L.A. Bookstore Garners Rave Reviews

At the site of the venerable Chatterton’s Bookshop, closed in 1994 after the death of its owner, is Los Angeles's five-year-old Skylight Books, the result of great production, directing, casting, and location.

Situated in a 1930s-era block of buildings, Skylight Books stands between an independent movie house and a 100-seat theater (which includes an acting school). The store is located in the ethnically diverse La Feliz neighborhood, which is full of well-heeled art lovers and professionals alongside down-at-the-heels artists and intellectuals.

The motivation for the new store came from Milton Katselas, stage and screen director, acting teacher, and author, who quickly enlisted former student and colleague Kerry Slattery to serve as general manager. He also assembled about a dozen investors, including actor Tony Danza, to back the new store. Slattery told BTW in a recent interview that sales have increased dramatically each year since the store’s opening, nearly 13 percent in the last two years.

Slattery’s knowledge of the theatrical world and the area’s thriving arts communities have helped to make Skylight a perfect venue for author readings and events, book-related panels, and dramatic projects. Author Zadie Smith gave one of her first readings here, and David Foster Wallace, Amy Gerstler, Andrew Vachss, and Francesca Lia Block are among the dozens of authors who have appeared recently. "We attract authors of offbeat, edgy literary fiction, often with cult followings," Slattery said. "We also have a real commitment to the history, culture, and architecture of Los Angeles. A few years ago, people didn’t realize that L.A. had any history. Buildings were being thrown away."

Skylight Books general manager Kerry Slattery and Noël Alumit, staff member and author of Letters to Montgomery Clift (MacAdam/Cage), at the store’s publication party on February 9. The novel is set during the Marcos regime in the Philippines in 1970s. Over 250 people attending the event feasted on homemade Filipino food. Author credit: Amy Graves

Publicity for events appealing to varied audiences that are spread out over the enormous metropolitan area is difficult for a small store with limited means. Slattery points to Skylight’s BookSense.com Web site as a welcome solution. "Our BookSense.com Web site has allowed us to have a more sophisticated site at a reasonable price. People often tell us ‘I looked on your Web site’ and that saves us a lot of time and energy in publicizing events, it also brings in a lot of new people."

Slattery hopes to use the information the store gained as a test store in the ABA Local Marketing Intelligence (LMI) program to focus more specifically on the different groups of potential customers within its larger community. Slattery said, "This is a very ’neighborhoody’ area, and we feel that we have close ties with the community. We take that role seriously."

Slattery also notes that Skylight now offers only Book Sense gift certificates, "That has worked out very well for us. It means we only have to deal with one kind of gift certificate, and that we can explain quickly that they can redeem them all over the country -- or the city. People love that and they don’t have to choose between two kinds. Most of them get redeemed here, but the ones that do get redeemed elsewhere seem to average out with the ones we redeem from other stores. I always get a kick out of seeing where we get them from and where ours end up -- New England … the Midwest … across town." -- Nomi Schwartz