Making Ends Meet: New Jersey Booksellers Promote, Partner, and Publish

When Pat and Walter Boyer bought Bookends in 2002, the Ridgewood, New Jersey, store was already on the map. The 21-year-old store's suburban location, less than 25 miles and under 40 minutes from mid-town Manhattan, is a convenient stop for major authors after a morning television appearance or an afternoon public radio interview. The store's previous owners, Dana and Walter Gilligan, had made the most of this proximity to develop the store's reputation as a top venue for book signings by nationally and internationally known writers and celebrities. When the Boyers, who settled in Ridgewood after years of working in corporate jobs in Manhattan, took over the store, they committed to continue the heavy schedule of special events and signings. They also expanded inventory, and, in May 2004, launched their own print-on-demand operation, BooksByBookends.

Ridgewood, an affluent town of 25,000, is home to five chain bookstores including the tri-state's largest Barnes & Noble. Acknowledging the fierce competition, the Boyers, both with strong marketing backgrounds, felt they needed to reinvent and expand the business with innovations and improvements.

After only a few years, the Boyers can demonstrate considerable success with their pioneering POD operation. They have remodeled the store, opening up 3,000 additional square feet downstairs for events and for BooksByBookends. They have also made more appealing and comfortable surroundings for children; added graphic novels for high school students; and filled counter space with tempting sideline items. In their first few weeks of ownership, the Boyers increased the store's inventory by almost 50 percent. Recently they have experimented with off-site author appearances in partnership with community organizations, and have greatly expanded their Web-based communications.

The Boyers have created a BookSense.com site -- www.book-ends.com -- that is tailored to the store's specific needs. "We have so many authors coming -- three or four a week. Goldie Hawn is here this week, and a lot of people want to get a signed book. We've set it up so customers just click on the book jacket and that generates an e-mail to me. Most of the time I hold the books here, and people pick them up. About 25 percent of our sales at events are done on the Web," said Walter Boyer.

The store's lineup of author appearances includes Christine Todd Whitman, Lisa Scottoline, Mary and Carol Higgins Clark, Dick Morris, Hillary Clinton, Mario Cuomo, Rudolph Guiliani, Donna Hanover, Pamela Anderson, and Tommy Lee. Mega-seller Harlan Coben is a local resident and makes frequent appearances. Sports writers and athletes are popular guests -- Walter handles those, and is the store's main buyer and operations manager, while Pat tends to all the other author appearances, most of the publicity, and the website.

Phil Lesh of the late Grateful Dead recently appeared at the store, and the crowd spilled out into the street. The atmosphere was festive, according to Boyer, who had arranged with the Ben and Jerry's store to come by with a cart loaded with 'Cherry Garcia' ice cream samples. "We work with other businesses as much as possible," Boyer told BTW. "We have a few hundred people come for a reading, and I want them to have dinner in town, stay for coffee afterward."

In April, the Friends of the Ridgewood Library Luncheon at The Venetian, a crystal- chandeliered catering hall, was the site of one of Bookends' best-attended author events yet. Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner, spoke to an audience of approximately 800, to whom the Boyers were selling copies of the book.

Both Boyers are pleased with Bookends' progress, and the business clearly suits them. "We've just begun to scratch the surface of offsite author appearances," Walter Boyer told BTW. The same seems to be true for the POD operation: "BooksByBookends has really taken off on its own," Boyer said. "Every book brings more referrals in. We've printed about 200 authors in less than a year and hired a separate staff to run it -- it takes up just about 500 square feet downstairs. By offering thousands of classics POD, we are greatly expanding our selection without adding any more inventory. We can offer anyone the chance to get a trade paperback in print faster and less expensively than ever before. Prices begin at $175 for the first 10 copies and go down to $125 for the next 10. Other features may add to the cost."

Boyer said that BooksByBookends has actually produced books for customers within 48 hours, but more frequently, it takes a few weeks. He sees unlimited potential in the low cost POD books, "memoirs, genealogies, poetry, family recipes."

A recent article in New York Newsday, "MAMA -- Accomplished cook unsuspecting author: How one family turned its matriarch's kitchen prowess into a book," detailed the journey of 87-year-old Grace Catapano's instructions for meatballs with two raisins to the pages of Macaroni With Gravy, a very limited edition trade paperback containing her wisdom and recipes along with photographs, essays by family members, and other lists. Granddaughter Katie Catapano had heard a radio report on self-publishing and ended up at BooksByBookends.

Like a good cook, the Boyers are constantly tweaking their product -- to make it more efficient, more profitable, and more useful to the community. "I can't imagine a more interesting job," Boyer concluded. --Nomi Schwartz