MYSTERIOUS GALAXY

inhumanoid asked: Oh hey, I didn't know Mysterious Galaxy had a tumblr! I stop by your Redondo Beach store all the time. :D

Awesome! If you’re ever in San Diego, stop by!

As a bookseller, especially one at a small indie store, I sometimes feel that people get the wrong impression about us. I’m really not sure where this idea originates, but it seems to me that we bookstore employees are often seen as aloof, snobby, uber-literary types who have little interest in our customers or our stores.

I suppose that may be true somewhere, but at Mysterious Galaxy and the hundreds of other bookstores I interact with both online and in person, this couldn’t be further from the truth!

I guess there haven’t really been enough movies made about our jobs to form a really solid stereotype like record store employees got with High Fidelity or Empire Records. At any rate, I’m here to debunk what I feel are the most common misconceptions about us, the independent booksellers.

Myth #1: We are judging you.

I promise that when you come into our store we are not ranking you on some “Customer Cool” list that knocks points off for anything other than our terribly obscure sensibilities. We read everything here, and we want you to read everything too! Our staff is full of highly educated and intelligent people, people who read all genres and are always looking for something interesting, fun and new. You can come in and buy Twilight or you can buy Bradbury; we just want happy customers who love to read and buy books locally!

Myth #2: Because we’re a small store, our prices are unfairly or unreasonably high.

Quite the opposite! With the exception of our sale rack, our prices are always cover price, which reflects the cost to write, edit, promote, print, bind, and ship the book. This price may seem high  in comparison to “big box” stores (whether brick & mortar or online,) but in reality, their prices are generally ludicrously low, which reflects nothing but the massive profit margins of such retailers. 

Also, by charging full price, we are able to fund the many signings and author events we have at the store. Signed, first edition copies of popular and special edition/rare books are available at no extra cost, the majority of our signings are open to the public and free, and we do not sell tickets to author events at any additional charge.

Myth #3: This isn’t a “real job.”

We beg to differ! The combined book selling/buying experience among employees at Mysterious Galaxy alone is well over 50 years, and all over the country you can find dedicated individuals who have made this job their profession. Some of us may have additional jobs, or experience in other fields, but our passion is always with books.

Myth #4: eBooks and eReaders are dirty words, not to be uttered whilst in a bookstore.

No way! As I mentioned previously, we just want people to read! A decent portion of our sales online are for eBooks; many of our customers and employees choose to read in this manner. We, like many other indies, offer ebooks through Google, which are compatible with just about any device you may own. Some customers even bring their devices in to be signed by authors at store events!

Myth #5: As a genre specific, independent bookstore, we are essentially on the brink of total fiscal collapse at any given moment.

You may have heard from some misguided journalists that books and bookstores are all a dying breed, fast being replaced by technologies that they could never hope to compete with. Sure, the invent of ereaders has changed the fields of publishing and bookselling, but we’re not scared of change! The economy isn’t perfect, and a bookstore isn’t necessarily the most wildly profitable field you could be in, but we are thriving nonetheless.

The opening of our second store in Redondo Beach last Fall shocked many customers, who worried that they may come back in a week to find us shut down. It’s true that many bookstores have closed, especially in the San Diego area, but this is all the more reason for us to soldier on. Besides, we aren’t here to get rich, we’re here because we truly care about books, about reading, and about fostering a loyal and literary customer base. It’s been nearly 20 years of business in this community, and we don’t plan on going anywhere.

So over on Twitter I proposed the idea of a little comic giveaway/contest and got some excited feedback, so here we are! So far it seems like most of you are local, but I want to make this fair for all our customers, so there will be essentially two sets of rules. (If you are a local customer who only orders online from us, follow the “Out of Area” rules.) Okay! Let’s get started.

Our wonderful Random House rep gave us these comics (roughly 100 of them,) so we’ll show a little appreciation for them, for us, and for awesome comics!

Now, because I know some of you want to be choosy and some of you just want free stuff, I’ve done a few different levels.

Local customers: These rules only apply if you are able to physically come to the store and pick up your comics. If you:

• Retweet the super special tweet with the super special message and you follow us on Twitter, you can claim 5 comics, but they will be pre-selected randomly for you.
• Retweet the super special tweet, follow us on Twitter, and purchase any Random House title (in store) you get 10 comics, your choice.
• Retweet the super special tweet, follow us on twitter, AND you purchase over $30 worth of qualifying Random House books (in store,) you get 20 comics, all your choice. Plus a big pat on the back for being a super customer. 

This part is important!!! After you follow/retweet, you MUST DM me your first and last name on Twitter so I can add you to the list of qualifying customers. If you do not do this it will be very complicated and I will be frustrated and bitter so DM me, please!

Out of Area customers:

• Retweet, follow, and purchase any book published by Random House from our website and receive 5 random comics. (In the comments section of your order, include your Twitter handle so I can cross reference.)
• If you retweet, follow, and spend over $30 (not including shipping,) you get 20 random comics! And a virtual “super customer!” pat on the back. (Again, in the comments section of your order, include your Twitter handle.)

***PLEASE NOTE: If you order a book that we do not physically have on hand (ie, the title does not show an ‘On Hand’ quantity on our website, this won’t work! It has to be a title we currently have stocked.***

Obviously there is a limited supply so this is first come, first served!

Please read thoroughly, and if you have any questions, tweet @ me or drop a question in our ask box! Have fun and thanks for supporting independent bookstores!

-Elizabeth

Click through the link below for a list of qualifying publishers.

Read More

killerbookcovers asked: Thanks for liking my post! You guys are my favorite non-used bookstore in San Diego!

Awesome, glad to hear it! Keep posting, I am on a hunt for awesome vintage covers :)