A Note from Alan Beatts

Hi Folks.  This month I was going to give an in-depth explanation about our long-term plans for the businesses, especially focusing on the possible purchase of a building to house the store.  However, I have spent the last week out sick with the worst cold I have ever had the misfortune to experience.  I'm back now, mostly recovered, but I've so much pressing work to take care of due to my absence that I'm not going to have time to write much of anything.  Rather than delaying this newsletter even further, I'm going to postpone that explanation for a month.  So, look for that in the April newsletter, and wish me luck trying to get caught up between now and then.

Upcoming Events

Pwning Tomorrow, Today! at the Internet Archive (300 Funston Avenue  San Francisco  CA) with authors Cory Doctorow, Eileen Gunn, Carolyn Jewel, Ramez Naam, Annalee Newitz, Hannu Ranjaniemi, and Rudy Rucker on Saturday, March 19th at 2:00 pm

Glen Hirshberg, GOOD GIRLS (Tor Books, Hardcover, $26.99) on Saturday, March 26th at 3:00 pm

Brian Staveley, THE LAST MORTAL BOND (Tor Books, Hardcover, $28.99) on Tuesday, March 29th at 7:00 pm

Marie Brennan, IN THE LABYRINTH OF DRAKES (Tor Books, Hardcover, $25.99) on Saturday, April 9th at 3:00 pm

SF in SF with authors Peter S. Beagle and Carter Scholz (American Bookbinders Museum, 355 Clementina, San Francisco, CA) on Sunday, April 17th at 6:30 pm

InsideStorytime SUPERPOWERS at The Make Out Room (The Armory Club. 1799 Mission Street @ 14th) with Charlie Jane Anders, Elwin Cotman, Daryl Gregory, guest MC Dhaya Lakshminarayanan, Jessica May Lin, and Seanan McGuire on Thursday, April 21st at 7:00 pm

Paolo Bacigalupi, THE WATER KNIFE (Vintage, Trade Paperback, $16.00) on Friday, April 22nd at 7:00 pm

Seanan McGuire, EVERY HEART A DOORWAY (Tor.com, Hardcover, $17.99) on Saturday, April 23rd at 6:00 pm

Richard Kadrey, THE EVERYTHING BOX (Harper Voyager, Hardcover, $24.99) on Sunday, April 24th at 3:00 pm

And coming up in the summer, we'll welcome Mary Robinette Kowal, Charles Stross, and many, many others!

February Bestsellers

Hardcovers
1. ALL THE BIRDS IN THE SKY by Charlie Jane Anders
2. A GATHERING OF SHADOWS by V.E. Schwab
3. GENTLEMAN JOLE AND THE RED QUEEN by Lois McMaster Bujold
4. LOVECRAFT COUNTRY by Matt Ruff
5. MORNING STAR by Pierce Brown
6. BANDS OF MOURNING by Brandon Sanderson
7. KINGFISHER by Patricia A. McKillip
8. BIGFOOTLOOSE AND FINN FANCY FREE by Randy Henderson
9. POSEIDON’S WAKE by Alastair Reynolds
10. CALAMITY by Brandon Sanderson

Mass Market Paperbacks
1. THE MARTIAN by Andy Weir
2. INTO THE MAELSTROM by David Drake & John Lambshead
3. THE GOBLIN EMPEROR by Katherine Addison
4. THE THOUSAND NAMES by Django Wexler
5. FLASH - ARCHFORM: BEAUTY VOL. 2 by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
6. THE TERRANS by Jean Johnson
7. THE CUSTODIAN OF MARVELS by Rod Duncan
8. THE LONG UTOPIA by Terry Pratchett
9. STEAL THE SKY by Megan E. O’Keefe
10. MIDNIGHT TAXI TANGO by Daniel Jose Older

Trade Paperbacks
1. THE THREE BODY PROBLEM by Cixin Liu
2. A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC by V.E. Schwab
3. CITY OF BLADES by Robert Jackson Bennett
4. VICIOUS by V.E. Schwab
5. INDEXING: REFLECTIONS by Seanan McGuire

March News

* Harper Lee, author of the classic novel TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and the related work GO SET A WATCHMAN has passed away: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/20/arts/harper-lee-dies.html

* In other sad news, Umberto Eco, the Italian novelist whose career spanned almost every genre, has also passed away.  Although he was most famous for the historical mystery THE NAME OF THE ROSE, his work included fiction, essays, art criticism and more.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/20/italian-author-umberto-eco-dies-aged-84

* Local author and Borderlands favorite Seanan McGuire had an adventure with an owl that is completely hilarious and could only happen to her.  Read the Storify of her amazing Tweets here: https://storify.com/lilrongal/seanan-s-epic-owl-adventure .  Caution: not-safe-for-work language.

* A recent episode of Wired’s Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast interviewed authors Nisi Shawl, Nalo Hopkinson and Sunil Patel about diversity in speculative fiction: http://www.wired.com/2016/02/geeks-guide-diversity-destroy-scifi/

* For those of us who have always longed to summon the Elder Gods through our laptops, there is now a font exclusively for that! http://www.neatorama.com/neatogeek/2014/05/12/A-Cthulhuian-Font-You-Can-Download-And-Use-To-Summon-Strange-Beings/

* Congratulations to C.J. Cherryh, whose writing career has spanned almost four decades, multiple subgenres, and numerous awards -- she has been named a SFWA grand master! http://www.sfwa.org/2016/02/35732/

* In, WHAT THE!? . . . okay? . . . news: The movie crossover plan you thought was just a joke is moving forward; merging the Men In Black movie franchise with the 21 Jump Street movie franchise.  Is it just us, or does this sound like it might actually work?  http://variety.com/2016/film/news/23-jump-street-men-in-black-james-bobin-1201715020/

* The short post-apocalyptic film "King Ripple" is a gorgeous and terrifying tale penned by science fiction scribe Josh Malerman and directed by Luke Jaden: http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/watch-post-apocalyptic-short-film-king-ripple-with-keith-stanfield-20160303

* Teleportation may be here soon(ish)!  No news on if the method will just kill you and create a identical copy at your destination like many theorize; I’m sure they’ll mention it when you get there.   http://zeenews.india.com/news/science/star-trek-science-fiction-turns-science-fact_1862604.html

* In sad news for critics and reviewers (and also Torrenters worldwide), HBO has decided that no one will be seeing any of Game of Thrones season 6 until the premiere date.  Collider breaks it down: http://collider.com/game-of-thrones-season-6-premiere-screeners/

* A lovely article on the first science fiction author to win a MacArthur Genius Grant -- Octavia Butler.  It contains some history about her and a link to Clockshop, which is the non-profit doing a year-long retrospective on this shy and hugely talented author: http://www.scpr.org/programs/offramp/2016/03/03/46914/remembering-unsung-science-fiction-hero-genius-gra/

* N.K. Jemisin provides some great reviews for the New York Times, including one of Sofia Samatar’s new novel: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/books/review/on-the-edge-of-gone-by-corinne-duyvis-and-more.html?_r=0

* Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been championing the adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s "Sandman" into a film for years.  He brought in Gaiman as executive producer and seemed to be a real fan of the graphic novels.  His stepping away from the project does not feel like a good thing.  Read his whole statement: http://sciencefiction.com/2016/03/06/joseph-gordon-levitt-departs-sandman/

* For a couple years now there’s been talk of bringing Joe Lansdale’s classic Hap & Leonard to the small screen, and it’s finally happened on Sundance!  Starring James Purefoy, Michael K. Williams, and Christina Hendricks in a six-episode miniseries, you can catch the first two episodes online for free: http://www.sundance.tv/series/hap-and-leonard

* Inverse has an interesting theory that very soon the superhero genre will be consumed whole by the science-fiction genre, as real-life fears begin to parallel those themes more than the military imbalance that fuels superhero themes.  https://www.inverse.com/article/12012-science-fiction-will-consume-the-superhero-industry-and-become-the-genre-to-beat

* Filmmakers around the world survive without the movie industry of Hollywood, or even the other revenue streams that exist for indie films, and they do this through determination and hustling.  That is how Nicholas Attin completed what he calls Trinidad & Tobago’s first science fiction thriller film: "Tomb".  Read about what it took to get it made and check out the first trailer here: http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/watch-trailer-for-tomb-a-rare-sci-fi-thriller-feature-film-from-trinidad-tobago-20160304

* Speaking of resourceful filmmakers, congratulations to Arwen Curry, creator of the documentary "The Worlds of Ursula K. LeGuin," which has been fully funded by a combination of a hugely successful Kickstarter and a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  We're anxiously looking forward to the finished film!  [Assistant Editor's Note: In an amusing bonus, Borderlands' newsletter editor Na'amen Tilahun has a tiny appearance in the film of which he wasn't even aware.]

* J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series has achieved a level of success rarely seen -- movies, plays, encyclopedias, theme parks, and even more to come.  Newsweek takes a look at how Rowling kept the "cult" of Harry Potter alive: http://www.newsweek.com/how-jk-rowling-kept-potter-cult-alive-433628

* An NPR piece from January focuses on Finnish authors who are finally having some of their works translated into English.  These include Johanna Sinisalo, whose novel THE CORE OF THE SUN was published in Finland over three years ago.  http://www.npr.org/2016/01/24/463878369/finnish-authors-heat-up-the-speculative-fiction-world

* The Daily Beast has an in-depth interview with Samuel Delany on the subject of art, specifically cover art.  He discusses his own covers, his favorite Tolkien covers, and how much cover art matters (or doesn’t) in speculative fiction.  http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/05/sci-fi-hero-samuel-delany-s-outsider-art.html

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Award News
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* The 2015 Nebula Award nominees have been announced.  Check out the full list here: https://www.sfwa.org/2016/02/2015-nebula-awards-nominees-announced/

* The Horror Writers' Association has decided to honor both Alan Moore and George A. Romero with Lifetime Achievement Awards.  More information here: http://horror.org/hwa-names-alan-moore-george-a-romero-as-2016-lifetime-achievement-award-winners/

* The Kitschies, which celebrate progressive, intelligent, and entertaining speculative fiction, have announced their nominees:
http://www.thekitschies.com/the-kitschies-2015-shortlists-revealed/

* The 23rd Annual Spectrum Award nominations (with the artwork!) are available to look at here: http://fleskpublications.com/blog/2016/02/29/spectrum-23-awards-nominations/

* The Bram Stoker Awards final ballot has been announced.  The full list is here: http://horror.org/the-bram-stoker-awards-final-ballot/

* The Norma K. Hemming Award (which is given every year to a work that explores themes of race, gender, sexuality, class, and disability in speculative fiction first published in Australia or by an Australian citizen,) has announced its shortlist: http://www.asff.org.au/hemming-award-2016-shortlist.htm

Sponsorships

by Alan Beatts

Last month I announced that we had reached our goal of 300 sponsors and would remain open for at least another year.  I also explained that, because the sponsorship program had been so successful, I have raised our sights beyond merely remaining open until our lease ran out in five years.  Our sponsors have been so constant and enthusiastic that I'm not really concerned about the near-term viability of that model to support us in the face of mandatory wage increases.  Of course, something could change but overall our situation seems stable for the next few years.

With that concern addressed, I've been looking forward at the next major concern -- what we're going to do when our lease expires in 2021.  Given the current rental market in San Francisco and the historical trends (even during hard times economically), we will not be able to find a space that we can afford and that will house the store in 2021.  So, we are either going to need to move out of San Francisco, or we need to come up with another plan. Moving is unattractive, but I'll keep that as a backup.  My preferred plan is to buy a building to house the store (and, perhaps, similar businesses -- more on that next month).

If we're going to do that, we need to raise a bunch of money for the down payment.  I've done the math, and I'm sure that we can cover the mortgage, maintenance, and taxes with what we currently pay in rent.  But we've got to have that down payment.  I have many ideas about how to raise that money and I'll pursue them all, but there is one thing happening already that's helping a lot -- the sponsorships.  Right now we have more than 500 sponsors.  Last year we had 844.  If we can continue getting many more sponsors than we need to cover the higher payroll, we can make it most of the way to our goal.  And so, despite our success in reaching the 300 sponsors we needed to say open, if you've been considering becoming a sponsor, please do.  To perhaps help you with your decision, here are a few reasons to become a sponsor.

1)  You believe that the continued existence of physical bookstores is important.
The most common cause of bookstore closures is rent increases.  In addition, bookselling has always been an only-marginally-profitable business.  More and more people are choosing to live in urban areas (check out my article about that http://borderlands-books.blogspot.com/2015/08/urban-conservation.html ) and that is increasing rents in all cities in the US.  Bookstores, especially specialty bookstores, need a minimum population density to be viable (especially in these days of Amazon and ebooks, people are unlikely to drive 50 miles to shop) so it is harder for them to survive outside cities.  That shifting population trend combined with the limitations inherent in bookselling means that it is going to get harder and harder for bookstores to locate in cities and, by extension, it is going to make it harder for them to survive.

Upcoming Events

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, HAUNTING INVESTIGATION (Smoke and Shadow Books, Hardcover, $27.99) - Saturday, February 13th at 3:00 pm

Meet Arwen Curry, filmmaker - "Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin" - Sunday, February 14th at 3:00 pm

A.M. Dellamonica, DAUGHTER OF NO NATION (Tor Books, Hardcover, $26.99), and Randy Henderson, BIGFOOTLOOSE AND FINN FANCY FREE (Tor Books, Hardcover, $25.99) - Saturday, February 20th at 3:00 pm

SF in SF with authors Charlie Jane Anders and Lisa Goldstein, Sunday, February 21st at 5:30 pm

V.E. Schwab, A GATHERING OF SHADOWS (Tor Books, Hardcover, $25.99), with special guest Stephanie Kuehn - Saturday, February 27th at 3:00 pm

SF in SF with authors Daryl Gregory and Hannu Rajaniemi - Sunday, March 6th at 5:30 pm

Mishell Baker, BORDERLINE (THE ARCADIA PROJECT) (Saga Press, Trade Paperback, $15.99), and Seanan McGuire, CHAOS CHOREOGRAPHY (DAW, Mass Market Paperback, $7.99) on Saturday, March 12th at 5:00 pm

MWA Northern California Meet and Greet - Sunday, March 13th at 3:00 pm

January Bestsellers

Hardcovers
1. ALL THE BIRDS IN THE SKY by Charlie Jane Anders
2. THE SLOW REGARD OF SILENT THINGS by Patrick Rothfuss
3. BANDS OF MOURNING by Brandon Sanderson
4. THIS CENSUS TAKER by China Mieville
5. THE BOOK OF THE PHOENIX by Nnedi Okorafor
6. WELCOME TO NIGHTVALE by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor
7. MEDUSA'S WEB by Tim Powers
8. LAGOON by Nnedi Okorafor
9. THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM by Cixin Liu
10. MANNERS AND MUTINY by Gail Carriger

Mass Market Paperbacks
1. STEAL THE SKY by Megan E. O'Keefe
2. INFLUX by Daniel Suarez
3. MIDNIGHT TAXI TANGO by Daniel Jose Older
4. WINTERWOOD by Jacey Bedford
5. NEVERMORE by Rob Thurman
6. THE LONG UTOPIA by Stephen Baxter and Terry Pratchett
7. V'DAN: FIRST SALIK WAR by Jean Johnson
8. DEAD HEAT by Patricia Briggs
9. ON THE STEEL BREEZE by Alastair Reynolds
10. DRAKE by Peter McLean

Trade Paperbacks
1. THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM by Cixin Liu
2. ANCILLARY MERCY by Ann Leckie
3. THE ENTROPY OF BONES by Ayize Jama-Everett
4. INDEXING: REFLECTIONS by Seanan McGuire
5. WEIGHING SHADOWS by Lisa Goldstein

February News

* Overheard in the store:
"They're not weapons, they're tools. They're just sort of . . . weapon-y."

* The San Mateo County Fair is having a number of writing contests, several of them in our genres.  The deadline for submissions is April 1st, 2016 and more details can be found here, at the Fair's website contest page: http://sanmateocountyfair.com/pdf/2016/exhibits/literary_arts_16.pdf

* We've finally heard that the amazing Netflix series Jessica Jones has been picked up for a second season.  Unfortunately, it may be quite a while until we actually get it. http://www.cinemablend.com/television/Why-Jessica-Jones-Season-2-May-Happen-Any-Time-Soon-101137.html

* We are very sorry to announce that respected and much-beloved editor David Hartwell has passed away after a fall.  http://www.locusmag.com/News/2016/01/david-g-hartwell-1941-2016/

* Sadly, horror author A.R. Morlan apparently took her own life last month: http://www.locusmag.com/News/2016/01/a-r-morlan-1958-2016/

* io9.com posts a hilarious guide to defeating the Justice League, based on the cartoon. http://io9.gizmodo.com/a-foolproof-guide-to-beating-the-justice-league-1757183745

* Further from i09.com, author Charlie Jane Anders gives us a triptych of great articles!
First, the disappointing news about "Pride and Prejudice & Zombies" in her lackluster review -- and we had such high hopes!  http://io9.gizmodo.com/when-you-netflix-pride-and-prejudice-and-zombies-you-l-1757269942

Another Year

A bit less than one year ago Borderlands was getting ready to close.  San Francisco voters had passed an increase in the minimum wage that was going to end the financial viability of the store, probably by the middle of July last year.  If not July of last year, then the second increase scheduled for July of 2016 was certainly going to do the job.

Though I and the rest of the staff strongly support minimum wage laws in general and we suspected that San Francisco's local increase would be generally positive for the city as a whole, we were trapped by the idiosyncrasy of the book business.  Unlike most products, books have a price printed on them.  That makes the usual business solution of increasing prices to cover higher expenses impossible for us.

Rather than ride the business down into the grave, I and the rest of the staff decided it was better to close quickly, at the time of our choosing and at the top of our game.

Our customers were very much opposed to this and, out of their comments & suggestions and in consultation with the staff, we decided to try an experiment.  We would ask that a minimum of 300 people sponsor the store for $100 each.  If that many people were willing, it would offset the added expense of the wage increases that were scheduled to raise the wage to $15 per hour by the middle of 2017.  Since that increased expense would be on-going, a basic assumption was that the sponsorship would need to recur each year.

Upcoming Events

An Evening with Patrick Rothfuss Friday, January 15th at 7:00pm

Black Comix Arts Festival at the San Francisco Public Library (Latino/Hispanic Rms A & B, Koret Auditorium, Main Library, 100 Larkin Street) with authors Dawud Anyabwile, Ayize Jama Everett, Jewelle Gomez, Nalo Hopkinson, John Jennings, Brian McGee, and Nnedi Okorafor, Sunday, January 17th from 1:00pm - 4:00pm

SF in SF with authors Cecelia Holland and Kim Stanley Robinson at the American Bookbinders Museum, (355 Clementina between 4th and 5th Streets), Sunday, January 17th at 5:30pm

Lisa Goldstein, WEIGHING SHADOWS (Night Shade Books, Trade Paperback, $15.99) Saturday, January 23rd at 3:00pm

Charlie Jane Anders, ALL THE BIRDS IN THE SKY Launch Party (Tor Books, Hardcover, $25.99) Saturday, January 30th at 3:00pm

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, HAUNTING INVESTIGATION (Smoke and Shadow Books, Hardcover, $27.99) Saturday, February 13th at 3:00pm