Border's Closing

Apparently I am the cause of the destruction of the publishing world. My local Borders is shutting its doors. I went yesterday. Everything is at 20-40% off. There are signs saying that the fixtures are not for sale, but I assume they will be eventually. Quite sad. Not really my fault I think. They never carried my books or hosted an event with me though I did ask several times. Not that this would have saved them. But what if they had done more for the many Connecticut authors who would have been happy to have an event there? Maybe.

Ah well. Spilled milk, etc. I've heard that the rise of the ebook was blamed by the president of Borders, but since they sell ebooks, that can't be right. I buy a ton of books every year and most of my buying was at my local Borders. (No independents near me at all.) But Borders made book buying a lot more difficult than it had to be. For instance, I always found it very difficult to find out online if a book I wanted was at my particular store. Or request a book online for pickup at the store.

I had plans for that store. In a year or so, I'll begin helping my daughter start her book collection - Make Way for Ducklings, Where The Wild Things Are, and you know the others. It was going to be a weekly trip. Now I'll have to head to Barnes and Noble.

Get her a Kindle? No. I don't think I'll do that. Not just yet.