RUSSO’S BOOKS, perhaps the only independent bookstore left in California’s Central Valley, is closing in a little more than a week. Some people say it sucks. Others have an “oh well” attitude. But what does the indie bookstore’s impending doom mean to writers?

It’s a little premature to say the Bakersfield bookstore is going away. Russo’s Books is leaving the Marketplace in Bakersfield, where it is rumored rent runs more than $20,000 a month for some stores. One insider told me that at one time Russo’s Books was paying $25,000 a month in rent before downsizing. If that’s true, why blame the bookstore for wanting to leave?

I was interested in a downtown space to start a bookstore last year and it was only $900 a month. Do the math. Russo’s needs to get out of there.

The bookstore is continuing as an online store, according to a Californian article (scroll down for link). That’s good for them, not necessarily for me. Let me tell you, the brunt of their business isn’t in helping writers like me hold little gigs in their store. They’re a for profit business selling bulk books to mostly schools behind the scenes. We’re talking tens of thousands of dollars in sales per year. Maybe more than a hundred thousand. What then is ten books I might sell at their bookstore every few months? Sure, I lose a shelf, but let’s be realistic, my sales mean nothing to Russo’s Books. And that’s what hurts.

Russo’s Books loses its cultural value by not being available to writers of fiction, nonfiction and poetry. It was never the literary hub it could have been. But there was always potential. And there still is if they open another store locally.

Create the culture and people will eventually come. No one, including me, has created the culture Bakersfield needs to support an indie bookstore as a literary community hub. Takes a special vision, not just family friendliness, and a lot of marketing and willingness to convert into more of a venue where writers can perform (probably should be the subject of its own article).

Russo’s Books was quoted in a recent article in the Bakersfield Californian that their business model needs to change, that people’s tastes have changed. I think the truth may be in how they operate as a bulk retailer. Their acumen has severely affected their ability to hold onto an expensive storefront. Forget tastes. People’s tastes can’t pay the rent at the Marketplace. I think it has more to do with capital flow between a bulk bookseller like Russo’s and how their customers of large book orders pay, which might affect paying a month’s rent on time.

Why be there for literary culture when that culture is tiny and underdeveloped? Let’s be honest, Bakersfield is not a mecca for literary happenings. But Russo’s still had an impact. It was still needed for all of the people who needed to hold readings and book signings, especially people who had nowhere else to go.

So what does Russo’s closing mean to writers? Means I can only sell my books at B & N locally. You can find Lords there. Not sure if you can find Random Obsessions on their shelves, though I will hold a reading for People’s History of the Peculiar there next year (if they still hold readings). The problem with B & N locally is the same problem I have with Russo’s Books. The oppressive nature of the area’s “family friendly” rules. And it isn’t set up as a performance venue (Not that Book Soup in Hollywood is either. Sometimes you have to make do with the aisles). I’ll have to adjust and not blurt out any curse words or read any steamy scenes from future novels. That’s fine. I’ll also have to hold events at other venues locally as well to make up for the types of readings I want to have in this community.

Not a problem. I know I write PG-13 and R-rated manuscripts. I know there’s a sort of hypocrisy in Bakersfield that shuns people performing such material. Not in Fresno, LA or San Francisco. You can read gritty material in those places to your heart’s content.

While I often avoided Russo’s Books because of its family friendliness, that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t occasionally hold events there. In one reading away from Russo’s, I even invited them as the bookseller. They came, sold books, and we were all happy.

The writers Russo’s Books will hurt if they don’t open another storefront is the local self-published writers. Those folks can’t get their books into B&N. They’re stuck. They’ll have no venue to showcase their works (albeit nine out of ten of their works may be horribly written). Yet still, these are people with dreams, and they are the ones to suffer. National poetry month suffers, an open mic will suffer. Russo’s offered free events. That was good.

On Friday the 13th I held a successful Invisible Memoirs II event. I made over a thousand dollars at The Gate, sold lots of tickets and sold some books (not enough). The problem was that event cost $200. It’s becoming harder and harder to find venues that will freely support a literary scene. Come on, turn on some lights. Throw out some chairs. Let’s just create some culture. We’re writers. We’re not going to riot!

Invisible Memoirs II was successful because it incorporated a dozen writers as performers. Without the availability of Russo’s, the little events will all fade away. I can’t afford a $200 venue just to hold a tiny poetry reading. Who wants to buy tickets to hear poetry? Nobody.

Dreams will die for some. Many will self publish their books and then give up, maybe to never write again. Others will toss their manuscripts onto the web as e-books, praying they get noticed in the haystack.

In the meantime, if you’re in Bakersfield or another city with only mainstream bookstores, support your literary community. Offer readings at your places of establishment. Create community. Foster dreams. Russo’s Books may come back better than ever. In the meantime, I’m moving forward and not going to cry about the store closing.
———————————————————

Follow Nicholas Belardes on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram