Tom's Rants | RiverRun Bookstore, Portsmouth NH

That's not my independent publisher-- It's spine is too strong!

By tom on April 17, 2012 | Add a Comment

Just wanted to share a link that gives a bit of insight into what's going on with e-books, Amazon, and the Justice Department. The comments section is particularly interesting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/16/business/media/amazons-e-book-pricing-a-constant-thorn-for-publishers.html?_r=2&ref=business&src=me&pagewanted=all

Sale Starts Today!!

By tom on April 04, 2012 | 1 comments

Today through Saturday the 7th, get 20% off your entire purchase and maybe win a prize!! Plus, come on Saturday night at 7pm and here an awesome performance by Skyler.

What have we accomplished in 10 years?? Let's take a look at how we measure up against Amazon:

Local employees-- RiverRun: 6 on average. Amazon: 0

Local Property taxes paid-- RiverRun: $85,000. Amazon: 0

Cash and Gift Card contributions to local schools and charities-- RiverRun: $70,000 Amazon: 0

Cultural Events Produced-- RiverRun--1000+ Amazon-- 0

Cheap Used Books-- RiverRun: yes Amazon: yes

Discounts-- RiverRun: discounts to schools and nonprofits, frequent buyer program, book group program Amazon: Lots

Tenth Anniversary Sale: April 4th through 7th

By tom on April 02, 2012 | Add a Comment

On Turning Ten by Billy Collins

The whole idea of it makes me feel

like I'm coming down with something,

something worse than any stomach ache

or the headaches I get from reading in bad light--

We are celebrating our tenth anniversary next week. Needless to say, things have been pretty exciting and hectic around here getting the new space going. This is a good time to step back and take a breather. A very short breather. We have scads of new things about to be launched, so stay tuned.

First up, I am thrilled to announce our new program Paperback to the Future!! We promise to make you happy and promote new and obscure authors and publishers at the same time. Our Veloci-reader Liberty will personal pick the perfect book for you. Find out more here.

Next week, we'll have a four day long Anniversary Sale, which will kick of with a booksigning by the great Alice Hoffman.

And much much more to come as we enter those all important tween years.

It's no fun to sign a Kindle...

By tom on June 17, 2011 | 3 comments

We love signed books. We even have a signed first editions club that you should ask us more about. We're having a very busy June, with lots of great events. Here are some of the signed books we currently have on hand:

Other People We Married by Emma Straub

The Astral by Kate Christensen

The Melting Season by Jami Attenberg

You Think That's Bad by Jim Shepard

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Next week we'll have:

Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson

Maine by Courtney Sullivan

The Greater Journey by David McCullough

and

Starting Year Ten With A Bang

By tom on April 02, 2011 | Add a Comment

Yikes! There's a lot going on for the dead of winter! In February we combined our two stores, RiverRun and SecondRun. Now when you come to 20 Congress St you will find a mix of new titles and nearly new used titles all in one place. Yes, we still want your books! Bring them in any day of the week between 9am and 6pm and trade them in.

Also, Michele's last day was March 31st. Those of you who know her realize what a loss this is. Over the past few years Michele has helped us build an events program that can stand toe to toe with any bookstore in America-- right here in little old Portsmouth. She was also a great reader and recommender of books, so that is another whole to fill.

The Death of the Book Has Been Greatly Exaggerated...

By tom on December 14, 2010 | Add a Comment

Hello Folks,

Another year is almost over, and I guess the highlight of 2010 for RiverRun is that we are still here, and you still keep coming through our door. Thank You!!

It's a scary, scary time in the bookselling world. We've seen a kind of "perfect storm" of recession, competition, technological innovation, and industry shakiness. 2010 will probably go down as the year that electronic boks finally broke through into the mainstream in a big, big way. While Amazon's Kindle has been making steady headway over the last few years, the introduction of the iPad this year really signaled a tipping point.

Book Owners Have Smarter Kids!

By tom on June 09, 2010 | Add a Comment

Here's a link to a great Slate article about how Book Owners Have Smarter Kids. I don't think it's an elitist message, considering we have books at SecondRun for as cheap as a dollar, and Library Sales regularly clear books out for 25 cents. The point is, if you have books in the house, kids will read them. Or maybe osmosis is in play?

Hmmm, if book owners have smarter kids, what do Bookstore owners have?

Book Sale This Weekend At SecondRun

By tom on May 21, 2010 | 1 comments

We've got too many books over at SecondRun, our used bookstore. This weekend, May 22nd and 23rd, all used books are buy two get one free (the cheapest one is free). That means our already reasonable prices ($7 for hardcovers, $5 for paperbacks) just got unreasonably cheap.

We also have boxes and boxes of dollar books, which means you could line up an entire summer of reading for about ten or fifteen bucks. Go to it!

SecondRun Bookstore is located at 7 Commercial Alley in downtown Portsmouth. Phone number is 603-431-2480.

Rant, Choke, Snuff

By tom on May 08, 2010 | Add a Comment

Funny how people are. Known for books that can make people pass out from nausea, Chuck Palahniuk in person is a gracious, sweet guy who really connected with the crowd at our event last Tuesday. He spent two to three minutes with each person who was getting a book signed, asking them questions and posing for pictures.

Interesting, too, was the number of emails we got the next day thanking us for a great event. More than we've ever received. Keep in mind that this crowd was considerable younger, more tattooed, and more pierced than our usual book reading crowd. It just goes to show that courtesy isn't dead, and that you can't judge a boo... well, you know. I can't say it.