Tyson Cornell has tattoos, lots of them. They peek out from his conservative blue and white striped shirt as he sits in his office at Book Soup on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. He became the store's publicity director four years ago, and after coordinating hundreds of author events, he's happy to talk about the one that was most memorable. To do so, he must first unbutton the right sleeve on his shirt and roll it up to his shoulder. “William Vollmann did an event at the store a couple of months ago,” he says, pointing to the face tattooed on his upper arm. “Afterwards, Vollmann and I went out drinking. He was telling me about a book he'd written that was never published, a 600-page tome about Noh theater in Japan. Before I knew it, Vollmann had taken a pen and drawn this face of one of the actors on my arm,” Cornell says, clearly savoring the memory. “When it started to wash off a couple of days later, I thought it would make a great tattoo, and had it permanently inked in.”
Experiences like this are second nature to Cornell, 29. Since opening in 1975, Book Soup has attracted the heavyweights of both the literati and the entertainment industry as customers and guests for book signings and events. “I have a staff of five people now to help out with publicity and marketing. Without them, I could never pull off the 30 to 50 events we have every month, both in-store and off-site,” he says. “Every year since I've been the publicity director at Book Soup, the fruits of our efforts have multiplied. It's astonishing and very rewarding for all of us. In fact, the book signings are part of what's keeping us alive. In this business climate, it's possible that we'd fold without them.”
Moving to Los Angeles from Minneapolis in 1999, Cornell already had a successful career as a musician, singer and songwriter under his belt by age 20. “I was under contract with EMI/Toshiba in Japan and put out three records that did all right there,” Cornell says. Cornell remains committed to his music, and is booked for two overseas tours for the USO. “I'll be in Bosnia for five days in May with a rock band playing for the troops, and then we're off to Iraq and Afghanistan in August.”
His academic life led Cornell to the book business. “I went to UCLA, and then transferred to Cal State Northridge to finish my master's degree. I wrote my thesis on the American newsstand and ended up working at seven different ones around L.A. to do research.” His eighth newsstand gig landed him at Book Soup in 2001; the store has a beautiful retro-inspired newsstand that runs along the outside wall. Cornell sold magazines there for six months before being transferred inside to work as a book clerk. In time, he became the assistant to Book Soup's publicity director. When she left the store a few years later, Cornell took over.
Glenn Goldman, who has owned Book Soup since it opened 33 years ago, firmly supports Cornell's publicity efforts. “He makes my job easy,” Cornell says. “Glenn is so smart—he knows how important author events are to our survival and pretty much gives me free rein to make them happen.”
One of Cornell's newest initiatives started last year when he and another employee went to New York to meet with publishers about getting exclusive author events for Book Soup. “We saw 23 publishers in three days,” Cornell says. “Bookstore events don't necessarily have to be expensive. We try to take advantage of everything our publishers have to offer us, and making that trip to New York has already paid for itself many times over.”
Mike Farrell, James Ellroy and Abraham Rodriguez were among the authors set for store signings recently. These and every other event he coordinates clearly bring Cornell both pleasure and satisfaction. “Life has far exceeded my expectations,” he says. “I've been involved with academia, music and now the book business. I feel like I'm exactly where I belong.”
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