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HARRISBURG, PA August 29, 2004 — The grassroots Bookstore Tourism effort has spawned a book of its own: ???Bookstore Tourism: The Book Addicts Guide to Planning Promoting Bookstore Road Trips for Bibliophiles Other Bookshop Junkies.??
Author Larry Portzline, who created the Bookstore Tourism concept, said the books goal is to promote and support independent bookstores by marketing them as a tourist destination and creating a new travel niche for booklovers. His how-to, which is scheduled for release on October 1, urges booklovers across the U.S. to get involved by planning ???bookstore road trips?? with friends, organizations, and even their communities economic development agencies.
???The idea is to encourage booklovers to organize day-trips and other literary outings to cities and towns with fun, interesting and unique bookstores that people in their own communities may not get to visit regularly,?? said Portzline. ???It can work in the other direction, too. People in your town — your local booksellers, business association, visitors bureau or economic development agency — can create ways to attract groups of readers to your community for a day of browsing, touring and other book-related activities.??
Between July 2003 and June 2004, Portzline led six sold-out ???bookstore adventures?? to New York City and Washington, D.C. for two colleges in central Pennsylvania. Since launching the project, hes received countless inquiries and expressions of support from people in the bookselling, publishing and travel industries, from educators, libraries and colleges, from book festival and ???One Book?? organizers, and from booklovers everywhere who are eager to get involved.
USA Today called the idea ???a charming alternative?? when it selected Portzlines website, BookstoreTourism.com, as a ???hot site?? in May. Publishers Weekly said it ???might be the beginning of a new concept in bookselling.?? Destinations, a leading publication in the motorcoach industry, called the Bookstore Tourism model ???a tremendous market.?? The American Booksellers Association acknowledged it as ???a new grassroots effort to support independent booksellers.??
???Too many indie bookstores are closing their doors, primarily because of heavy competition from the chain stores and online booksellers,?? Portzline said. ???Loading booklovers onto a bus and taking them to towns with great bookshops is one way to reverse that trend. Its educational and fun, it promotes reading and literacy, it supports travel and tourism, and it brings together people who share a love of books and the written word. It also encourages economic development and provides outreach opportunities for many different kinds of groups, organizations and schools. Most important, it raises awareness about independent bookstores and helps them stay open.??
???Bookstore Tourism?? covers the basics of planning and promoting a bookstore road trip, including how to do the necessary research, arrange transportation, publicize the event, etc. It includes numerous tips and step-by-step suggestions, as well as advice based on Portzlines experiences leading his own bookstore adventures. Other features include a primer on the bookselling industry, examples of great bookstore towns, suggestions for ways to partner with other organizations and agencies, and an appendix with numerous resources for anyone planning a trip.
Portzline said the book will be available at independent bookstores and as a free download on BookstoreTourism.com. ???Anyone will be able to download the book, view it on their computer, and e-mail the link to family, friends and other booklovers,?? he said. ???I hope theyll then be inspired to buy the book, but my primary goal is to spread the word however I can and encourage people to take ownership of the idea and adapt it to suit their own interests and needs.??
Portzline said he plans to expand the book in the future and is inviting readers to send him suggestions and details about their own bookstore trips. He said hed like to publish other books under the Bookstore Tourism banner, including regional and city guides for bookstore tourists; a coffee table book about famous bookstores, past and present, with text by the authors who frequented them; and ???Bookstore Tourism International.??
???The series of Bookstore Tourism books Im proposing promises to bring well-deserved attention to independent booksellers everywhere, and to fill a publishing niche that Im quite sure booklovers are craving,?? he said.
Larry Portzline is a writer and part-time college instructor in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He is the founder of Bookshop Junkie Press and BookstoreTourism.com.
Available October 1:
???Bookstore Tourism: The Book Addicts Guide to Planning Promoting Bookstore Road Trips for Bibliophiles Other Bookshop Junkies??
By Larry Portzline
Bookshop Junkie Press
ISBN 0-9758934-0-8
104 pages
$10br
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