When Susan Thomas, manager of CoffeeTree Books in Morehead, Ky., talked about her colleagues elsewhere in the state, she said, “They can sell to hardcore Southern, big hair, grits-eating [readers]. But I don't feel that's us, here in eastern Kentucky. When we go to SEBA, I wonder if it's really where we belong.” Carol Besse, who co-owns Carmichael's Bookstore, some 150 miles to the west in Louisville, is a member of both SEBA (Southeast Booksellers Association) and GLBA (Great Lakes Booksellers Association), though she's more active in GLBA because most of her reps come from that region. And Peter Moore, manager of the children's bookshop The Blue Marble, identifies strongly with the Midwest: his store is located in the Cincinnati suburb of Fort Thomas, Ky.
Straddling the South and Midwest (as well as two time zones: Eastern and Central), Kentucky's cultural hallmarks are distinctly Southern: the Wild Turkey, Jim Beam and Maker's Mark bourbon distilleries are all located there, as is Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. But the state's northern region—which is where more than half its population and more than 80% of its population growth are concentrated—borders categorically Midwestern states: Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Michele Sulka, v-p of marketing for Joseph-Beth, which has a 45,000-sq.-ft. store in Lexington, explained Kentucky's culture this way: “It's a little slower pace of life, but not as slow as Georgia.”
Louisville, Lexington and northern Kentucky (which encompasses some Cincinnati suburbs) comprise an area known as the Golden Triangle, and booksellers in that vicinity attract a fair number of big-name authors for events. “The Cincinnati/Lexington/Louisville circuit makes a lot of sense for an author,” said Sulka, “And I think a lot of publishers are starting to figure that out.” Joseph-Beth's Lexington store (which is the oldest of the minichain's six outposts, the rest of which are in neighboring states), draws a good mix of national and local authors. Carmichael's in Louisville does, too; among the authors who'll be visiting that store this spring are Anna Quindlen and Elizabeth Gilbert. “We're getting there in terms of getting ourselves on the map with publishers,” said co-owner Besse.
The chains are well aware of the bookselling opportunities in the Golden Triangle, although it wasn't until recently that Borders increased its presence there. In 2001, there were no Borders stores in the Louisville area; today there are four (and the company operates 16 stores—including some Waldenbooks and Borders Express stores—throughout Kentucky). Interestingly, part of the Borders family history lies in Kentucky: the Borders brothers, Tom and Louis, are from the state, and Joseph-Beth was founded by their brother-in-law Neil Van Uum, on Borders money (Tom and Louis Borders's father helped Van Uum open his first Joseph-Beth store).
Outside the Golden Triangle, however, booksellers face severe challenges. The rest of the state is largely rural, and statewide, 42% of adults are at “basic” and “below basic” levels of literacy, according to the Kentucky Adult Education Web site. Moreover, 18% of Kentuckians age 25 and older do not have a high school credential.
Yet Charlie Boswell, a commissioned sales rep with Heineken and Associates who represents Workman, Houghton Mifflin, Harcourt and other publishers, put a positive spin on those figures. Boswell, who will retire at the end of this year after 30 years on the road, said Kentucky's literacy rates “used to be a source of embarrassment for some booksellers. But in recent years the state has put a lot of money into literacy and Kentucky is no longer duking it out with Mississippi at the bottom.”
Kentucky's muddled identity—between Southern and Midwestern; suburban and rural—may make it tough to classify. But one thing that's consistent throughout the state is an interest in all things Kentucky. “People in Ohio don't buy books about Ohio that much,” said Sulka of Joseph-Beth, but “people in Kentucky are really passionate about their history. It's a point of pride that doesn't exist to that extent in a lot of our other markets.” —with reporting by Bridget Kinsella
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