Author and fellow site editor Emily Ross sent me this week’s link about Barnes & Noble and shared her thoughts: “After appearing in so many of them, I’ve grown to like them a great deal, and realize that the people who work there are true book lovers who work hard to reach readers. The local ones have been very good to me. And as the article says, they do buy volumes of books, and in some sense keep many authors afloat. But then the article ends on a snobby line, implying that B&N is essential because it promotes literary fiction and without that we’d drown in a ‘sea of pulp.'” Quelle horror!

We were with you until you dissed everything but literary fiction, New Republic. Discuss.

• “The mega-retailer that drove many small, independent booksellers out of business is now being done in by the rise of Amazon. But while many book lovers may be tempted to gloat, the death of Barnes & Noble would be catastrophic.”
• If you have a book coming out, do you invest in swag? Author Roni Loren questions whether or not those pens, bookmarks, and other assorted swag actually sell books.
• What Makes a Good Workshop Citizen? Eson Kim asks this question of writers in her latest Sound Skein. According to Alysia Abbott: “Respecting the intent of the writer, really trying to understand what the purpose of the piece is, and that the purpose might not be the purpose of the piece you would write.”
• Literary agent Janet Reid offers the reasons why she said no to 25 queries and how you can avoid similar issues in your own queries.
• If the world is too much this week, consider picking up one of these 13 Soothing Books To Read When Everything Hurts.