The Photos Are In!

What a crazy week it's been so far! Who got to experience the snow in Austin and other Texas cities?

Well, if you recall, last Wednesday I mentioned my goal of more than doubling the readership of this blog by the same time the following week. It's that time, and while readership hasn't quite doubled (my fault, for neglecting to post daily), it HAS increased a fair bit. Last Wednesday, the blog had nearly 450 page views. As of right now, those page views have jumped to more than 750! Not a bad gain, and the day's not over yet. Share the link to this blog with your friends, coworkers, and family via your social networking sites or good old-fashioned word of mouth. I'm confident we can get 150 more views by tonight! And by next week, I'm making the ambitious goal of doubling page views again.

In other news, Courtney Sames came through for me big time on photos to use in my Pepsi grant application. Through the photos and the rest of the application, I hope viewers and voters everywhere will be moved enough by Laredo's story to vote for this project. $250,000 will go a LONG way toward actualizing this dream--and achieving funding through other grant organizations, financial institutions, and/or the Small Business Association.

I have to run to a meeting, but I wanted to quickly update you all first. I'll post again tonight with an example of two of Courtney's beautiful work . . . and a few other updates!

Laredo Bookstore Updates . . . Overdue!

Wow. If any week has shown me what a challenge opening this bookstore will be, it's this one. Which is why, I'm sorry to say, I haven't posted since Sunday.

This week, after being on the market for a year and a half, our house finally got an offer. A full-price offer (granted, after we significantly lowered the price), at that. So, after settling quite comfortably, if guiltily, into the fact that the house may not sell for some time, my husband and I have been jarred into the reality of looking for a new place to live, packing, and moving . . . all in less than 30 days. That is, assuming the sale goes through as planned. All of this means that, in addition to Colin starting a new job this week, and my full-time work and grad school and planning for this bookstore, we've been apartment-hunting like crazy. It's a level of stress that's laughable.

In any case, selling this house (again, assuming all goes through) probably couldn't come at a better time. Because our lives are so in flux right now, we'll be renting for a while, rather than buying. That leaves us with some flexibility when it comes to bookstore plans.

And speaking of plans: Mine for this week are:

* Finish my Pepsi grant application, to be posted online for voting on March 1. Courtney Sames, who has been working with Fede Cavazos on filming a documentary about B. Dalton closing and what has come next, has offered to send me a few photos to use for my application. I can't wait to see what she's got for me!

* Email the president of Texas A&M International University in Laredo; since university students are one of my key demographics, I would love to keep him informed in hopes that he will communicate my plans to all TAMIU students. I'd love to get them reading this blog and contributing their ideas as to what they'd like to see in an independent bookstore.

* Finalize and send off magazine pitches to at least three national women's magazines. I'll let you all know which ones once the pitches have gone out.

* More research and more work on my business plan. When the plan is finished, I'll use it to apply for more grants, as well as a small business loan from local financial institutions and the Small Business Association. Once I have funding, I'll be able to give you all more details as to what I have in mind for location.

* Visit with Mary Benavides again over the phone to compare notes on our plans. I have some ideas as to how we can both achieve our goals while providing Laredo with bookstores that aren't in direct competition. Details to come!

Another update is that my sister, a senior at Texas A&M University in College Station, has the opportunity to work with an expert to develop a detailed project management plan. She's opted to work with me on developing a plan for the bookstore, which I'm SO excited about! This is something separate from the business plan, and should serve as a roadmap throughout the project. I'll be sure to keep you all posted.

Soon to come: my vision for the bookstore. The size, the look and feel, the books, the non-books, the refreshments . . .

Thanks for coming back this week despite my inconsistency. Your readership inspires me!

Filming and a Phone Call

I'd like to start this post by thanking those who have been reading the blog and following my updates on Facebook and Twitter (KatieGPainter). I love the comments I'm getting on my Facebook wall, via e-mail, and on the phone, and I love hearing that friends and clients have passed the link to this blog onto their friends and family. I'm really learning how much reading, and buying books, means to the people in my life. But--as much as I adore hearing your comments through other mediums--for the love of literacy, throw out a couple of comments here! And follow the blog. I like seeing the little pictures on the left side of my screen. :) And also, what is reading and writing if not a conversation? So let's have one!

Entreaties aside, today was a productive and eventful day. I worked on a newsletter for a new telecommunications client and then had lunch with a former client, a fantastic biography writer. She had visited the blog and, curious woman that she is, had a million questions for me regarding my plans for the bookstore. So I enjoyed talking with her about that. It never gets old.

Yesterday, though, I found out from my aunt that I'm not the only one in Laredo moving forward with efforts to open a bookstore. Mary Benavides, who managed B. Dalton for the better part of 30 years, is also working toward this goal. My first thought, of course, was, Where does that leave me? Swiftly followed by, Oh, crap--I put my plans on the Internet too soon! They're all gonna laugh at me!

It was this state of mind that Courtney Sames found me in this afternoon. Courtney is one half of the documentarist duo I mentioned a couple of posts ago, and she wanted to come get an update from me on what I've been working on since our last talk.

"I wanted to talk to you about something off-camera first," I said. "I just heard that Mary Benavides is also trying to open a bookstore."

Courtney smiled, a little sheepish. "Well..." she said. "Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that."

I had to laugh. Sneaky documentarist!

"She called me on my way over here," Courtney said. "She'd like to talk to you. She's so nice," Courtney assured me. "The warmest person you'll ever meet."

I told Courtney that my aunt had given me Mary's number (the two have been good friends for years--such is Laredo) and that I intended to call after our interview. Courtney's eyes lit up. She looked at her camera. "Would you mind if...?"

That's how, after I updated Courtney and showed her this blog and the grant site, I ended up being filmed while I spoke to Mary.

Courtney was right about Mary's warmth and friendliness. After a slightly awkward start, I felt at ease, and we talked to each other about our plans and ideas. It was clear that Mary is as passionate as I am about bringing a bookstore to Laredo and fostering a community of arts and culture.

So where does that leave me? Right where I left off. We ended the call by promising to keep each other updated. More importantly, we vowed to find a way to achieve our goals in a complementary, rather than competitive, way. What, exactly, that means remains to be seen. But you'll know when I do!

As for the photo? He's the brains behind this operation.

And...Action!

On Saturday, February 6, I was interviewed by Courtney Sames and Fede Cavazos, two fellow Laredoans who have been filming a documentary about the closing of B. Dalton. They have sat and talked with high school teachers who broke into tears; librarians who vowed to increase circulation; a bus full of orphanage children who shopped at B. Dalton one last time before it closed; and a fourteen-year-old girl who has collected thousands of signatures on a petition to bring another bookstore to Laredo.

As the cornflower sky began deepening and the air turned brisk with evening, we sat out on my back deck to have a long, frank discussion about my plans. I was asked about my family, my life in Laredo and since I left, and what books and literacy mean to me. I was also asked how I would tailor the bookstore to Laredo’s unique demographic and why I’ve chosen to take this risk. I guess my answer is this:

Without a bookstore, without a focus on the importance of reading and writing, Laredo is a city at its most vulnerable. At its most exploitable, corruptible, and defenseless. Never have I felt more moved to make a change than I do now. What was once a “life dream”—something I intended to pursue after achieving my own success as a writer—has become one of those rare passions. A mission. A knowledge that this is a problem I can help solve, and which my heart feels a duty to amend.

After the interview was over and we were all chatting in my kitchen, Fede admitted, “You know, before we started this project, I was skeptical about whether Laredo is capable of sustaining a bookstore. But after interviewing all the people we have, I know, without a doubt, that it is. There are a lot of people in that city who want and would appreciate a good bookstore.”

It’s what I believed already, but those words were so validating! There is a community of ardent readers in Laredo, and a community that would like to be.

Being interviewed was an honor, and I can't wait to see the documentary when it's done. Thank you, Courtney and Fede!

Are you from Laredo, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey, or South Texas? What would you like to see in an independent bookstore?