A New Chapter – Reader’s Loft Closing, Lion’s Mouth Opening
by,
September 10, 2019

For 26 years, the Reader’s Loft bookstore in Green Bay has served the community, but on August 31, the store closed its doors. This comes following store owner Virginia Kress’s announcement of her retirement on the Reader’s Loft website and Facebook page. “These past 26 years have brought so much joy I don’t even know how to properly express it,” she writes, “Not just the… [Read More]

The Importance of Independent Bookstores
by,
July 23, 2019

When thinking about your local bookstore, what comes to mind? Is it a familiar friendly face greeting you as you walk in? Is it a sense of comfort and calm? There is a simple magic to independent bookstores, and they’re a refuge for many in the neighborhoods they serve, playing an important role in benefitting the community. Local independent bookstores are vital pillars in the… [Read More]

Women & Children First Bookstore: A Chicago Destination
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August 16, 2016

On the north side of Chicago, I discovered Women & Children First, one of the largest feminist bookstores in the country. With an inventory of more than 30,000 books written by and for women, this independent bookstore caters exclusively to women, children, and the LGBTQ community. If you’ve never visited a feminist bookstore, you may have seen one on TV. Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein… [Read More]

Why shop Indie?
by,
November 24, 2015

Amazon makes it so easy to share links with book cover images and if you’re a Prime member there is an incentive to shop on Amazon. There is just one big problem. Books and Amazon. When you purchase books from Amazon you get a deep discount and the publisher pays the author even less in copyright royalties. A percentage of pennies is a pittance and… [Read More]

Managing the business of being an author
by,
September 8, 2015

To be an author is a status many work hard to attain. Most of that work is invisible to the reader’s eye. Much of it doesn’t involve creative writing. The roles and responsibilities of an author go far beyond producing a wonderful manuscript. Writer is one role and the manuscript is one important responsibility. There are other roles besides writer and many more responsibilities. The role… [Read More]

“Why Not New York?”: My Love of Books Led Me to Boston
by,
October 21, 2014

For many recent college graduates, or really anyone with big aspirations, New York City is the destination – and was the destination for most of my friends graduating from college this past May. New York also has the reputation of being the book publishing epicenter of the East Coast. Searching for jobs online on Publishers Marketplace or MediaBistro, many entry-level jobs posted are based in New… [Read More]

Preparations for reading your work-in-progress
by,
November 22, 2013

You  created a strong relationship with your local bookstore. You shop there. You know the staff and are familiar with the inventory, programs and events. And now you’ve committed yourself to a public reading of your work-in-progress at your local independent bookstore. How can an author best prepare to make the experience – for the bookstore, for those who attend, and for an author – a… [Read More]

Reading Works-In-Progress at Buffalo Street Books
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August 17, 2013
Jenna Goodman provides editorial services for Swenson Book Development, LLC

Buffalo Street Bookmarks ‘Works in Progress” series on August 4, 2013 brought our some surprising voices, poetry, and prose. Jenna Goodman provides a brief review of those who addressed a crowd almost two weeks ago. New writer and photo-shopper Robin Botie read from the first chapter of her work In the Wake of Marika. Robin’s daughter Marika died at age 20 from complications after battling, and beating, leukemia. Robin’s honest… [Read More]

Ithaca: A Book Lover’s Paradise
by,
July 9, 2013

Ithaca, New York is more than just “Gorges.” Luminosity recently released a study deeming Ithaca the smartest city in America based on cognitive training exercises. A thriving, progressive college town, Ithaca is certainly a center for learning and growth. But what else makes it such a hotspot for brain power? Ithaca boasts a community of writers, readers, and researchers; one that makes our small city… [Read More]

Kindness for Weakness
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July 6, 2013

Kindness becomes weakness as boys become men in a place where violence is the solution to every problem. In Shawn Goodman’s new novel, 15-year-old James finds himself in an upstate detention center after his brother recruited him into drug trafficking. It’s a coming of age story set in a second chances plot. More Fight Club than Catcher in the Rye, Kindness for Weakness captures the… [Read More]