In It Together

What’s the deal in Northern California? Despite the growth of chain superstores and Amazon.com, the book business out here has fared remarkably well over the past 20-odd years. We have a thriving coterie of local publishers; a fabulous cast of smart and experienced sales reps; an enviable stable of local writers; one of the country’s most respected distributors in Publishers Group West; a talented pool of agents, publicists and the like; and lots of avid readers. But what makes Northern California really special is its independent bookstores.

It’s not that our independent booksellers are better than others elsewhere—although a sampling of recent happenings shows our booksellers do know how to please customers: Green Apple Books in San Francisco is in the process of giving a $10 gift certificate to every third-grader in the city’s school system; Readers’ Books in Sonoma was just voted Business of the Year by the local Chamber of Commerce, gathering more nominations than any other business in the award’s seven-year history; Book Passage in Corte Madera hosts more than 500 author events a year; and Rakestraw Books in Danville creates limited-edition broadsides every time a Pulitzer Prize—winning author comes to the store.

It’s that there are more good, experienced independent booksellers working in the greater Bay Area than anywhere else in the country. They benefit greatly from the book culture created by the impressive assemblage of book professionals listed above, but that’s only part of the story.

The word “community” gets bandied around quite bit, but when it comes to independent bookstores in Northern California, there’s no more fitting word. The geography of the region is a factor in fostering kinship—there are more than 150 independent bookstores within a 100-mile radius, which makes getting to know one another pretty easy. And that kinship is one reason Northern California independents have been able to weather the growth of chain and online bookselling. Yes, the area has seen a number of bookstores go out of business but, overall, Northern California independents have maintained their strength and market share. Both individually and through their trade association, these booksellers have fought hard to survive, recognizing that the prosperity of independent bookstores collectively can affect the prosperity of their individual stores.

One example of this spirit of community occurred earlier this year, when word got out that The Booksmith, a popular independent bookstore in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district, was being sold to a couple who were new to the bookselling business. Here at the offices of the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA), we received calls from four other local independent booksellers wanting to know when the deal was being consummated. They wanted to visit the new owners and find out if there was anything they could do to help.

Not surprisingly, that cooperative spirit, coupled with a can-do mentality, shows up in NCIBA, too. The association was created in the early 1980s, when local independent booksellers coalesced around a lawsuit brought by the association against unfair discounts being given to the chain discounter Crown Books. After winning the suit, the members voted overwhelmingly in 1993 to add the word “independent” to their association’s name, making NCIBA the first booksellers’ group in the country to do so. Then, in 1998, NCIBA heeded member pleas for a branded marketing campaign and created Book Sense, a regional program that soon found its rightful national home with the ABA. And in 2000, NCIBA sponsored state legislation targeted at chain stores failing to collect sales tax in California.

Over the years, Northern California independents have been called rabble-rousers and been criticized for fostering an “us-versus-them” mentality. So be it. Rabble-rousing often helps build communities. And in a region that prides itself on diversity and new ideas, Northern California independent booksellers have found receptive ears for their messages and their actions.