Hello readers! In this post, I’ll be crunching the numbers at Buffalo Street Books for 2023—they’re a bit surprising—and comparing them to what I know about the industry as a whole. Then I’ll look ahead to envision structural changes in bookselling and publishing that could juice those numbers for future years.
But first a note to my generous and discerning subscribers: next month will be the one-year anniversary for Open Book, which means those of you who signed up for an Annual or Founding subscription will be asked to renew. This summer I will be rotating off the executive board of BSB after six years and two terms, and this fall I will be publishing my second book. That means that I cannot promise a full year of posts and might need to bring this newsletter to a close in the summer. Please consider renewing with a monthly subscription so that you are only paying for the posts that I will write, though I heartily thank anyone who does renew with an annual subscription. As always, every cent goes directly to Buffalo Street Books. This newsletter has raised almost $2000 for one struggling bookstore, and I am so grateful to everyone who is reading this. Onward!