Transcripts For CSPAN2 Source Booksellers On The Continued I

I look at you at home a lot. Youve helped us really improve our business by the things you do. We have really had to have an experience with back and forth oh been, closed, up and down, happening with everybody across the country. We take a little step forward and then have to back up a little bit. Think that is the mold of the day as they would say. When we shut down we pivoted right away to online sales but it took a little while for that to happen. We quickly moved ourselves to online sales and began to excel through the online website. In addition to that, we also have added the phone calls, emails, instagram, facebook requests as well, which was really a big surprise for us. Alyson has really managed all of the online sales, which means we are sending books out from the store directly to people then we kind of moved toward having people pick up the door because the governor did lift some of our restrictions and allowed for curbside we call it door pickup because our curb is full of bicycles and cars and people. We dont want anything out on the curb. We call it door pickup. So with that we are able to if they wish to pick up from online sales we do not. Its really caused a different kind of competition in the way we do business. Its exciting because we are learning something new every day. Thats whats happening in between. Thats your daughter the coowner alyson jones turner, now joined us. Alyson, whats been your experience since we talked last in may. We been very grateful that publishers have offered us a few Virtual Events and also just participations, the booksellers for Virtual Events. That has really helped our sales. The American Booksellers Association and our Regional Independent Books Association has had regular zoom meetings or activities where all of us talk to each other across the flares. We are finding that many of us are experiencing the same things even though it may vary a little bit from store to store and from place to place. That has been very helpful and very encouraging and enlightening for all of us. Even though we been separated by distance, we are really connected to each other through the work we do, through the ideas we have and the customers we share. Im so grateful for apa as well as the great lakes citizens bookstore association. Have you been able to reopen your doors yet, we did for a minute and then we didnt, then we did again and then we didnt. We havent flung them wide open to the public because that was abim a little afraid. But we have come to as we progressed through the summer is that i knew we had many people coming up from the south, the southern part of the United States during this time of year, because absecond of all because of family. Over the years people have often come to detroit for family reunions. I felt really uncomfortable about being just too open, now we are finding an uptick in cases in michigan as well. Not to the degree in the south. I thought, we will just have to have short pickup hours on the weekend. Keep our doors closed. When people come to pick up we do welcome them to come browse around as they like, they are very good about that. We have mask and sanitation station at the door. We are really learning as we go, taking baby steps and looking to see how the store responds and our customers respond. Janet and alyson, we talked to you last on may 5, prior to the killing of george floyd in minneapolis. How did that as a black owned business, how did that affect you . It affected us in two ways, we have a lot of compassion for the family and for abin our community in particular, that resists Police Brutality and police violence. When the marchers came by our store we cheer them on and we also, i think in all the ways we could we offer information to those interested in learning about prison abolition, the role of the police, just all of those issues. Right. We also were able to benefit really from the fact that we are primarily a Nonfiction Book store. We had copies of all what i call the big 5 books that got very popular all the sudden so we were able to sell quite a few books to people and people called on us to see if they actually have the books taking on such a life of their own after that happen. We also had contact with the booksellers, our hearts are going to the bookstore there in minneapolis. That kind of community sensitivity has come not only to us right here in detroit but also across the country. Have you worried that you might have to close down at all, janet . I dont even go there. [laughter] i really dont. When it first happened i instinctively knew that we would not close. The instinct told me that once you close you have to work hard to reopen. I didnt want to do that. Fortunately we were positioned well in the community as well as as the business side to create an online business, which is really curious. In addition we are also a part of the Neighborhood Organization called midtown detroit ink and they really helped us find grants and funds to help us get our legs getting up again because it was a shock initially. Did you mean closed because of fear of our building . Because of the covid pandemic. Just starting in march when the pandemic was at its worse here, all retails closed. We didnt have a choice. Weve been teetering with the reopening part for our doors but we had to close with everyone else. Now i think whats happened is that our online sales, phone calls which we get all the time from our wonderful customers, and people we dont know, they hear about us in one way or another. I have to say theres been quite an uptick in the interest in books by black authors or books about the whole issue of race and racism in the country, we just got the wonderful new book today by isabel wilkerson, this idea is really coming into fruition people are wanting to know, why dont we learn this in school . A lot of us didnt know things but the pandemic has caused us to pause, wait a minute, to think and begin to respond in new and different ways. We have changed a great deal in terms of how we do business and how the Business Needs to be done during this time. As a Small Business did you accept any stimulus funds from the federal government that were offered to the Small Business administration . We toyed with it for a minute but i cant get my arms around the use of the ppp the Protection Plan so i tried a couple times but i really didnt get through and finally came to me i said, this really is and for us. In the meantime, i kind of backed away from it and we did not go forward, i started the couples application, i just took it as thats a sign that was not for me right now. What did happen is that a local Organization Tech town was offering which was really wonderful that helped us get study for a minute. We had another grant or two or three, that really helped us out to kind of get us steady. I dont want this to be real Common Knowledge but we did get some money from our Charitable Organization and i was able to give back some of it because i know weve been able to move along pretty well for now. I dont know how long we will last, i dont know if the online sale will be the way people do for a long time but for the moment we were able to give back some of that. I felt good about that because i know there are other stores struggling in a new and different way. Alyson jones turner, what have you learned about online retailer and have you been shipping across the u. S. . We been blessed with orders across the country and having to learn about shipping and handling and even some canadian sales because we are very close to canada. Canada is south of us. I learned a lot and depend so much on allison because shes really quick and understands those systems really well. Im getting a little bit better at it but it really has made a big difference as to how we do business with people. Someone said to me, i had the opportunity to have several radio and Television Interviews and one of the reports said, janet likes to talk to people at the store now shes transferred to the phones. [laughter] im the phone answer, im the front line one person to answer the phone and begin to take in those kinds of orders. And try to be as considerate about people on the phone many times they are rushing sometimes they feel really frightful and afraid. This gives me a chance to calm down and say, lets see what this book will do. Lets see if we can find this book for you. Weve done a lot of our Community Work really by telephone. As you know, Janet Webster jones, ive met you a few times and never known you to be shy. That was in my younger years. If people are interested in contacting you, whats the best way to mac way . You can communicate to our email or looking to purchase a book for booksellers online. Our social media we are source booksellers. We will put up the source booksellers. Com and let people go from there. Janet webster jones, when did you open the store. We began in november 1988 but for years i counted 1989 but we been in business 30 years now and weve had several different ways of doing the business so this one has made a fourth way of doing business in the book industry. We started the vendors going to where people had advance and then we were in the collective womenowned businesses that shared space and then we came here to our brickandmortar and we were in the online business. Mother and daughter owners of source booksellers, Janet Webster jones, alyson jones turner, we appreciate the update and we will talk to you in a few months if we have to. Thank you. Goodbye. On our monthly Author Interview program in depth we spoke with retired admiral James Defreitas about our military career and thoughts on character and leadership in this portion of the program he responds to a viewers question about the recent removal of confederate statues. First of all, i do not believe any statue anywhere ever should be torn down by a mob. In my view thats not appropriate. We ought to have a National Conversation and we are beginning to about which statues of what individuals from what period of history ought to be reexamined. For my money as i look at the spectrum i would say that, for example, the confederate generals and admirals who took up arms against the United States of america, therefore, by definition traders not only to their oath to support and defend the constitution of the United States but also took up arms against their nation, a system that included slavery. I dont think those individuals have statues put up about them. Where there are such statues and there are many of them around the country, i think its time to have a commission, probably will come to the conclusion as i have, its time to take them down. Put them in museum, study the history of the civil war, its a cautionary tale for our times. I think confederate generals and admirals should not be glorified with statues in our public places. On the other hand, we have our founding fathers. I am well aware of the instances that my fellow veteran points out of systems of individuals whove gone after a statue of general and president grant. Very aware of the movement to take down statues of thomas jefferson. A slave owner, i can understand that emotion but i think that is a different set of circumstances then the ones i mentioned a moment ago. The world should it make these decisions based on retired admiral aused, we ought to have a collective conversation, my vote would be take down the statues, take down the monuments of confederate admirals and generals, for my money, washington, jefferson, grant, not perfect, slaveowners but in the Broad Spectrum of their life and times their contributions are striking and there statues and monuments need to remain on display, perhaps indicating that in addition to all that is known, making the point that jefferson held slaves. Thats a valid historical point. To me it does not rise to the level of tearing down the Jefferson Memorial or tearing down monticello, the president ial home outside charlottesville where my daughter christina went to university. I think there is room for meaningful conversation here, i do not believe ever that mobs should be tearing down statues or tearing down anything else. To watch the rest of the Program Visit our website booktv. Org. Click on the indepth tab at the top of the page. Here is a look at some Publishing Industry news. Author and journalist gail sheehy died last week at the age of 83. She was a contributor to vanity fair and new York Magazine as well as the author of 17 books, which included her bestselling title passages published in 1976. It sold 10 million copies. The New York Times reports that an already busy fall publishing season has gotten more hectic due to the lack of capacity of the nations two largest book printing companies. Lsc printing which filed for bankruptcy in april and quad up for sale are trying to keep up with the increased workload as books that were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic compete with titles that were already scheduled for the fall season. In other news, bestselling french economist Thomas Pickett he has refused to edit portions of his latest book capital and ideology, to make it available for the chinese market. He says they basically wanted to cut almost all parts referring to contemporary china and in particular to inequality and opaque city in china. Also in the news, and abadult Nonfiction Books continue their positive sale trend up just over nine percent. The Miami Book Fair has announced it will be a virtual festival for the first time in its history. Author events will be held from november 15 to the 22nd. Including more than 250 authors. The book fairs Program Director Lizette Mendez perfected on pivoting from an inperson to online event, telling the miami herald i feel like im building the bridge across the grand canyon as im walking, its like, put the board down, take a step, put the next board down, take a step, its a work in progress. Booktv will continue to bring you new programs and publishing news, you can also watch all of our archived programs any time at booktv. Org