intellectual and entertaining fare.

This homey store arranges books in gregarious piles and stacks and jumbled shelves so that one always winds up finding something unexpected. Cozy chairs and reading nooks invite readers to sink in.

When my kids were little we used to hang out here as much as at the library — a welcoming atmosphere that continues to make me feel I am in the presence of our living heritage, among books with bindings worn by eager hands whose texts have touched many minds.”

If you’re not familiar with A.A. Attanasio’s books, now’s the perfect time to try the first novel in his Radix tetrad. You can get the first ebook free until Sept 30. The coupon code is 9991421. Sign up at at Phoenix Pick for a free ebook each month.

We’d also like to mention his novel Killing With the Edge of the Moon which Kelly recommends.

If you have an independent bookstore you’d like us to promote, please contact Kat.

Alma Alexander wrote in to tell us about Village Books in Fairhaven, Bellingham, Washington:

“It’s a big and wonderful indie bookstore which has a lot of cool stuff, comfy armchairs scattered around the place for laid-back browsing, and lots of author events scheduled in their reading gallery.

This photo is one of me at one of my own readings there — I’ve had at least four over the last couple of years.

Chuck and Dee Robinson, the owners, are great book lovers, and friends of mine.”

Here’s a Video Tour of Village Books:

And here’s their SFF Section:

If you live in the area, be sure to join Village Books for their Steampunk Masquerade this Thursday evening from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. They also have a Fantasy Book Club that meets the third Tuesday of every month at 7pm in the cafe upstairs. The September book is Warrior by Marie Brennan.

And be sure to check out Alma Alexander‘s new ebook (coming out later in trade paperback): 2012: Midnight at Spanish Gardens.

If you have a bookstore you’d like us to highlight, please contact Kat.

Elizabeth Campbell went to Dragon*Con last weekend and wrote in to tell us about bookseller Larry Smith.

Larry Smith, Bookseller, is a conventions bookstore. He and Sally Kobee sell new science fiction and fantasy books in hardback, trade, and mass market bindings. They are out of Ohio, so in addition to Dragon*Con, we see them at ConText.

They’ve been doing this for freaking ever, they know freaking everybody, and it seems like they have every single freaking book in stock. Sally seems to know what you’re looking for before you do. You can often find authors glomming around their bookstall signing their novels. It’s a pretty powerful experience to be nosing around in the books, look up and see — Holy Cow! S.M. Stirling!

Smith and Kobee sell at a convention somewhere in the country about every other weekend, approximately 34 per year. They also chaired World Fantasy Convention last year. They’re incredibly respected in the industry, and book browsers can witness them being tapped for sales trends for an author, genre forecasting, and book industry news.

If you’ve been to a great bookstore recently, please send us a photo (the SFF section would be great!) and a paragraph or two about why you love that store.

One of my favorite bookstores is small but mighty. Treehorn Books, specializing in used, out of print, and antiquarian volumes, occupies a simple storefront at 625 4^th Street, Santa Rosa, California, between a pizzeria and a taqueria.

Keith Hotaling and Michael Stephens opened Treehorn in Santa Rosa in 1979. Originally they were a few blocks farther west in an area called Railroad Square. In the 70s and 80s, the square was what you might call, tactfully, “un-gentrified.” In the late 80s they moved up to 4^th Street. Keith doesn’t remember exactly when they moved, but he knows they were there on October 17, 1989, the day of the Loma Prieta earthquake.

The name “Treehorn” comes from a children’s book called The Shrinking Tree Horn, and children’s books are one of the store’s specialties. They also carry a lot of western and California historical books, and a lot of military history. Rare and antiquarian books are kept mostly upstairs in a room that is accessible by appointment.

Treehorn looks like a used bookstore should look. The bookcases are tall. Browsers share the aisles with rolling library ladders. Books are shelved in the alcoves based on topic, and it always seems like I’m going to turn a corner and find a secret passage, or meet a strange traveler, or stumble over the book with the map to the hidden Shakespeare play glued behind the end papers.

I asked Keith what got him into the business. He has a teaching credential, but realized he didn’t want to teach. He worked for the library system as a driver for a while, making deliveries to libraries. (Michael has a master’s degree in library science, but he decided he didn’t want to work for the library system.) “I guess I like to read,” Keith said. I pointed out that this was not reason enough to buy and sell books. You can read off a computer screen or a tablet. “Oh, it’s something about the physical book, definitely,” he said. He thought a moment. “The smell. It’s the smell.”

The front of the store is devoted to heavily discounted new books and remainders. Treehorn will order books and do book searches for out-of-print titles. In November, Treehorn has the best calendars in town at the best prices. Keith said he was worried that they were running out of space, just as a man came in who was going to show him eight boxes of books. “Do you need a hand-truck?” Keith said.

Treehorn Books does not carry computer books, or romance novels, just because they had to draw the line somewhere. They have a huge section of used science fiction and fantasy, and the California history section includes some quirky books about the hippy movement and local communes. Men buy a lot of military history books, Keith said, and women buy most of the fiction. Keith sees all generations in his store. “Folks bring the kids to pick out a book,” he said, “and we also have the octogenarians.”

Elizabeth Campbell wrote in to tell us about a bookstore she loves. Orielis’ Books is an internet bookseller located in the Chapel Hill area. They attend the local SFF conventions:

“Orielis’ Books are always in the vendor room at the Cons we get to attend in the Virginia/North Carolina area. They are an online used books business, and build their “brick and mortar” by wheeling in their treasure-crates of books into the hotel for the duration of the weekend.

I love having them at the Cons, as I can pop straight over to them after a panel and pick up a copy of whatever was recommended. They make an effort of being sure to carry the small press books authored or published by the Con’s guests.”

If you’ve been to a great bookstore recently, please send us a photo (the SFF section would be great!) and a paragraph or two about why you love that store.

Manhattan used to be a book-shopping mecca for me, with independent and used bookstores every other block. Alas, that is no longer the case, as I learned to my regret a few years ago when my husband and I tried to track down a few beloved stores. Said husband had printed out a list of Manhattan bookstores from the Internet, failing to note that the list was published ten years earlier. We walked from the West Side to the East Side and back again, discovering either that stores no longer existed or were mere shadows of their former selves. All that walking! And it was sleeting on top of it. As you might imagine, I suggested gently (!) that my husband check the date on any list next time.

One great Manhattan bookstore that survives is Strand Book Store. Like Powell’s (which we visited in a previous Great Bookstores column), it sells new and used books together — though not on the same shelf, side by side, as Powell’s does. My favorite part of “The Strand” is its section of review copies: new books intended for the eyes of reviewers that somehow became “extra.” The markdown in price is substantial for these new books. It isn’t unusual for me to find a book I’ve only read about and never seen in a store. I push a shopping cart up and down these narrow, somewhat disorganized aisles in the basement, happily picking up book after book. The Strand isn’t as inviting as Powell’s, with no café, out-of-reach shelves, unhelpful staff and tons of books seemingly shelved at random, but it’s nonetheless a booklover’s paradise.

If you want to get lost in a bookstore, The Strand and Powell’s are among the few really great bookstores remaining in the United States. I may be enamored of Portland’s geography and New York’s culture, but even without those side benefits, these stores are worth the trip all by themselves.

Readers, please let us know about your favorite bookstores! Send Kat a photo of the SFF section, the name and address of the bookstore, and a short explanation about why you love that store.

We’re starting a new regular feature in which we highlight great bookstores for speculative fiction readers. We welcome your input! If you’ve been to a great bookstore recently, please send us a photo  (the SFF section would be great!) and a paragraph or two about why you love that store. I’m kicking us off today with Powell’s in Portland Oregon.

What’s better for booklovers than a good bookstore? As we watch Border’s extinguish itself, having itself already extinguished hundreds of independent bookstores (with help from Amazon and Barnes & Noble), those of us who still love physical books and brick-and-mortar bookstores fear the passing of an era. Fortunately, there are still bookstores that not only survive but thrive. If you’re a book tourist — that is, one who visits good bookstores no matter where in the world they may be — you know where to browse away a day or two.

Every Thanksgiving week, my husband and I make a pilgrimage to Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon. We go in armed with lists of books we haven’t been able to find elsewhere (we could probably find them online, but where’s the fun in that?) and settle in for the day.

And really, you need a day — at least. Powell’s main store (there are a number of branches) bills itself as the “City of Books,” and it is enormous: a full city block occupied by a building that rises up to three or four stories in places, 68,000 square feet containing a million or more books. The store is so big that it issues maps. I spend the bulk of my first day (and yes, we’re usually there several times during our usual four-day trip to Portland) in the Gold Room, which contains science fiction, fantasy, horror and mysteries. I also look over the mainstream fiction and literary criticism (they’re in the Blue Room), and try to get to the cookbooks and foodie books (shelved in the Green Room). Then there’s the Pearl Room, which contains the rare books section, and am often delighted to discover that something I own has become valuable.

Because Powell’s shelves used books together with new ones, I can make decisions about which book is in the best condition for the price, and often whether I want a signed copy. This seems like such a great idea to me, but it remains controversial: some think it decreases the number of new books sold, and thus authors’ royalties. I’ve found, though, that I’m as likely to buy a new book as a used one, depending on the book, and I expect that applies to most readers.

When fatigue sets in, I repair to the café for a sandwich and soda; it’s packed with books, too, mostly graphic novels in an unparalleled collection. I’ve never seen so many graphic novels in any other setting, including comics stores. More than books, though:  the café is always packed with booklovers, reading as they sip their lattes. I’ve never been to Powell’s when it wasn’t crammed with customers, including on Thanksgiving Day. Powell’s gives me hope that print culture might survive.

Readers, please let us know about your favorite bookstores! Send Kat a photo of the SFF section, the name and address of the bookstore, and a short explanation about why you love that store.