From a reader:
Mr. Goldberg:
I’ve been enjoying my role as the black sheep, working part-time at a
large Barnes and Noble in the Midwest while going to school. It
really is great “working around all those books,” but other perks
include the many opportunities to throw my wrench into typical B&N
chatter and other bouts of contrarianism. I thought you’d enjoy a
brief history of LF in my store:
– Before publication, we had about 20 copies pre-ordered for customers
and one (heh) for the shelf.
– For two weeks we constantly had about 15 on order and possibly one
on the shelf.
– My first request to shortlist 10 copies to stay in the store (with
“#1 on Amazon” being the reason) was truncated to 5.
– Since then, the five shortlisted copies have been in two promotional
“displays” when not hidden or exhausted; the current placement is in
an octagon fixture in the aisle, not facing the entrance and
practically on the floor. In other words, nearly impossible to find.
(Chris Hedges’ book on the other hand…) I quite enjoy telling the
customer where the “thought squad” has placed his book and then
hashing over it afterwards.
– Looks like your book is hitting in-store best-seller status this
week for the first time. Look for in-store B&N sales to jump a bit,
as this is a pretty hard spot to manipulate.
I’d also like to offer my condolences to you and the entire NR family
for the passing of Mr. Buckley. May we continue learning from his
dedication to God and country.
Best of Luck!
Yours Faithfully,
A. Bookseller
Update: Meanwhile, my Airpower Guy has a less frustrating report:
The Barnes and Noble in Marina del Rey is displaying the book prominently (stacked 5 high with the top one on a stand allowing the book cover to be seen from several feet away).
FWIW, both the Captains I’ve flown with this week have bought the book there after our discussing it on the leg out from Memphis.
You’re welcome,
APG
P.S. I don’t know if this BaN is an anomaly or not. I honestly don’t know what the political “ambience” in Marina del Rey is, but I doubt it’s as conservative as me or the guys I’ve flown with recently.