Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Building Steam With a Grain of Salt


Not many updates here this month because it's been very, very busy at both shops, and blogging always comes at the tail end of a long list of higher value activities, including:

• Doubling the number of new books available at our Kitsilano location (3133 West Broadway) and dramatically increasing the number of new cultural studies and philosophy titles at Main Street

• Better organizing the stock at both shops (no more half-empty shelves, books piled one on top of the other, or huge overflowing stacks of stuff in the aisles)

• Expanding our book distribution network once again.  We can now obtain 99% of the books currently in print in North America in approximately 5-10 working days, typically at US$ cover price and often less.  Unlike Amazon, Chapters/Indigo and the rest of the big online outfits, we never charge for shipping.  And, if you special order $100 or more of new books at once, we'll promptly deliver your books to your home or office at no additional charge.

Interested?  Give us a call or drop in.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

We Can Haz Twitter?


www.twitter.com/pfbvan

The usual sporadic updates, as time permits.

(Image courtesy Stasia's iPhone)

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Coming Soon: George R.R. Martin's A DANCE WITH DRAGONS


According to GRRM's website, A Dance With Dragons will (finally) be available for sale on Tuesday July 12th, 2011.

Our Main Street location will be open until midnight on Monday July 11th, 2011, and copies of DWD will promptly go on sale at 1 minute past midnight.

All copies of DWD will be 20% off Canadian cover price.  We'll even provide an extra 10% discount if you come dressed as a "Song of Ice & Fire" character, or with alcohol for the hard-working late night staff.

We anticipate a block-long lineup, and have some festivities planned to keep everyone entertained during the long slow midnight countdown.

(We're already taking special orders for Dance, in case you can't make it in at midnight, or want to ensure that you receive a first edition, first printing).

Thursday, March 10, 2011

"I Can Order That Out-of-Print Book Myself Online!"


Or...we could source the book for you, arrange for shipping, customs duties, & etc., and usually negotiate a better price in the process.

We just obtained a mint first edition copy of Hunter S. Thompson's very rare novella, Screwjack (#1/300 signed and numbered copies) for a client.  After taxes, shipping, and our finder's fee, our client saved approximately $300 USD over the prices quoted for similar condition copies by online sellers.

If you are thinking of ordering a scarce, out-of-print, or collectable book, drop in; we can definitely save you some time, and probably some money, too.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Totally Off-Topic Survey


Readership-survey questions:

1. How much would you happily pay for a doughnut made with premium ingredients?  (eg., something tasty, and of good quality, but not necessarily certified green, organic, or "locavore")

2.  What are some of your favorite doughnut flavors?

3.  Favorite doughnut spot in Vancouver?  Canada?  The US?

Replies of any length, even wise-ass ones, welcome.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Eileen Myles' INFERNO: A POET'S NOVEL


In response to customer requests, and by special arrangement with New York's OR Books, we're going to be carrying copies of Eileen Myles' Inferno: A Poet's Novel up at Main Street.  (Some other recent Myles titles, including Sorry, Tree (Wave Books, Seattle) and her excellent The Importance of Being Iceland: Travel Essays in Art are already on the shelves).  Inferno is not readily available in Canada, and we expect it to sell briskly.  Want a copy?  Call us; we'll save a copy for you and will phone or email when it arrives.  $16CDN = US cover price!