Last week, we discussed blurring psychological bounaries. This week, we'll tackle utilizing physical boundaries as conflict at the scene and overall story level.
The concept of physical boundaries ties in with the thematic question of ownership. Do we ever really “own” anything? Characters draw chalk lines and erect fences, warning signs, hedges, and walls to define physical boundaries.
Characters in any genre can argue the fine points of the debate whether they are talking about a desk, a house, a country, a dog, a child, or a partner. Trusts, inheritance entailments, and wills are drawn up to ensure that the ownership of a thing passes down in the desired way.
These often play a part in a Mystery or Thriller, but can be used in any genre. Physical boundary conflicts escalate until a crisis point is reached. These conflicts can be resolved amicably or resolved because only one is left standing. They can result in a new division of territory or someone takes all. Such are the basis for world or interstellar wars.
Skirmishes erupt between neighbors over the borders of their yards and driveways. It can erupt between cities and counties and states and countries. Border wars make great overall story problems and thematic arguments: borders are arbitrary versus borders are necessary. No one should fence in anything versus enforcing borders keeps its residents safe. When countries redraw borders, people get displaced and that makes a terrific thematic argument to explore. Humans are willing to kill over scraps of land, even if the land lacks water, food and clean air. Is every scrap of land worth fighting for? Some would argue yes, others no.
Battles over borders could also serve as a problem at scene level if Dick needs to enter a geographic area to gain something and can’t go there. He may have to find a way in that is subversive or get someone else to go there for him.
Characters get testy when people trespass on what they believe to be theirs, whether they are accurate or not. A character might object if someone else’s children played on his lawn or swam in his pool without permission. The same character might make justifications when his children do it to someone else. Characters get really testy, even violent, over their perceived boundaries. Try trimming someone's prize rose bush and you'll know what I mean.
Arguments over physical boundaries can involve a country’s borders, a contested parking space, a room with a view, or the scope can be narrowed to a very personal boundary. Making Dick confront physical boundaries creates conflicts whether he has to jump over a railroad track or cross into Palestine from Israel.
Use physical boundaries to trip up your protagonist and make his scene goal more difficult.
For more information on these and other obstacles for your fiction, pick up a copy of Story Building Blocks II: Crafting Believable Conflict in print or E-book version.
Borders left many empty storefronts when it went out of business in 2011, leaving a feeling of unease in the book business.
Four years later and a new trend is beginning to take off, and it is much more promising. Indie bookstores are starting to open up shop in shuttered spaces that were formerly inhabited by Borders.
While indies aren’t always taking over the full spaces formerly occupied by Borders, landlords are now more willing to subdivide empty real estate. Publishers Weekly has explored the phenomenon in detail. Here is an excerpt:
After several solid years, independents are looking at adding locations and taking back some of the physical bookshelf space that had been lost. Some are focusing on underserved towns where Borders once flourished, such as La Grange, Ill. Anderson’s Bookshops will open its third bookstore there on May 2, Independent Bookstore Day. Other stores, including Gottwals Books and its Walls of Books franchise, headquartered in Byron, Ga., are creating opportunities to encourage more would-be bookstore owners to give bookselling a try.
Talleres de Poesía & Accíon Latina's
3rd Annual Flor y Canto para Nuestros Niños y Niñas
This year Flor y Canto Poetry Festival is very special and important. It is dedicated to the children coming from Central America and Mexico who are being detained in shelters at the borders - some of them are facing deportation back to their violence and poverty ridden countries.
The event is a welcome celebration of love and hope, to also demonstrate that these children are not alone, that people care and are working towards making things better for them.
The festival is scheduled to start at 2pm at Accíon Latina 2958- 24th St. (between Harrison & Alabama) San Francisco, California.
We kindly ask you to please come and support the festival by coming to the children's activities. Also a reminder, we will be collecting children's books in Spanish, Arts & Craft Kits, puzzles, coloring books, crayons and stuffed animals for the little ones.
We are thankful to Accíon Latina and El Tecolote Newspaper who for the 3rd year are partnering with us to produce this festival. Please note that Saturday August 23rd is also the 44th Anniversary of El Tecolote Newspaper and we will be celebrating in the evening at Cesars Latin Palace with music by John Santos, Roger Glenn, Tito Gonzalez and Anthony Blea.
Admission is $20, and all proceeds go to benefit El Tecolote, and community journalism. Mention that you participated in Flor y Canto and get $5 off the cover. Please join us!
'Unaccompanied Latin American Minor Project'
5 days left to support the 'Unaccompanied Latin American Minor Project' Fund!
La Casa Azul Bookstore staff will deliver books to local shelters/court offices and provide them directly to children and teenagers who are currently in deportation proceedings. Please share with your networks, gracias!
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CNN National Security Analyst Peter Bergen visited the Carnegie Council in New York City late last year to discuss Talibanistan, a collection he recently edited for Oxford University Press. Bergen, who produced the first television interview with Osama bin Laden in 1997, discussed the positive changes in Afghanistan over the past ten years: “Afghans have a sense that what is happening now is better than a lot of things they’ve lived through…”
Bergen was joined at the event by Anand Gopal, who wrote the first chapter in Talibanistan. Gopal recounts the story of Hajji Burget Khan, a leader in Kandahar who encouraged his fellow Afghans to support the Americans after the fall of the Taliban. But after US forces received bad intelligence, perceiving Hajji Burget Khan as a threat, he was killed in May 2002, which had a disastrous effect in the area, leading many to join the insurgency.
Peter Bergen on Afghanistan:
Click here to view the embedded video.
Anand Gopal on the tragic mistake made by the American military:
Click here to view the embedded video.
Peter Bergen is the director of the National Securities Studies Program at the New America Foundation, and is National Security Analyst at CNN. He is the author of Manhunt, The Longest War and The Osama Bin Laden I Know. Anand Gopal is a fellow at the New America Foundation and a journalist who has reported for the Wall Street Journal, the Christian Science Monitor, and other outlets on Afghanistan. Talibanistan: Negotiating the Borders Between Terror, Politics, and Religion was edited by Peter Bergen and Katherine Tiedemann and includes contributions from Anand Gopal.
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The post Have conditions improved in Afghanistan since 2001? appeared first on OUPblog.
The Barnes & Noble online marketing team sent a mass email to blog editors today, requesting that bloggers change Borders links to Barnes & Noble links.
Here’s an excerpt from the email: “Barnes & Noble recently purchased most of the Borders trademarks and intellectual property in a recent auction. As a result of this purchase, we started transitioning the Borders.com website to Barnesandnoble.com via redirects. We noticed that your site is currently linking to http://www.borders.com, and I’d like to reach out and ask you to kindly update your links to the corresponding URLs on Barnesandnoble.com. We have redirects in place for many Borders.com pages, so you can use that to help you determine the correct landing pages on Barnesandnoble.com.”
What do you think about this mass email? We currently have more than 420 different posts on GalleyCat linking to Borders news, so it is a pretty major request. Follow this link if you want to read more about Barnes & Noble’s purchase of Borders’ intellectual property.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
As Borders closed forever this weekend, one patron snapped a photograph of a bitter bookseller’s manifesto an unidentified store: “Things We Never Told You: Ode to a Bookstore Death.”
The massive list (embedded above) collected years worth of pent-up sarcasm and frustration, spawning thousands of angry (and bemused) reactions from bookstore patrons.
Below, we’ve collected five controversial statements from the list. What do you think about the list? (Via Matt Staggs)
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Borders will close forever on Sunday, leaving tens of thousands of booksellers out of work. Below, we’ve included the final closure schedule for the remaining stores.
In an exit interview with the Detroit News, CEO Mike Edwards confessed that the company had been “in perpetual crisis” during his tenure.
Here’s an excerpt from the article: “Edwards tried to keep the final week at the headquarters festive, with job fairs, resume writing workshops and champagne parties … He is an unemployed chief executive without a grudge and with a $125,000 severance check. He doesn’t know where he’s headed — perhaps Southern California or Oregon, where he led Lucy Activewear and Ellington Leather — but he said he has received job offers from companies impressed with his handling of Borders’ bankruptcy.”
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
I'm sure most have heard Borders Bookstores are closing. I've mixed feelings on seeing the stores empty their shelves of books, games and magazines. I get a fluttering in my stomach each time I return to the store and see less than I did before. My first trip I was disappointed because most items were discounted only ten percent. Now the cut it up to seventy perecent. Great bargains for sure, but the emptiness is vast and certain the days of purchasing are limited.
No one knows how this closing will impact writers. It may be only a ripple of discontent that another store is closed and book signings will be fewer than before. It certainly means one less chance for selling or promoting our work in a local mall or town. Other avenues will have to be found to sell a book.
I know many will say books can be purchased on Amazon.com and other internet avenues, and as a librarian, I purchase on-line a great deal. BUT I'm old school, and love browsing through the stacks of new books. It doesn't much matter what isle I stroll through, I enjoy looking. I enjoy the feel of the books. I enjoy the weight of them, flipping through the pages, seeing firsthand if I like the print or weight of the paper, the binding and spine. Guess I like touching, deciding for myself if I want hardcover or paperback.
My wallet will hold one less discount card, guess I should be happy about that. I will no longer need to spend my money to be a member of their book club. I won't receive any more flyers or notices via my email of upcoming events. I'll not be privy to upcoming local sales. Another empty building will set along the road to remind all of us that life is not always easy, let alone fair.
Yet in the midst of this downsizing and going out of business, the writing world struggles on, trying to recoup its former glory. Agents and publishers keep looking for the intriguing story, the thriller that will make national news. Money will be made and life will continue on, much as before, despite the loss.
Til next time ~
DL Larson
Today Borders revealed that president Michael Edwards and chief financial officer Scott Henry have been cut. Former senior vice president of restructuring Holly Felder Etlin has been appointed to replace Edwards. Chief accounting officer Glen Tomaszewski will replace Henry.
Here’s more about the new president: “Ms. Etlin, age 54, has served as the Company’s Senior Vice President — Restructuring since February 2011. Ms. Etlin is a Managing Director of AlixPartners, a global business advisory firm that provides financial restructuring, bankruptcy reorganization and other advisory services. AlixPartners has been engaged since February 2011 to provide financial restructuring and bankruptcy reorganization advisory services to the Company and its subsidiaries.”
The Borders liquidation will close the company’s remaining 399 stores and cut around 10,700 employees.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
I don't know about you, but we're rather sad about the demise of the Borders chain. The closing of our local Borders means one less place where we can go and browse for books as a family. We loved the atmosphere and, as a holder of a Borders membership card, I'm going to miss their spectacular deals. Sure, big-box book retailers have their faults but the closing of the Borders stores is a real loss for readers.
Find more of this week's Wordless Wednesday (or Wordful) posts at 5 Minutes for Mom.
Courtney Milan talks the future of agents in a self-publishing world in “An open letter to agents,” the first of (what sounds like) two columns. Milan, whose self-published novella Unlocked is currently sitting at spot # 102 in the Kindle store, has an amazing mind, and her dissection of agents and their role in a world where author’s don’t need them to publish raises some very important points. She writes:
Agents, I don’t think you have any idea how much your writers are talking about you right now. Seriously. I don’t think you have
any idea. I am getting multiple e-mails
every day from writers who are worried about what their agents are doing, and who are worried about how to handle agents, and who want to be fair to their agents but also don’t want to pay them a percentage when there’s little to no work involved, and/or the agent handles little of the risk.
If you haven’t already, I would suggest adding her to your feedreader of choice. (Link via
Kalen O’Donnell)
For you SciFi fans looking for out of print lost loves there is good news – “Gollancz, the SF and Fantasy imprint of the Orion Publishing Group, announces the launch of the world's largest digital SFF library, the SF Gateway, which will make thousands of out-of-print titles by classic genre authors available as eBooks.” Check out the
Book Trade Announcement pressrelease for more information. (Link via
io9’s Charlie Jane Anders)
“…the happy symbiosis between the ebook retailers and Apple, by which the retailers got access to customers they would not otherwise have had and Apple was able to readily deliver their customers content they hadn’t otherwise aggregated, appears to have come to an end.”
Flavorwire highlights Christian Jack
Books-A-Million has ended its bid for 30 Borders stores. According to a brief release from the bookseller, “the parties could not agree on terms and the going out of business sales at these locations commenced.”
The announcement ended hopes that a few Borders locations could be saved. Books-A-Million CEO Clyde B. Anderson had this statement: “we worked exhaustively in an effort to acquire these stores and reach agreements with all of the parties whose consent was necessary. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful.”
Last week publishing professionals around the country rallied to support Borders employees. A new job-focused blog was launched “To Help ex-Borders employees find work, make rent, have food and survive.” Mediabistro.com’s Job Post also added a few job leads for bookstore employees. (Via paidContent)
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Is the Borders’ liquidation the beginning of the end for independent booksellers? The American Booksellers Association (ABA) doesn’t think so.
The ABA released this statement: “It is jolting news for any community when a bookstore closes, and independent booksellers are saddened to hear that almost 11,000 Borders employees will be losing their jobs. However, we do not believe that the Borders closing is a bellwether for the future of bricks-and-mortar bookstores nationwide. Rather, it is, in part, an unfortunate right-sizing of a bookstore landscape that has suffered from overexpansion in certain markets.”
What do you think? The ABA also compiled a link-filled collection of resources for independent bookstores, offering practical and successful ideas for surviving this difficult time for bookstores. We’ve collected our favorite suggestions below, adding some tips from GalleyCat features as well.
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
As GalleyCat previously reported, Borders Group is preparing for liquidation, which will close the company’s remaining 399 stores and leave roughly 10,700 employees out of work.
We’re always posting about new job opportunities, but thanks to an interesting topic of discussion posted by Penguin Group’s Colleen Lindsay about helping those soon-to-be unemployed workers, we decided to draw attention to several openings that might be of interest to Borders employees.
For instance, Bauman Rare Books is looking for a well-read bookseller in Las Vegas, while Oxford University Press is in the market for an online editor. Lindsay’s company, Penguin, is currently on the hunt for an eBook Producer/managing editor in its New York office. These are just a few of the job openings we’ve seen this week on the mediabistro.com job board. continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
When I was young, our local bookstore was a Waldenbooks that took up one corner of our Fred Meyer shopping complex. There a bookseller suggested I try LJ Smith’s Night World series while I wiled away the hours browsing the shelves as my mother shopped for groceries. It was at this store that I met the woman who would one day lead me from the reading world into the bookselling one, giving me my first job.
Waldenbooks became part of the Borders empire in the mid 90s when Borders left K-mart. The stores were re-branded as Borders Express, but even rehabbed they were the first closed when Borders began to experience financial problems several years ago. My store, my final store in my bookselling history, was one of the first closed. Now the rest of Borders will be shutting down as well. On Monday the company announced that they will seek approval for liquidation. Soon 399 stores will close and 10,700 people will lose their jobs.
When our Borders Express closed back in 2007, it was clear that the company was having trouble.
“Why are you closing?” customers would ask as we filled their bags with 50% off books. “You always look so busy.”
We were profitable. We were out performing our plan, but it wasn’t enough to save us. “Over-expansion overseas,” we’d reply. “We don’t have the online presence.”
Funny how those were clear even then.
Despite what some claim e-books were not the cause of Borders' downfall. E-books weren’t even on the horizon. The first Kindle would not be released until November of that year.
Closing a store is heartbreaking. Not only do you have the lead up, where the feeling of something bad shadows ever move, but then you have the after. You have the weight of the questions asked - “Why? Where will you go? What will happen next? Will you discount even more?” - along with the boxes you will have to fill and the books you will have to strip.
Those Borders stores will be stripping a lot of books - romance, mystery, any genre where paperbacks are the size of choice to drop in your purse or tuck in your computer bag. As the New York Times points out “Borders was known as a retailer that took special care in selling paperbacks, and its promotion of certain titles could propel them to best-seller status.”
With Borders gone the print runs will be smaller and the market for new paperback titles will be reduced. The loss will be far-reaching.
But right now, it’s about the employees who have held on for months hoping for a continuance even while they knew the end was coming. It’s about the relief that they can finally cry openly about they changes they will need to make in their lives. It’s about the realization that some of these customers they have grown to care about will no longer be part of their daily routine.
When you close your store you want to believe you’ll stay in touch, that the heartache and sweat that went into those last few days will find you together. Maybe it will. Maybe it won’t.
But you’ll always have books.
I would like to believe that everyone remembers their first bookstore, and for the generation that has enjoyed Borders it will live on forever. For me a Borders always meant an escape from life’s pressures thanks to well stocked shelves and friendly people. A Borders in whatever city I was visiting meant a familiar place to go.
Thank you, Borders, for seeing me through the hard times, for giving me a job, and for being a place I could always find something to r
The final death knell for Borders US sounded yesterday as the company said its remaining 399 stores would begin winding down in three days' time.
No bidders came forward to buy the 40-year-old American bookselling chain, so the company cancelled a bankruptcy auction planned for today (19th July).
read more
Borders could cease to exist by the end of next week although the retailer's lawyer said it has received other inquiries that could result in a takeover.
On Wednesday a committee of unsecured creditors rejected a takeover proposal by private equity firm Najafi Companies. They argued a court-supervised liquidation sale would be more beneficial to them.
read more
Australian bookshop chains Borders and Angus & Robertson may have to close if buyers cannot be found, administrators have revealed.
According to a statement from Ferrier and Hodgson, the firm is "urgently seeking offers from potential buyers of all or part of the Angus & Robertson or Borders networks", the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
read more
McSweeneys offers an inside peek at what it's like to work at one of the Borders that's closing. It must be hard dealing with the clueless - and knowing that your job is ending as well.
Borders’ CEO Mike Edwards has written an email to the 41 million members of the Borders Rewards loyalty program. In his note, Edwards promised customers that if they can’t find a desired book in a Borders store, the bookseller will order it and priority ship it free of charge to the customer’s home.
According to AnnArbor.com, this free service will be available until June 12th. The article offered this quote from the email: ”I hope you visit your neighborhood Borders and find that special book that speaks to you personally … It’s our way of showing our appreciation for your continued support and loyalty.”
Currently, Borders continues to struggle to reach an agreement with publishers about future book shipments. As we noted earlier, Edwards emphasized that Borders’ ability to weather the crisis is dependent on the support of publishers. What do you think?
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
By: executivepublisher,
on 5/12/2011
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Travel guide book publisher Lonely Planet has blamed the high Australian dollar for its decision to axe 60 to 70 staff and move its online division from its Melbourne headquarters to London.
Lonely Planet’s chief executive, Matt Goldberg, told staff yesterday that the redundancies – a shedding of about 15 per cent of staff – were a painful but necessary step for the company to ”return to profitability”.
”Lonely Planet is facing a series of financial challenges from external forces beyond our control – a sluggish global economy, the troubled retail sector, a declining print market and, significantly, the effects of the strong Australian dollar.”
The dollar’s strength has bled the company of $13 million in revenue this financial year, because 70 per cent of its costs are incurred in Australia, while 80 per cent of its revenue is raised overseas.
Lonely Planet is expected to post a loss this year, and it announced plans yesterday to slash its costs by 18 per cent.
A spokeswoman for Lonely Planet, Kim Lovely, said some staff whose jobs had been axed would be given the chance to apply for new positions in London.
Ironically, the latest edition of the publisher’s guide to Britain is scathing in some of its opinions of Old Blighty.
”Public transport, admission fees, restaurants and hotel rooms all tend to be expensive compared with their equivalents in many other European countries,” the guide says.
Visitors should be prepared to ”fork out £30 in a restaurant for a ”modern European” concoction that tastes like it came from a can”.
Lonely Planet was founded at the kitchen table of the Australian couple Tony and Maureen Wheeler in the 1970s, and grew into the world’s largest guide book publisher. It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of BBC Worldwide, the BBC’s commercial arm.
Employees in the online book publishing division greeted the news with dismay, although senior management had foreshadowed changes last month.
One employee made redundant yesterday said: ”The relocation is a surprise, but it was fairly clear there were going to be some fairly savage cuts. I’ve had the feeling that the BBC has been wanting to move the online publishing side of things to London anyway, and maybe they were just waiting for an excuse.”
Mr Goldberg told staff that the book publishing company was committed to remaining in its Melbourne headquarters, which has about 350 staff.
Struggling bookseller Borders reportedly needs to secure $50 million in additional financing for reorganization efforts. Currently, it has a $505 million debtor-in-possession loan.
According to Bloomberg, the company projects that sales will drop to $1.5 billion. The New York Times reported that some publishers think the bookseller may close more brick-and-mortar stores.
Here’s more from the article: “Some publishers are spurning the reorganization the chain proposed to them privately, said a person familiar with the publishers’ strategy. At least one deems the revenue projections unrealistic because Borders no longer has enough stores to generate those sales, said the person, who declined to be identified because Borders’s presentations aren’t public.” (via BookTV)
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
After delaying its annual report, Borders revealed in court documents that dozens of corporate employees have quit since the struggling bookseller filed for bankruptcy.
The Detroit News has the scoop: “Of the 47 employees who left the ailing Borders Group Inc. since it declared bankruptcy on Feb. 16, two dozen quit this month, Borders’ attorneys said in court documents. The departure of two unnamed executives — a senior vice president and a vice president — earlier this month leaves 15 people in senior management positions.”
The company has felt this staffing crunch. Last night Borders revealed that it will not make its annual report filing deadline for the SEC. The filing explained: “the Company has been required to devote a substantial portion of its personnel and administrative resources, including the personnel and resources of its accounting and financial reporting organization, to matters relating to the Chapter 11 Cases.”
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
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By: Read Now Sleep Later,
on 4/12/2011
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Aaron Alex Alfonso Amber Amy Andrew Andy Anthony Angela Ani April Armando Ayesha Becci Bill Brad Brent Brian Cindy Clare Corin Cynthia Dale Daniel Danny David Dennis Drew Ed Eddie Eric Erin Eugene Evan Gael Gail Galeen Gene Genona Gerald Gilbert Glenn Hector Helen Henry Herman Jane Jason* Jenifer Jenn Jennifer Jeremy Joey Josie Joyce Karly Kate Kasia Kristen Kylee Lawrence Leslie Linda Lisa Lita Liza Lizette Maria Mary Matt Maurice Megan Melanie Michael (all of the Michaels) Michelle Monica Nicole Opal Rachel Ray Rebecca Rene Robert Rosa Rose Roxana Ryan Scott Sona Stacey Stephanie Steven Tai Tom Tracy Travis Winston Zenia -- Thanks for everything.
If you see your name, though several people were named that at the store--I mean *you*. ;)
If I left your name off the list, leave a comment... I'll add you in later. I chalk it up to me being emotional and scatterbrained at 2 in the morning.
Authors and customers... I'll miss you too (most of you anyway).
*Married this one :D
On April 30th, Fleeting Pages will open a pop-up bookstore inside a shuttered Borders bookstore in Pittsburgh.
The space will be stocked with independent and self-published writings: books, journals, zines, graphic novels, comics, magazines, e-Books, and book art. Follow this link to submit your work. The store will be open for at least one month.
Bagging the Beats at Midnight: Confessions of an Indie Bookstore Clerk author Karen Lillis explained: “They will sell books by indie presses and self-publishers; hold book-making workshops, readings, and other events; and are open to other suggestions by writers and artists in the indie community.” (Photo Credit: ZeroOne)
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
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I agree with you as for the store closing.. all because most people have the E Readers. I am still old fashioned, I want to FEEL the book in my hands. Like to read the back cover to see what the book is about, read a couple pages to see if it's something that I'll enjoy. I know you can do that online.. but I still like to see/feel the book. So for now, I won't be one of the people that own an E Reader.
Gina
It's hard to give that up! I stopped at Borders today - bought 4 good sized book for $22.00. Usually one will cost that much.
Thanks for stopping by today ~
DL Larson
very cool post! thanks alot!
Yeah I agree. Nothing beats a bookstore. Where I live Borders and another national bookstore vanished even though they had customers. However the independent bookstore in this provincial city has survived and succeeded in continuing. We live in strange times. However Borders on-line continues and when specials come up I order some books. Still the real wins hands down.
For shopping and browsing, yes, a saunter through a bookstore is a good experience. Yet from a writer's point of view--and you know how important pov is to us--the migration to ebooks may not be a bad thing. Based on my own experience, book signings are overrated. They take effort to set up and take up a gook chunk of your day with uncertain results. I'm still puzzling out the best way to sell online, but at least I can market every day for little or no cost. Still, I find it sad when any retailer goes out of business.
Guess that's how I feel too - sad another retailer closed their doors.
Thanks all for sharing your thoughts
DL Larson