The Last Bookstore In America
a novel-in-progress by Amy Stewart
Nothing is what it seems in the offbeat and out-of-the-way town of Eureka,
California. Shrouded in fog and hidden behind a curtain of redwoods, this
rundown mill town is home to a peculiar cast of characters, a unique
homegrown horticultural industry, and one of the last bookstores in America.
No one is more surprised by the unlikely survival of the Firebreathing Dragon than Lewis Hartman, its newest owner. By the time his uncle Sy died and left the bookstore to Lewis, even the most ardent bibliophiles had abandoned printed books in favor of a charming and highly literate digital device called the Gizmo. Bookstores all over the country had closed their doors. But somehow, the Firebreathing Dragon has kept going.
Lewis and his wife Emily find themselves in the unlikely position of owning one of the last bookstores in America. But how has the Firebreathing Dragon managed to survive the death of the book? And if it isn't keeping itself afloat selling books, what is it selling? Reporters, federal agents, and corporate executives out to salvage their own imperiled industries all converge on the bookstore to uncover its secrets. What they discover is a small town that has fallen under the spell of the Firebreathing Dragon's unique offerings.
In her first work of fiction, bestselling author and bookstore owner Amy Stewart takes an offbeat and lighthearted look at small-town life and the future of that marvelous two thousand year-old communication device, the printed book.
Read it Now!
The Last Bookstore in America is, at this moment, a
novel-in-progress. It's a available now, in what I suppose is its
seventh draft, in digital form from two sources:
Kindle. Works for owners of Kindles or iPhones.
Scribd. Works for reading books on your computer, Sony Reader, or a variety of mobile devices.
In each case, I've priced it so that, after Amazon or Scribd takes their cut, I am left with $1.05, which is exactly the royalty I get from a trade paperback.
Print. A print version may be coming soon. On actual paper. Let me know if you're interested in that, and stay tuned.
Here's a preview of the Scribd edition. And no, the book is not really 699 pages long in the traditional printed book sense. It's more like 300 pages, but it's been reformatted to make it easy to read on a computer screen. Click the Enlarge button, upper right, to make it full-screen.
Join the conversation!
You're invited to download the book, comment on it, and help determine
its future. Click on the links to the right to participate in the
discussion:
Digitize-- This is a book about the future of the book.
Go here to share your thoughts about the future of books and bookstores
in the digital age.
Legalize--Another product whose future is uncertain is
featured prominently in the book. Go here to weigh in on the debate
over the legalization of marijuana.
Editorialize--Asking complete strangers to read a novel-in-progress is a little bit terrifying and a little bit thrilling. Go ahead--tell me what you think.
Monetize--What's the future of writing, publishing, and
bookselling in the digital age? I'm interested in transparency at all
stages of the process, from letting readers voice their opinions on a
work-in-progress to sharing information about expenses and sales. Check
it out.
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