Smorgasbords Don’t Have Bottoms | Issue 36 | n+1

Smorgasbords Don’t Have Bottoms | Issue 36 | n+1: Smorgasbords Don’t Have Bottoms
Publishing in the 2010s

Published in Issue 36: Get Help

Publication date Winter 2020

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American Politics Reading, Writing, and Publishing
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, , Matt Johnson, Untitled (Amazon Box). 2016, carved wood and paint. 23 × 23 × 17". Courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery. © Matt Johnson
FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2011, when Borders shut down, or 2007, when Amazon launched the Kindle, or maybe 1455, when Johannes Gutenberg went bankrupt immediately upon printing his game-changing best seller The Bible, the news about book publishing has seemed less than dire. A June 2019 New York Times article captured the mood: “Independent bookstores are thriving again, and print sales are rising while e-book sales are declining. Even Amazon is investing in physical bookstores across the country.”

A decade ago, few in the industry anticipated the comeback of indie bookstores. But the numbers are unambiguous: between 2009 and 2018, the number of indies in the US grew by nearly 40 percent. Ninety-nine stores opened in 2018, up from seventy-five in 2017. The indie model depends on expertise and endless hustle — as well as