Greencup Books is Closing Its Doors

After a few years of trying to find its place in the Birmingham scene, independent bookstore and publishing house Greencup Books has announced it’s going-out-of-business after the November 2nd, el Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival. The shop has been struggling over the past few months, having never really regained its footing after founder and publisher Russell Helms sold it. Greencup had plenty of great titiles and was fun to browse, though they often crammed the store with music acts and theatrical performances, upstairs and between the stacks.

The official announcement came this weekend, via the Greencup Books Facebook Fan Page:

well… its been a good run… the question was never if we were going to last.. but how long…ideally, it would have been longer.. but between the economy, the new construction across the street that took our parking, and their workers that take up all available parking 5 days a week… we are done for…we are broke and I can’t do it anymore, I am tired of begging you and the city for breaks… non-profit or not, this city is not really interested in small business, not enough revenue for them… ..Don’t really feel like getting all mopey I will just say I am closing our doors after day of the dead….

thanks for making this possible
michael

This economy is tough on everyone and regardless of how things hit or missed at Greencup Books, it’s a shame to loose a true business experiment here in Birmingham.

Just try it — Reading on an iPhone

Seriously folks, let’s all give reading a book on an iPhone a try. I mean it’s free and eBooks and digital publishing aren’t going away. So, just try it. You don’t have to like it. In fact, you may not. Which is fine. But at least you’ll know.

So, if you have an iPhone, just do this:

1. Download the Amazon Kindle app, from the App Store. It’s free.

2. Find a free book to download, I recommend starting with fiction. I read about five non-fiction books for every one fiction. But I have found that it’s easier to read on the small screen if the book is written to pull you along, rather than making you stop, think, take notes, etc. So for my non-fiction books I’m still a traditional pBook kinda guy. (I’m reading The Templar Legacy. Not exactly five-star, but it is fiction and free as of right now).

And I know I do my fair share of not-so-fond of Amazon posting, but these steps are quick and painless. There are a ton of other eReading options as well. Here is a fantastic post about reading books on the iPhone. All of the apps mentioned in that post are worth your time to download and check out!

Let me know what you think, if you give it a go.

WordCamp Birmingham is This Weekend!

One of my favorite events of the year is this weekend. It’s the annual WordCamp Birmingham! The schedule is jam packed with great presentations and even a “genius bar” styled workshop. So I hope to walk out with some uber-cool ideas and improvements to the site soon.

Of course, topping the cool chart this year is the State of the Word address by Matt Mullenweg and the closing keynote by Esra’a Al Shafei, founder and exec. dir. of MideastYouth.com.WordCamp Birmingham already has an active Twitter feed and you’ll be able to follow all week and weekend with the hashtag #wcbhm09.

See you there!

Books, Publishing and Birmingham