New Website Ironically Designed to Help Save New England Bookstores Threatened by Internet Booksellers

Jefferson, MA, January 04, 2009 --(PR.com)-- In a somewhat ironic twist of methodology, a new website, Guide to Rural New England Bookstores, was recently launched as a companion to its author’s soon to be published book, A Vacationer’s Guide to Rural New England Bookstores. What is ironic is that the author is using a website to promote a cause that perhaps has identified its greatest competitive threat as online booksellers.

Richard Wright, 58, of Jefferson, MA is a marketing manager for an industrial distributor, a former marketing entrepreneur and soon to be published author, who has converted a lifetime avocation of book-reading, book-collecting and hopefully, book-publishing into a mini-cause to save what he describes as a threatened species: namely, the rural bookseller. Wright’s background in marketing, printing and publishing over the past 30 years has drawn him to take action by writing a book about the top 25 rural New England bookstores worthy of a tourist’s visit while on vacation in New England.

The sub-title to this quest has become known as “Saving Private Bookstore”, a not-too-well disguised re-interpretation of the famous Tom Hanks movie, Saving Private Ryan. In a sardonic and perhaps pedantic description of his quest, Wright has written in the book and the website about the plight of the rural New England bookstore as everyone’s problem, not just the bookseller. The book highlights Wright’s favorite 25 locally-owned (mostly), rural (mostly), and atmospheric (mostly) booksellers. The book emphatically describes that there are few rules or discipline in what constitutes the correct merits for listing in the book. He has one store that’s not a store, one store that’s in the second largest city in New England (hardly rural); but, he has his own defense for every entry.

According to Wright, “The successful and appealing local booksellers are the ones that merge the online sale of books with the brick and mortar attractions. Where necessary, the local, rural New England bookstore offers the CD’s, the café, the wi-fi and other modern accoutrements that allow them to compete with the chain and box versions of the old-fashioned, rural, neighborhood bookstore; all this without sacrificing the sometimes esoteric, charming, personal touch many of us enjoy at the local, rural New England bookshop.”

Not satisfied with telling about the stores, the owners and the inventory, Wright’s book takes the reader on a brief tour of vacations, road-trips and excursions over the years, which were the opportunities for him to find and visit these stores for the first time. Some of his visits to the stores go back decades when he was a child growing up in New England, while others were only discovered in the past few years. The book is designed as a companion for the vacationer heading into New England. With book in hand, Wright claims it’s easy to find a quaint, locally-owned, rural bookseller within a 30 to 45 minute drive from the premier vacation destinations of the region. The book is broken up into several major regional sections, centered on key vacation and tourist destinations. For the avid reader, according to Wright, the vacation experience is always enhanced when the hidden-treasure of an esoteric, local bookstore is nearby – providing you can find it. Wright’s book lists the stores, websites, addresses, directions and a description of its character and charm.

Recently, on his blog, Wright commented on how the book and website got started. In a blog entry on December 31, 2008, Wright wrote, “…. it seems every few weeks, I come across articles on the internet from various newspapers around the country about another independent bookstore closing. Once in a while a chain-store shop closes, but more often than not, it’s an independent. The story always has similar threads. The owner of many years has seen a steady decline in sales without hope of reversing the trend. Frequently, there is no one else in the family interested in continuing the business. Attempts to sell have failed and the final decision is to close.”

As for the future of local bookstores, it’s not all bad news, according to Wright. He said, “The strength of these local independents rests in their location, their commitment to stocking what the community is looking for, their creativity in inventory and presentation, all of which, keep the customers coming back. It’s a place to satisfy the need to hold a book in your hand, surprise yourself with a used book at a tremendous bargain and a place where you can maintain a bit of community contact, not otherwise likely to happen at the chain stores.”

Wright cited an article last year in USA Today, which selected nine bookstores across the country that it considered worthy as a tourists destination. They asked the question, “When is a bookstore worth a tourist’s time”? Their answer was “When it’s more than just a place where you can buy books.” Wright said that although they didn’t mention any stores in New England, he was sure he knew of at least 25 that were worthy of a vacationer’s visit. That’s why he wrote the book.

Finally, Wright said, “I believe that the New England bookstore will defeat the trend in closings suffered recently by independent booksellers.” His book and website have joined the movement: “Saving Private Bookstore.”

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