Independent Book Stores

     I had lunch today with my old money manager friend, Andy Nelson.  In catching up on each other's news I told Andy a bit about Torrey House Press.  Andy asked me what I thought the future of publishing was, how I thought I would read the news five years from now.  I chuckled and shook my head.  That world is changing so fast it seems dumb to even try to guess.  I suggested to Andy that he probably did not have many investments in publishers.  He laughed too.  He doesn't.  Andy's son works at a still standing independent book store in downtown Salt Lake and Andy worries about his son's job.  Will we still read printed books five years from now?

     After lunch Andy graciously emailed me an article from the Wall Street Journal published this past September.  Peter Funt, the author of the piece, suggests that Mom and Pop Main Street stores will make a comeback as the big box stores get clobbered by internet sales.  If there are many people out there like me I expect he is right.  For a small press like Torrey House we will be happy to sell both printed and electronic books, but I hope there are still some independent books stores without 50 acre parking lots in front where a reader can go to hold and buy a book.  In fact, I hope there are more in five years than there are now.

     Tomorrow I am having lunch with Zach Frankel, founder and executive director of Utah Rivers Council.  Zach has some experience and ideas about multimedia publishing we want to discuss. I also hope to hear a bit about keeping the Bear River intact and about how farmers on the Colorado Plateau get their water.  What does it cost to get the water to the farmers, what are they paying for it, what are they earning as a result?  Does any of it make sense?