In a message about a new location for all its events, venerable New York City bookstore The Strand mentions that, oh by the way, reading attendees will be asked to either buy the book or a $10 gift card at reading starting September 1st.
I haven't been to a reading at the Strand in a good long while (not by choice, the readings that catch my eye just never seem to work in my schedule). I give them credit not only for the gift-card option, but that your purchase admits 2 people, so if I were going with a friend and I didn't want to buy the book but s/he did, then I could still get in. Still, not a huge fan of this decision.
On the other hand, I'm always in the Strand picking up things and have spent many a happy afternoon browsing the dollar carts, and I would hate to lose such an institution. I could always stockpile my gift cards for Christmas shopping. But if other bookstores in the neighborhood follow suit, I may later be attempting to pay my rent in bookstore credit and I think that will not go well.
5 hours ago
1 comment:
I like the gift card idea. I don't like the requirement that attendees buy a book, because, if the book has been out for a while, fans may already own a copy. I've attended a lot of readings at Book Court without buying a book during that particular visit, but it helps endear that store to me, so I spend more money there than I would if I went to fewer readings, but bought a book every time I did.
Post a Comment