My Bookstore: Alabama Booksmith

Alabma Booksmith owner Jake Reiss in his Homewood store.

The symbiotic relationship between writers and indie bookstores is clear in My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read Shop, to be published next month by Black Dog & Leventhal. In the spirit of the book, Black Dog & Leventhal is inviting booksellers to sharpen their pencils or turn on their video cameras to express their feelings about “Why My Bookstore Matters” for a chance to win one of three $2,500 scholarships [1]to Winter Institute 8. A major portion of the scholarship funding has been generously donated by the authors who contributed to the book.

In the weeks leading up to My Bookstore’s release, BTW is featuring excerpts from the book alongside interviews with store owners and managers. This week’s excerpt is by Rick Bragg, author of seven books, including All Over But the Shoutin’ (Random House), and I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story (Knopf). Bragg writes about Alabama Booksmith [2], his hometown indie, which, to his delight, does not have a bookstore cat. More importantly, he writes about owner Jake Reiss, who allows him to practice his craft.

Some men hunt. Some men fish. Some men buy million-dollar motor homes with horns that play the first bars of “Rammer-Jammer, Yellowhammer.” Some men, though none I know, attend the opera. Jake Reiss, for relaxation, likes to feel them rattling bones, and let ‘em go. Who else but a gambler would turn his attentions from a lifetime success in the tailoring business and, in his fifties, without even shouting, “Come on, baby needs a new pair of shoes,” open a bookstore?

The odd thing is, he won. He won, in this time of woe, in this age in which children seem mostly interested in playing games with their thumbs, when reading is a quaint notion from the dusty halls of antiquity, when public funding for libraries is being scraped to the white bone, Jake Reiss is winning, because he is making a dollar by making good books and authors available to people who love to read and love the people who make it a pleasure, and because, late in his own life, he fell in love with books himself. He really is a voracious reader—all kinds of good stories—and, in part because so many people said it couldn’t be done, found a way to make the old-fashioned notion of it all, of books on paper, pay the light bill and a damn sight more. Maybe the reason I say Alabama Booksmith is my favorite is because Jake Reiss gives me hope that my craft will endure. I guess that is as good a reason as any, and more poignant than that stuff about cats.

Jake Reiss began his career in the family tailoring business that has served Alabama residents since the end of the nineteenth century. In 1990, he entered the world of bookselling — yet another family tradition — by opening Highland Booksmith, which began as a used bookstore. In 1999, Reiss opened his dream store, Alabama Booksmith, in a new location. Known for bringing well-known authors to Alabama, the store’s shelves are now stocked exclusively with signed copies.

BTW: What does it mean to you to have Alabama Booksmith profiled by Rick Bragg in this collection, and to know that major funding for three scholarships to Winter Institute 8 [1] has been donated by the authors who contributed to the book?

Jake Reiss: Let me answer the second part of that question first. We learned so much at Winter Institute in New Orleans, we’re delighted to have even a small hand in assisting three booksellers attend Kansas City. Just to be included with the awesome legends in My Bookstore makes the little hair I have left stand straight up and to have Rick Bragg write about us is the ultimate honor.

BTW: Instead of focusing solely on the store itself, Bragg puts a lot of emphasis on the man behind it, which makes it clear that he knows you quite well. Why do you think it’s important for authors to know their local booksellers, and vice versa?

JR: Our relationship with Rick is unique and goes back 15 years to his first book. I’ve spent the night in his home and attended his wedding. While this one is stronger than usual, our author relationships are the most — by far — important part of our business. We place this above our relationships with our customers or our publishers. In our particular operation where every book in the store is signed, of course this relationship is paramount, but I’d suggest every indie in America acknowledge, assist, and promote every author who visits their store. You never know when that first-time writer will turn out to be Kitty Stockett. Is there a bookstore in America that doesn’t wish they hosted and were nice to the self-published John Grisham?

BTW: Bragg calls you a gambler several times for your decision to open a bookstore in 1990 despite having a successful tailoring business. What was it like to transition from running one business to another? Did it feel like a gamble?

JR: While some of my colleagues may disagree, business is business. Whether it’s $5,000 suits or $25 books, there must be a reason for your customers to choose you instead of your competitors. We actually have used many of those principles to “custom tailor” each client’s relationship.When we first opened, it wasn’t much of a gamble because we only had used books, so there really wasn’t much to lose.

BTW: Though Bragg listed many things your store doesn’t have — designer coffee, WiFi, a cat — The Alabama Booksmith has certainly acquired an audience for the many things it does offer: its Signed First Editions Club [3], partnerships with local nonprofits, and events with many well-known authors. How do you find the balance of remaining competitive by giving customers what they want, without sacrificing your store’s character?

JR: That’s the easiest question of all to answer. We’ve narrowed the focus of our appeal to the point where everyone who visits our store or our website or one of our events wants the same thing we do. Every book in the store is signed and most are hardback first editions. We are after only a very small part of the reading audience who only are looking for truly great books and that the authors who wrote them, actually wrote in their copy. That is the complete character of our store and rather than any sacrifice, it is enhanced every time an author signs our books.

BTW: What do you hope readers take away from your store’s profile in My Bookstore, and what do you think the collection does for all indie booksellers as a whole?

JR: I have read the entire book from cover to cover several times, and just marvel at the idea that the most powerful writers in the country have given their very valuable time to write about a particular store. My personal take is that every reader who purchases a copy of My Bookstore will become a walking advertisement not only for their favorite, or group of favorite bookstores included, but for the very idea of how incredibly different each indie is. My gambling feelings have made their way out, and I’ll bet many, many, many readers trek out to check out their closest indie store, whether they’re in the book or not. I also believe quite a few readers will discover stores they absolutely must visit. I’ll wager every bookstore included gets lots of traffic and many who are not will do likewise, thanks to this wonderful idea hatched by Black Dog & Leventhal.

Find out more about the Black Dog & Leventhal My Bookstore scholarship contest [1] and read BTW’s previous excerpts from My Bookstore:

“Octavia Books” by Michael Tisserand and Q&A with store co-owner Tom Lowenburg [4]

“The Toadstool Bookshop” by Joan Wickersham and Q&A with store owner Willard Williams [5]