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I will never forget the day when I was at work (an SF specialty store) and Walter Mosley came in, hat in hand like some newbie author, to say he had a new science fiction book and would we be interested in stocking it. (We had already seen the news & were excited about it.) +
We were gobsmacked. Us: So nice to meet you, thanks for coming by, but you, *you* have to do this? You're Walter Mosely!
The handwriting was on the wall then about how bad publsher marketing was. (Blue Light was 1998.)
Don't get me wrong, we were thrilled to have him stop by (and if we had known he was coming, we would have stocked up on both his mysteries and the new sf book for him to sign). But publishers so often treat indie bookstores like adversaries and not partners in getting books to customers.
Feb 5, 2026 06:57
