Getting Things Done

Part Eight: Roberta Rubin’s “Bookstore of the Year” Successes. Now She’s an Author!

Roberta Rubin has just published Turning Pages: The Life and Times of a Bookseller, an entertaining memoir that gives particular attention to her years as the proprietor of The Book Stall, an independent bookstore in Winnetka, Illinois, outside Chicago.

Roberta was on my personal team of “All Stars,” the booksellers around the country whom I have considered among the most important people in publishing for me to know and nurture. A listing would not be sufficient to express my admiration, so let me put it this way:

If there is a bookstore near you where you browse and buy, attend author talks or book groups, and, these days, have coffee, Roberta and her national compañeros are for you.

Roberta writes that when her children were grown and moving out, she bought into a local bookstore and began to learn the eccentric business of connecting books to readers while also being able to pay the rent.

In 1987, she became the sole owner of The Book Stall and moved the store to downtown Winnetka, what is known in the publishing world as a “carriage trade” community, where classic retail holds its own against the dominance of national chains. By the 1990s the store was being recognized for its quality, and in 2012 it was named Publishers Weekly’s “Bookstore of the Year.”

In 2013, Roberta sold the store and turned it over to a new owner, Stephanie Hochschild, after she was confident that the character and commitments of the store she had built and cherished would be maintained. And, from all accounts, it has been.

Roberta then went on to be a founder of the American Writers Museum in Chicago and was honored with a room named for her. She was abashed but not above recognizing — as those of us who have been around for so long finally do — that we like not being overlooked as we age into seniority.

Owning an independent bookstore has a noble and romanticized aura. It is very hard work. I recently profiled Politics and Prose, my local independent store in Northwest Washington, D.C. My praise was expansive, but I did not really reflect how the owners Bradley Graham and Lissa Muscatine cannot ever take for granted — not for one day — the store’s success.

The margins in bookstores are tight and always will be. You will not become rich being virtuous, but what Roberta’s book makes so emphatically clear is the joy and satisfaction that comes with bringing books to readers of all ages.

I have written many times about the evolving way books are being sold, repeating my mantra, “Good Books. Any Way You Want Them. Now.” What this means is that contemporary publishing provides books in print, digital, and increasingly audio versions. Every print book with an ISBN, the universal identifier, can be bought in any store by ordering it, even if it is not on the shelves. This is a major improvement over the frustration of not finding a book you want to read.

The thousands of independent bookstores around the country — as distinct from Amazon’s online ordering — emphasize print books. Their specialty is experience, the pleasures of a welcoming venue, a helpful staff, and a destination where authors come to talk about their books.

Roberta’s description of store appearances by, among many others, Robert Parker, Jimmy Carter, and Isabel Allende, offers a glimpse of how much this experience can add to the writer’s sense of accomplishment and the connection to readers.

I published a number of Andy Rooney’s books. He originally resisted doing events, insisting that his policy was “I write them. You sell them.” But I persuaded him that he might enjoy the effort, and we traveled to Chicago together and did a sold-out event, hosted by The Book Stall at the Union League Club.

Roberta charmed Andy, as she doubtless did so many other authors.

Coming Soon

The team at Platform Books LLC, our small enterprise that publishes this Substack as Peter Osnos Public Affairs Press, is preparing a major continuing project to be called “Books! Writing, Editing, Publishing, and Reaching Readers.” We will launch a biweekly series in a matter of weeks, taking on the subject from an author’s early vision and ambition through the process of reaching a reader.

When that’s done, and with material reflecting the feedback that the series receives, it will become a book (in print and ebook editions) to be distributed nationally by Rivertowns Books. We will also launch an accompanying website from Deena Warner Design, which will include newsy updates from publishers and authors on nonfiction books and, importantly, a way to ask questions about process and get helpful (we hope) answers.

By making this announcement, we are committed to having the project take shape over the next year. Please let us know what will be useful.

Books are an eternal part of civilization. Publishing evolves and, oh yes, it is also a business.

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