The Bookstore As Activist Destroys Readers’ Safe Space For Inquiry

 

Are bookstores in existence only to champion select positions on a handful of causes — or are they here to liberate minds and allow potential customers to survey the land of possibilities and see the spectrum of ideas, histories, and viewpoints that exist?

I had to confront this question recently.

I visited Pittsburgh recently for the very first time. It is a long but pleasant drive from New York.  I liked the feel of the city, and the Andy Warhol Museum was a highlight of the weekend trip. But it was a visit to an indie bookstore that sticks out the most.

As always, in any town or city that I traverse to, I took in the local bookstores, but one of them just completely turned me off.

This store is typical of most bookstores — its content noticeably skews to one ideology — the left. Though I am a centrist Democrat, stores need to rebalance their inventory. That in itself needs to be addressed, but this store took it a step further by endorsing a certain viewpoint with its politically-laced signage.
Atop one bookcase in the store it said “Free Palestine.” Another said: “Ceasefire Now.” A third one said: “Free Palestine, Free Sudan, Free Congo, Free Haiti.” It looked like someone’s lawn nearing an election, with signs supporting a candidate or ballot proposition.

This destroys any pretense of neutrality by the bookstore and moves from informing and challenging patron readers to being ignorant slaves to bias. This store turned itself from being a provider of all books where an honest search for the truth can take place to championing different causes and shutting down free thinking.

I should see signs that say Middle East or Current Events, or ones highlighting bestsellers or celebrity authors, and not ones that express a viewpoint. Bookstores have a responsibility to be more like a polling place on election day. You can’t wear any political slogans or hold candidate signs in or around the polling places — and bookstores should not take up political positions in their signage.

Ideally, bookstores should exhibit at least a pretense of neutrality, meaning they don’t push the ideology of the store owner or its workers onto its patrons. Having a variety of books, each offering a side to controversial issues and multiple viewpoints to life, would not only serve society best, but would probably enhance the store’s bottom line.

Well-written, well-edited, and where possible, positively reviewed books written by qualified writers should be prominently displayed.

But, right after that should be an offering of other viewpoints. You want to sell a book that is pro an issue; then show one that is anti that viewpoint. The goal is not to confuse people with false equivalency arguments, but rather, to allow for the strength of each argument to inform readers to make educated decisions about the things they will choose to support, condemn, or remain ambivalent about. The store should not sell books that collectively only show one viewpoint.  And they certainly should not command us to act or think in a specific manner. This is not Russia or China.

Bookstores should be places of enlightenment, opening us to new ideas and many vantagepoints. Once signs shout at us what to think, the books will never get a chance to serve their role.

There should never be signs or displays only trumpeting one viewpoint. For instance, we don’t need a sign that says pro-abortion or pro-life books. Offer both kinds of books and put them in a section like Issues, Current Events, Religion, Sociology, Women’s Studies, or Ethics.

Bookstores need to provide books with facts, not share a store’s opinions. I am a Mets fan. Someone else could be a Yankees fan. I don’t want to see atop the Sports section a sign that says “Let’s Go Yankees.” 

In the Cookbooks section would you want to see a sign that says: “Indian Food Rules?”

In the Travel section would you want to see: “Mexico or Bust.”

In the religion section do you want to see “Any Faith But Muslim?”

The bookstore is not here to replace the judgement, desire, and needs of its patrons by dictating viewpoints to them. It is a bad business practice and is bad for America. Let the books make their arguments, and let the readers come to their conclusions independently. No lobbying in the bookstore.

Free speech at a bookstore should mean a lot. It means restraint is needed on the part of the store to not preach or only promote one viewpoint. Otherwise, the only sign we should see hanging on that bookstore is “Out of Business.”

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Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2024.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog