Book TV Bus Makes Stops at Minnesota Bookstores

The Book TV Bus in front of Magers & Quinn Booksellers. photo courtesy of C-SPAN

Two independent bookstores in Minnesota hosted C-SPAN2's Book TV Bus last Sunday. At the stops at Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul and Magers & Quinn Booksellers in Minneapolis, Book TV taped interviews, arranged by the stores, with local nonfiction authors, and offered the public the opportunity to see the mobile television production studio inside the 45-foot motor coach, which was parked outside the stores.

According to David Unowsky, events coordinator of Magers & Quinn and well-known founder of the former Ruminator Books in St. Paul, the call from Book TV came about two weeks earlier. The Book TV representative "wanted to interview a local author with a book about politics or public policy," he explained, so the store arranged an interview with Peter Hutchinson, co-author, with David Osborne, of The Price of Government: Getting the Results We Need in an Age of Permanent Fiscal Crisis (Basic Books)."[Hutchinson] is also the gubernatorial candidate of the Independence Party," noted Unowsky, who added, "Lest you think a third party is meaningless, this is the party of Jesse Ventura, who was governor of Minnesota from 1998 - 2002. Peter and Jesse are as different as day and night."

The Book TV Bus at the Red Balloon Bookshop. photo courtesy of C-SPAN

Justine Stahlmann, one of the managers of The Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul, told BTW that Jane Resh Thomas, author of Behind the Mask: The Life of Queen Elizabeth I (Clarion), came to mind immediately when she received the call from the Book TV representative. "[Thomas] is a prominent local author who has written many books for children and [she] teaches writing," Stahlmann said. "[Book TV] was looking for nonfiction books about history or political biography, and since we are primarily a children's bookstore, we thought Behind the Mask was a perfect choice. [Thomas] was very pleased and excited to be able to promote her book to a much wider audience. Some people heard about the book for the first time."

Rebecca Mejia, one of the Book TV marketing representatives who organized the trip and traveled on the bus in the Twin Cities, told BTW that the Book TV Bus "tries to shine the spotlight on local nonfiction writers in the area and give them access to a national audience that they might not otherwise encounter." Both Hutchinson and Thomas were good choices, she explained, because Book TV is "looking for local nonfiction authors that write about public policy, history, government, media, current events, and biographies."

The authors and their bookstore fans will likely see the interviews on Book TV later in the year. Mejia explained, "At this point, we don't have scheduled times for the interviews we conducted in Minneapolis and St. Paul, but we'll keep [BTW] posted. Book TV producers review the taped interviews for quality and content, and if they're a fit with Book TV, then the 'vignettes' run as [part of segments], which can re-air seven to 10 times over a few months."

C-SPAN's Book TV Bus has visited over 200 bookstores, libraries, and book festivals since its inception in September 2005. The huge coach parked directly outside a bookstore attracts onlookers and helps build traffic in the bookstore. Local media receive press kits from C-SPAN, and stores are encouraged to alert patrons about the visit via e-mail newsletters and in-store fliers.

According to Mejia, venues for the Book TV Bus are selected in a variety of ways: "We'll garner insight from local cable affiliates, in this case Comcast, as well as hear from bookstore owners and others in the community. We're always looking for suggestions.

"The Book TV Bus website has an area for bookstore owners to submit their requests. We love to hear from them." --Nomi Schwartz