Native Environment
I finally found copies of Wastelands in its native environment: bookstores. That I said "finally" shouldn’t imply that it was hard to find; I simply hadn’t been in a bookstore since the book came out, being the sort of person who gets lots of free books and otherwise tends to shop online. I spied it at the Borders near Penn Station in Manhattan. However, it wasn’t in the SF section, where I expected to find it; instead, it was in the horror section. Which makes a sort of sense–I mean what’s more horrific than the end of the world?–though I would’ve never thought to look there (or to even look for a horror section–seems like most bookstores don’t have one and just shelve horror with mainstream fiction). But I ran across one of those look-it-up-your-damn-self terminals and discovered its likely location with its help. And lo and behold, there it was; or there they were, rather–three fine copies of Wastelands.
I’m torn on whether or not this is a good place for the book to be shelved. Do you think it’ll find its audience there, or would it sell better in the SF section? I’m inclined to think it’s not quite ideal and that SF would be a better place for it. And since the computer system said horror, I assume that all Borders stores are putting it there. Complaining probably wouldn’t do any good–from what I hear Borders has got much larger problems at the moment, like being broke.
Shira Lipkin
8:49 pm Mar-24-2008Barnes & Noble has it in SF (that’s where I bought it)…
John Joseph Adams » Blog Archive » Wastelands Odds and Ends
8:09 pm Apr-2-2008[...] in its native environment again yesterday, this time in the Barnes & Noble in Union Square. And unlike last time it was in its true natural environment–the SF section. They had about seven copies and it was [...]
Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse -- Wastelands Odds and Ends
8:40 pm Apr-3-2008[...] in its native environment again yesterday, this time in the Barnes & Noble in Union Square. And unlike last time it was in its true natural environment–the SF section. They had about seven copies and it was [...]
Michael Strickland
4:08 pm Jun-10-2008That’s a pity… Horror is not a good place for it. I mean, you purposely avoided selecting “zombie” stories, so why Horror? Getting pegged as Sci-Fi is a bit of a pigeonhole itself, and we all know Sci-Fi is still seen as a bit of a stepchild by some. And if Sci-Fi is a stepchild, Horror is a distant third cousin twice-removed. Hopefully it’s being shelved in better sections in other stores (I bought mine on Amazon).