Buying books from local bookstores...

Dear Medit-Plants,
A different view about bookstores from a gardening bookaholic...
Powell's Books (which is in Portland) can special order any book that 
they don't have listed. On line sites like Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com 
often do not stock many, if not most of the books they list...they just 
order them from publishing houses when they receive an order. I hope 
everyone doesn't fall into the trap of thinking they must order from a 
chain store on line to find many gardening books. That myth is what the 
chain stores want us to believe. Most gardening books can and should be 
bought from a local bookstore. If that option is not good for you then 
please support non chain, locally owned,  mail order bookstores which 
specialize in gardening books such as Powells in Portland and/or Flora & 
Fauna Books in Seattle. Just like our gardens thrive with diversity, so 
will our bookstores and communities. Support your local flora, fauna and 
stores, not the spreading invasive, monocrop chain bookstores.

Here in the San Francisco bay area many of our local bookstores are in 
trouble. I' ve heard rumors that the best gardening bookstore in the Bay 
Area ie., Bells Books in Palo Alto, has seen a drop a serious drop in its 
business both from the new mega bookstore in Palo Alto and online orders.

My regret with editing Botanica is that Random House signed a deal in the 
U.S. to only distribute the book thru Barns & Noble and Borders Books. 
The big chains and publishing houses really want to gobble up all of the 
market place and that means they will try any means to shut out your 
local stores. I will never work on another book project with Random House 
unless I have in writting that all bookstores will be able to by the book 
I am working on.

Sincereley,
Ernie

Along the central California coast of beaches, redwoods and fog.

Ernie G. Wasson
Aptos,California 
"All Plants Considered" column at www.gardens.com
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