"Don’t patronize the chain bookstores. Every time I see some author scheduled to read and sign his books at a chain bookstore, I feel like telling him he’s stabbing the independent bookstores in the back.” Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Supporting our local bookshops has always been important and now a new market has presented itself - the second-hand book shop in Framlingham.
On Monday, fellow author, Alexandra Carey, and I met up in the delightful Woodbridge Bookshop and bought each others’ books. You can see Susie adopting her usual reluctant and coy pose stuck in between us.
Susie remains a great support for many Suffolk authors, stocking our books and always giving us a warm welcome (and sometimes free chocolates) when we pop in. As well as being well stocked with a range of books on various subjects, her shop has a great children’s section.
On Wednesday, I popped into Framlingham Bookshop and chatted with Suzie Grogan whose brother in law, Chris, is the owner. Suzie, herself a published author and editor, has recently set up a small section supporting Suffolk writers and was very happy to take copies of “Slow Puncture” and “Walk with Me.”
Whilst I chatted with Suzie, my chum spent a good deal of time wandering around the shop, making a range of ooooh and aaaaaah noises at various finds before settling on his purchase.
And sandwiched in between all of this is our continued relationship with Andrew, owner of Dial Lane Book shop in Ipswich itself. Andrew has been selling both of our books for a couple of years and has just taken delivery of more copies of “Slow Puncture”.
So, there you are: all three of these independent bookshops deserve a huge shout out and thanks and all three are definitely worth visiting. I will now slip into tour guide mode:
Woodbridge and Framlingham are delightful places to visit, with Framlingham boasting the glorious castle (it was a bit wet yesterday but that adds a certain aura to the photo) and Woodbridge is charming, with its links to Sutton Hoo and the river walks. And Dial Lane, snuggled in a small lane (curiously named Dial Lane – ah, so that would explain it….) in an esoteric part of Ipswich, takes on an almost Dickensian appearance. The shop is a charming mixture of eccentric and eclectic but is always well stocked and meeting Andrew is always fun.
So, three bookshops, three different locations and all three with compelling reasons to visit them.
Go, independent bookshops, go forth and multiply!
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