Monday, July 2, 2012

Colorado Fires and Back To The Books Update

On June 26th, I published a post about Jon Renaud and Back to the Books, a shop in Manitou Springs, Colorado, in the shadows of Pikes Peak, dedicated to selling only self-published authors. Jon opened his shop this year. You can view it here . Little did I realize as I was posting about the shop, the shop was in harm's way because of  the horrible fires in Colorado.

When I caught the news later that night, I wrote to Jon to see how he was affected by the fires.


This was his reply:


My home and family are safe but the store was shut down for several days. Yes, the fire got very close and gave us a scare but it looks like the worst of it has passed. We are back open; however, the fires have run all of the tourists out of town so now we are wondering how the summer season is going to go.
Jon Renaud
Owner/Author
Back to the Books
http://www.backtothebooks.net/


My heart went out to Jon who is trying to do so much for self-published authors. I asked if I could share his note as an update. I also want to send a plea out to all authors to show Jon your support (my idea, not his) and visit his online shop. Please pass the word around you can buy books online, so if the tourist season does not come back, perhaps the online shop will keep Jon in business.

He has a wonderful plan in place (before the fire) to sell books on a low comission basis in his shop. I was going to send him several copies of my book, then I got distracted. Now I think I'll send a few comp copies he can sell and not worry about my cut. I'd like to do what I can to support this one-of-a-kind book shop that supports the independent author. I am going to check his online store and buy a book or two.

Perhaps you would like to contact Jon and offer your support in some way.

As authors we need to help each other! Jon's e-mail address is foxxgrp@gmail.com

Visit Back to the Books online shop at http://www.bttbonline.net/.

Please pass this post on to all the authors you know!


 

2 comments:

  1. Barbara, I was wondering the same thing. He received my shipment just as the fires became fully involved. I will spread the word.

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  2. Mary (www.marygilmartin.me)July 8, 2012 at 7:39 PM

    I plan to contact Jon and help support his shop too with several complimentary copies of my first published book. I believe in the independent book stores and keeping them in business. I will check out his online store and order several books.

    ReplyDelete