The DON'Ts of Self-Publishing

Note: This post is a few years old, but still relevant. If you're planning to self-publish, may it stop you from making a few of the mistakes that some of us have made...

As my first self-publishing journey comes to an end, I would like to share a few lessons I have learned. I have already published several blog posts on the DOs of self-publishing, a few of which can be found here, here, and here.

Here, I offer the DON'Ts of self-publishing according to my recent experience. I do not claim that this list is exhaustive, only that it's what I learned the hard way so you don't have to.

DON'T wait to set up your business

Long before you ever plan to get your novel out there, decide on your business structure. Many self-publishers (myself included) set up an author/publisher business as a sole proprietorship. If you don't use your own name for this (and even if you do,) there are steps to take. To get your book out as quickly as possible once it's finished, you should have your business up and running well in advance so you can spend those last weeks focused elsewhere. Here are some step-by-step instructions for starting your author/publisher business.

DON'T wait to set up your bank accounts

This is a part of setting up your business which wasn't covered in the aforementioned blog post, but it's an important part. It is strongly suggested (and generally wise) that you set up a business checking account and a business savings account, and use it for all of your publishing-related transactions. This will keep your business funds separate from your personal funds, which will help you enormously when tax time arrives. A word of caution: every bank on earth will try to sell you their merchant services when you sign up for a business bank account. These services typically include mechanisms for taking credit cards on your home computer and your smart phone (an example being The Square.) My personal opinion: don't. The bank will charge you monthly fees for this, and you can get it for free from PayPal. Establish a PayPal account instead of signing up for your bank's merchant services, and PayPal will send you their version of The Square (it's actually a triangle.) It's free, and their customer service absolutely rules over any bank. You also don't need a land-line to take credit card orders, which some banking merchant services require.

DON'T wait to set up your printing and distribution channels

This is a place where I really screwed the pooch, and paid for it later. I thought that I couldn't really do anything until I had a book in hand. How wrong I was, and each site came with its own glitches (listed below,) and resolution of each glitch cost me some time. At any time while writing your novel (say, during those moments of writer's block,) establish a profile on the sites listed below. In some cases (ahem, Lighting Source, ahem,) there are several steps that involve waiting for approval. But the good news is, you can get through these steps long before your book is ready. Deal with the glitches early. Then, when your book IS ready, you just slam the files onto the site and you're off. Here's my list of places where you should establish a profile well in advance:

• CreateSpace 
• CS is pretty quick, but it's good to get it up and running.
• Lightning Source 
• For print book access to Ingram for B&N print book distribution and Baker & Taylor for libraries. 
• Takes forever.
• There are forms to fill out online, then you wait for approval. 
• Then you are sent a slew of additional forms which you must print, sign and fax back.
• Then you wait for approval.
• Once approved, upload files, order a print proof, and wait some more.
• I'm still waiting.
• Amazon Author Central (US, UK, FR, DE and JP) 
• Amazon should be straightforward, but in my case, all five sites had a glitch linking my twitter account. This took time and several e-mails to resolve. Once resolved, it was fixed on all sites. 
• Also, be aware that the FR, DE and JP sites are in their respective languages. If you set up your US and UK sites first, you can remember much of what you did (the sites are all set up identically.) You can also use Google Translate in a separate window to get a rough idea of what each site says.
• None of the foreign language sites are currently allowing me to link my book to my author page. I still haven't found the answer to this.
• Nook Press
• Direct upload, this was fairly straightforward. 
• It took a few days before the book would show up in a search.
• Barnes & Noble
• For print book access to BarnesandNoble.com.
• Once print book and Nook book are set up, they should link together on B&N.com.
• You need Lightning Source set up first.
• Kobo Writing Life
• OK. Kobo has one area of major stupidity. You can only accept royalties from Kobo via direct deposit, and you can't do anything on the site until you provide your bank account and routing number info. But Kobo is a Canadian company and thinks there is no such thing as a 9-digit routing number. To my knowledge, every routing number in the United States is 9 digits. I know for certain that every routing number from Bank of America is 9 digits. So I couldn't set up my Kobo profile until I exchanged multiple e-mails with their customer service department which finally permitted me to provide my bank account info. Blech.
• Note that you DO NOT need to provide your account number to customer service during the aforementioned chain of e-mails. I just provided them with the routing number (which is the same for every BofA in the U.S., and my city, and they eventually got their system to recognize my bank and city (albeit, the wrong bank branch.) 
• Do not enter your state in the city field (i.e. write "San Diego" and don't let it auto-populate to "San Diego, CA" - which it will. Enter a space or two after "San Diego" to get rid of the auto-populated state.
• At that point, I was finally able to provide my bank account number directly onto the website and carry on. 24-72 hours later, the book was published.
• iBookstore
• You need to apply online to publish in the iBookstore.
• Then wait five days.
• Then you don't hear anything back from them.
• Contact customer service.
• Then get an e-mail response that there was an issue with your Tax ID number and legal entity name.
• Send some e-mails back and forth over several days to resolve the issue.
• Application takes another five days to review.
• I'm still waiting.
• Shelfari
• Start a profile and populate with some of the books you have read
• Do some reviews, etc.
• Goodreads (reader only - author page after publication)
• Start a profile and populate with some of the books you have read
• Do some reviews, etc.

DON'T wait to get reviews:

If you're not doing an ARC of your book, it's a good idea to at least give your completed (or mostly completed) manuscript to as many reviewers as you can (friends, family...) Even the Word document. These people can provide reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, Shelfari, etc. as soon as you have established your author pages. Then when the book becomes available to the masses, you don't look like a dork by having zero reviews on your book and author sites. See my book and author sites for examples of looking like a dork. Moreover, if you get some great reviews before the book is published, you can include a review page in the front of your book.


DON'T publish before obtaining an LCCN, if you want one

The LCCN is essentially a catalog number for your book. For the self-publisher, the necessity of having one of these is debatable. But if you want one, there is a window of time for obtaining it: you have to have already assigned your ISBN, but you need to include the LCCN in your copyright page - so you have to get the LCCN before publishing if at all. It can take some time to get one, so plan ahead.

The official launch date for The Vesuvius Isotope is July 1, but the book is available now via all of the channels mentioned above except where noted. As I post this, copies can be obtained via Amazon (for print books or Kindle,) Barnesandnoble.com (for Nook,) and Kobo (for...Kobo.) You may also still get a print copy at my website, which will come signed.

Will I self-publish (by choice) again? That depends. I can say at this time that I'm 100% happy with the product I ended up with. But I have yet to see how the novel will actually sell. Stay tuned...

Readers, what would you add to this list?

Addendum: For whatever it's worth, I have now moved from "I might self-publish again" to "I'll never NOT self-publish again." I've now self-published The Vesuvius Isotope and The Death Row Complex, and been generally pleased with the results. As a bonus, I get to do what I want and not worry about anyone else's agenda. My third self-pubbed novel, the third Katrina Stone book, is coming... um... one of these days (hopefully soon!)

An Interview With Mark Pryor, Author of the Hugo Marston Series

I just read "The Crypt Thief" by Mark Pryor and thought readers would be interested in this fascinating series, a crime series starring a gentlemanly protagonist and set in Paris. Below is an interview with district attorney, Texas Brit and author Mark Pryor.

Hi Mark, Welcome to Murder Lab! Please tell our readers a little bit about yourself.

Hi, and thanks so much for having me. Let's see. The first thing people usually notice about me is that I'm a foreigner. English, to be precise, which sometimes catches people off-guard if they're not expecting it, and I'm wearing my cowboy boots. I moved to the States about twenty years ago, living in North Carolina (where my mum was born and raised) for ten years, and now I've been in Texas about ten years.

I used to be a newspaper reporter, in England, covering the crime beat for a local paper. Not as exciting a beat as it would be over here - in my last year there, not a single murder!  I did some freelance writing when I got to the US, and then went back to school to get my law degree.

I currently work as a prosecutor for the Travis County DA's office, which is in Austin.

I have just finished reading your latest novel, The Crypt Thief, and it was a blast. Please give our readers a brief introduction to this novel.

I am trying to highlight one or two aspect of Paris with each novel, either a geographic location or a time period. Grab them and have fun with them. The Crypt Thief kicks off in Paris's most famous cemetery, a wonderful place called Pere Lachaise. A mysterious ne'er-do-well creeps into the cemetery and runs across two tourists, and because they're interfering with his plan he kills them. I know, bodies in a cemetery, outrageous isn't it?!  Anyway, one of them was due to work at the US Embassy, which raises a red flag.

My hero, Hugo Marston is head of security at the embassy so he starts to investigate, and finds himself hot on the trail of a very, very nasty man.  And that's all very well, until the nasty little man decides Hugo needs to be one of his victims....

Your protagonist, Hugo Marston, is a fun character. Tell our readers a little bit about Hugo.

Thank you, I try to make him interesting. When I came up with the idea for Hugo, I wanted to model him after certain people. One was my dad, a very honest and unjudgmental man, with great intelligence and a sense of humor. He's also based on several real-life profilers I've met, men who kind of sit back and watch the world unfurl around them with knowing looks on their faces.  Overall, and in terms of fictional heroes, I wanted Hugo to be somewhat old-fashioned. He's not your alcohol/drug/past tortured kind of main character.  Sure, he's having a hard time with finding a woman to fall in love with (and who'll fall in love with him) and he's a little hard to get to know, but in most ways he's a more old-fashioned kind of hero: handsome, brave, smart, funny, and very much a gentleman.

Beyond Hugo, The Crypt Thief is populated by an entire cast of fascinating characters, actually. Your dialogues are priceless and your villain, The Scarab, is exceptionally creepy. Where did this character come from? Care to comment on his namesake, the scarab beetle?

Sometimes with a character you just get to hit the 'Go' button and see what happens. There are several ways to handle the creation of a serial killer, and a common one these days is to have him seem like everyone else, blend in and make the reader wonder as to who he is. I went the other way because I wanted to give my reader's chills, make him a powerful and scary image in their minds. He's short, he's ugly, he's ruthless, but he's also clever and has a history that explains why he's the way he is. Hopefully, though, I've made him creepy enough so not many people will sympathize too much!

You did a beautiful job of juxtaposing the glamour of Paris, like the Moulin Rouge, with the cemeteries in the city and other spookier Parisian elements. What is your connection to Paris? Are all of your books set there?

I'm very lucky in that I traveled a lot with my family when I was young, and we all had a strong connection to France. In fact, my mum lives in the south (in the same village as the Scarab, actually) in the Pyrenees mountains.  I've been to Paris maybe a dozen times and just plain love it. It's such a walkable city, pretty much everything you'd want to do or see there is near the city center.  And because it was never destroyed in the Second World War (like so many great European cities were) it has the old architecture and buildings intact.  It has food, art, museums... everything you could want in a modern city.

And yes, the Hugo Marston series will be set in Paris, though I plan to start shifting Hugo around a little more.  In the third novel, THE BLOOD PROMISE, the action happens at two country homes either side of Paris, as well as in the city itself.  And I'm talking to my editor about setting the fourth book in London and the fifth in Barcelona, so Hugo's going to be traveling in the years to come.  Of course, that means I have to as well, which is a hardship I will try to bear as bravely as possible.

Of course, I now want to go back and read "The Bookseller." What can you tell me about this first Hugo Marston novel?

THE BOOKSELLER centers around Hugo's friendship with a man named Max, who runs a bookstall right beside the River Seine. One day, as Hugo watches, Max is kidnapped and taken away on a boat. Because the Paris police don't seem overly interested, and Hugo feels terrible for not being able to stop the kidnap, he sets out to investigate by himself. To do that, he has to delve in Max's background and he finds out that... well, I don't want to spoil any surprises, so let's just say that Max was hiding a very colorful past.

I see you have a third novel from this series on deck. What is the premise for The Blood Promise, and when do you expect this book to be available?

With THE BLOOD PROMISE, I'm going back style-wise to the tone of THE BOOKSELLER, more of a mystery than a thriller (though the distinction can be blurry).  The novel starts in late 1700s Paris, with a man packing up an old sailor's chest with some mysterious, unnamed goodies, including a letter signed with the old man's blood.

We then move back to modern times, when Hugo is tasked to protect a US politician on a visit to Paris. Things don't go smoothly, of course, beginning with an intruder in the senator's bedroom, a murder in a chateau east of Paris, and a connection between the two events (as well as the chest, which has turned up on Hugo's doorstep) that Hugo needs to figure out before more people start dying. Which, of course, they do...

How many Hugo Marston books do you intend to write? Is the trilogy the end of him, or will Hugo keep coming back?

Nothing is set in stone, but as I mentioned before, it looks like the series will be continuing for two or three more books at least. I'm excited about that because I love Hugo and his friends, and I really enjoy writing his stories.

Have you written, and will you write, novels that fall outside of this series? Care to comment?

I'm working on something right now, actually, it's still crime fiction but very different in tone.  More noir, I suppose you could say. It's set in Austin, where I live, and will bring into play the city's wonderful music scene. I don't have a home for it yet, of course, and my agent's not even seen it but it's fun to write because it's so different.

Please tell our readers anything else you would like them to know about you and your books.

Well, first I'd like to thank everyone for reading this far. I'd like people to know that I love to hear from readers, the good and the bad (although so far people have only written to say nice things) and I respond to everyone who emails me. I don't like to bug people with emails and mailing lists, so I'd suggest that if people are interested in keeping tabs on the series (reviews, new books etc) the best way is to 'like' my author page on Facebook (link below).  Other than that, just to say thanks again for having me!

Please provide any contact information you would like our readers to have and ordering information for your novels.

My website is: www.markpryorbooks.com
My true crime blog is: www.daconfidential.com
Twiter handle: @daconfidential
and Facebook Author page

Note from Kris: I have also added The Crypt Thief to our Books section. Check it out!

The Mother So-Cal Indie Bookstore List

In preparing to launch The Vesuvius Isotope, I have compiled a mother list of bookstores. This list is composed entirely of independent bookstores (hence, they might or might not accept self-published work, as opposed to a blanket "no.") My list focuses on Southern California from San Diego through Los Angeles.

To create a similar list for your own area, please visit a fabulous, interactive Indie Bookstore Finder. Please feel free to share your list with me, and I will post it here on Murder Lab. And please, please, let me know if you're doing a signing, and I'll tell our readers!

To generate my So Cal list, I clicked on every single one of those little cross symbols from the Indie Bookstore Finder, and I copied and pasted the info from the reference. Then I went to the bookstore's website (if there was one) and took a few notes, which are also displayed below. I have taken the liberty of eliminating a few of the stores that (in my opinion) will never carry a mystery or thriller. Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Which isn't to say that I eliminated all such bookstores. The list is sorted by area.

Enjoy!

San Diego County

Clairemont and La Jolla

Comickaze Comics Books and more
5517 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, California 92117
(858) 278-0371
http://www.comickaze.com
Graphic Novels, Manga and crossover prose material

Mysterious Galaxy San Diego
7051 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard
San Diego, California 92111
(858) 268-4747
http://www.mystgalaxy.com
Mystery, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Frequent author events.

UCSD Bookstore
University of California San Diego
La Jolla, California 92093-0008
(858) 534-7323
http://www-bookstore.ucsd.edu
Finest selection of general, medical and technical book sections in San Diego

Groundwork Books
0323 UCSD New Student Center
La Jolla, California 92092
(858) 452-9625
http://groundwork.ucsd.edu/
Political collective

Warwick's
7812 Girard Avenue
La Jolla, California 92037-4230
(858) 454-0347
http://www.warwicks.com
Fiction, mysteries, history and biographies. Gift books on cooking, decorating, gardening & art.

Coronado, Downtown, Mission Valley

Bay Books
1029 Orange Avenue
Coronado, California 92118-3405
(619) 435-0070
http://www.baybookscoronado.com
Books of all kind including mystery, frequent author events, book clubs

Upstart Crow
835 C West Harbor Drive
San Diego, California 92101
(619) 232-4855
http://www.upstartcrowtrading.com/
Bookstore and coffeehouse. Frequent author events

Yellow Book Road
2690 Historic Decatur Rd
San Diego, California 92016
(619) 463-4900
http://www.yellowbookroad.com
Make your classroom rich with grade-level and reading level appropriate literature

Capt. Fitch's Mercantile
2627 San Diego Ave
San Diego, California 92110
(619) 298-3944
Books, replicas, nautical items, Blue/White China, writing sets, seals, teas

San Diego Museum of Art Museum Store
1450 EL Prado
San Diego, California 92112-2107
(619) 696-1971
http://www.sdmart.org
Most extensive collection of art related titles in San Diego County

The Grove
3010 Juniper St.
San Diego, California 92104
(619) 284-7684
Books, a knit shop, classes, and and ever changing variety of terrific stuff

5th Avenue Books
3838 Fifth Avenue
San Diego, California 92103
(619) 291-4660
http://www.fifthavenuebooks.com/
Broken web link, no description

Bluestocking Books & Bindery
3817 Fifth Avenue
San Diego, California 92103-3140
(619) 296-1424
http://www.bluestockingbooks.com
We order new and used books of all kinds

The Book Tree
3316 Adams Avenue
San Diego, California 92116
619 280-1263
http://www.thebooktree.com
Metaphysical, spiritual and controversial books, magic and alchemy

Del Mar, Encinitas, Carlsbad, and Vista

The Book Works
2670 Via de la Valle
Del Mar, California 92014-1982
(858) 755-3735
http://www.book-works.com
Literary fiction, non-fiction, gardening books, art & architecture

Ducky Waddle's Emporium
414 N. Coast Hwy. 101
Encinitas, California 92024
(760) 632-0488
http://www.duckywaddles.com
Art and design, metalworking, etc.

Farenheit 451 Books
325 Carlsbad Village Dr
Carlsbad, California 92008
(760) 720-3373

Book Place, Vista
1580 S. Melrose Dr. Ste 102
Vista, California 92081
760-599-8500
http://BookPlaceVista.com
Used books for trade

San Clemente and Laguna Beach

Village Book Exchange
99 Avenida Serra
San Clemente, California 92672
949-492-1114
http://downtownsanclemente.com
Book exchange with welcoming exchange policy

Mathom House Books, Inc.
83 Via Pico Plaza
San Clemente, California 92672
949-361-1633

Laguna Beach Books
1200 South Coast Highway
Laguna Beach, California 92651
(949) 494-4779
http://www.lagunabeachbooks.com
Books of all kinds, signings, events, book clubs

Del Cerro and La Mesa

SDSU Campus Bookstore
San Diego State University
San Diego, California 92182-0001
(619) 594-7541
http://www.aztecshops.com

Readers, Inc.
8219 La Mesa Blvd
La Mesa, California 91941-5215
(619) 461-1400

Book Place
6122 Lake Murray Blvd
La Mesa, California 91942
(619) 462-4200
http://bookplacesandiego.com
Used books for trade

Ramona and Borrego Springs

Unicorn Books and Gifts
738 Main Street
Ramona, California 92065
7607883700
http://www.unicornbooksandgifts.com
Books of all kinds, readings, frequent events

Borrego Desert Nature Center
652 Palm Canyon Drive
Borrego Springs, California 92004-0310
1-760-767-3098
http://www.abdnha.org
Nature and history books pertaining to the Anza-Borrego Desert region

Escondido, Fallbrook, Murietta

Paperback Book Exchange
153 E Grand Ave
Escondido, California 92025
(760) 746-6362
Book exchange; bring in good condition books and change them for half the store credit

Brandon Book Nook
129 East Hawthorn Street
Fallbrook, California 92028
(760) 731-2665

Eclectic Books
39520 Murrieta Hot Springs Rd Ste 218
Murrieta, California 92563-7714
(951) 591-0517
 
Orange County and Riverside County

Riverside

Downtowne Bookstore
3582 Main Street
Riverside, California 92501
(951) 682-1082 ‎

The Harvest Bookstore
6115 Arlington Avenue
Riverside, California 92504
951-351-6815
http://www.harvest.org
Nonprofit Christian bookstore that sells Bibles and other Christian books

DWPages (Book Sale)
470 McKinley St.
Corona, California 92879
(951) 270-0795

UCR Campus Store
900 University Ave East
Riverside, California 92521-0101
(951) 827-2665
http://www.ucrcampusstore.ucr.edu

Cellar Door Books
5225 Canyon Crest Dr. Suite 30 A/B
Riverside, California 92507
(951) 787-7807
Riverside’s independent bookstore for new books of all kinds

Bright Ideas Books
1520 N Waterman Ave
San Bernardino, California 92404-5111
(909) 888-3296
The only bookstore in San Bernadino

Palm Desert and Palm Springs

Ink Book Gathering
54385 N. Circle Dr.
Idyllwild, California 92549-3180
9515056575
http://INKBookGathering.com
A cool and quirky independent bookstore made for book lovers

Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Westminster, Irvine

UCI Bookstore
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, California 92697-1550
(949) 824-BOOK(2665)
http://www.book.uci.edu/

A Whale of a Tale Children’s Bookshop
4199 Campus Drive
Irvine, California 92612
(949) 854-8288
http://www.awhaleofatale.com
Children’s books

Martha’s Bookstore
308 1/2 Marine Avenue
Balboa Island, California 92662
(949) 673-7185
Enjoy a glass of chardonnay or tea from Republic of Tea while finding the perfect book or gift with the help of our knowledgeable staff.

Lido Village Books
3424 Via Oporto # 101
Newport Beach, California 92663-3941
(949) 673-2549
Independent bookstore

New & Recycled Romanced
147 Broadway
Costa Mesa, California 92627
(949) 645-0529
Romance genre

Book Off
2955 Harbor Blvd
Costa Mesa, California 92626
http://www.bookoff.co.jp
English and Japanese books, website is in Japanese

The Bookman HB/Bookman Too
19111 Beach Blvd.
Huntington Beach, California 92646
(714) 596-1999
http://www.bookmanhb.com
Broken web link

Mystery Ink
8907 Warner Ave
Huntington Beach, California 92647
(714) 743-6127

Anaheim, Santa Ana, Orange, Yorba Linda

BookTown USA
2090 So Euclid Street
Anaheim, California 92802
(714) 534-5038
Preowned and new books

Compass Books and Café
Downtown Disney
Anaheim, California 92802
(714) 502-9999
http://www.booksinc.net
Gobs of mystery/thriller/awards/book clubs/events

Martinez Books and Art Gallery
1200 N. Main St. Suite 100-D
Santa Ana, California 92701
(714) 973-7900
http://www.latinobooks.com/
Latino books

Acorn Naturalists
155 El Camino Real
Tustin, California 92705
(800) 422-8886
http://www.acornnaturalists.com
Science and nature books, mostly for kids, left field

Book Carnival
348 S. Tustin Street
Orange, California 92866
(714) 538-3210
http://annesbookcarnival.com/index.html
Mysteries and romantic suspense, events, signings, book club

The Bookman
840 N Tustin St
Orange, California 92867
(800) 538-0166
http://ebookman.com
Used, unique and out of print books

One Dollar Bookstore
8520 E Chapman Ave
Orange, California 92869
Used bookstore in a parking lot, all books are one dollar

Books Redux
18508 Yorba Linda Blvd
Yorba Linda, California 92886
(714) 970-2957

Los Angeles County

Long Beach

Apostrophe Books
4712 E. 2nd Street
Long Beach, California 90803
562-438-7950
http://www.apostrophebooks.net/
Books of all kinds, signing events

Shore Books
3064 E Broadway
Long Beach, California 90803-5814
(562) 433-9633
http://shorebookslb.com/
Website offline

Gatsby Books
5535 E. Spring St.
Long Beach, California 90808
(562) 208-5862
http://www.gatsbybooks.com
Lots of books and signings

San Pedro and Palo Verdes

Cabrillo Aquarium Gift Shop
3720 Stephen White Dr
San Pedro, California 90731
(310) 548-7562

William’s Book Store
443 West 6th Street
San Pedro, California 90731
(310) 832-3631
http://www.williamsbookstore.com
All kinds of books and signings

The Book Frog
550 Deep Valley Dr
Rolling Hills Estates, California 90274
310-265-2665
https://thebookfrog.mybooksandmore.com/
Lots of books but I don’t see any fiction

Compton, Bellflower, Norwalk

Books and Bits
11806 186th St
Artesia, California 90701
(562) 809-9110
Indian, Iranian, Pakistani

One Dollar Bookstore
4661 Silva St
Lakewood, California 90712
Used bookstore. All books are one dollar

A Castle of Books
4302 Atlantic Ave.
Long Beach, California 90807
(562) 448-ACOB (2262)
http://www.acastleofbooks.com/
Buy, trade, sell, used, rare, new. Currently looking for Art, Military, Transportation (Cars, Ships, Trains, Planes), and History of very specific subjects

Smiley’s Bookstore
20220 S. Avalon Blvd., Suite D
Carson, California 90746
(310) 324-8444

Manhattan and Redondo Beach

Mysterious Galaxy Redondo Beach
2810 Artesia Blvd.
Redondo Beach, California 90278
(310) 542-6000
http://www.mystgalaxy.com
Another branch of Mysterious Galaxy

Pages: A Bookstore
904 Manhattan Ave
Manhattan Beach, California 90266-5538
(310) 318-0900
http://www.pagesabookstore.com/
Author events galore

South Los Angeles

Classic One Herbs and Books
1425 W. Manchester Ave
Los Angeles, California 90047
Description says it’s a bookstore

Zahara’s Books and Things
900 N La Brea Ave
Inglewood, California 90312
(310) 330-1300
Books, magazines, etc.

Eso Won Books
4331 Degnan Blvd.
Los Angeles, California 90008
(323) 290-1048
http://www.esowonbookstore.com/
Looks to be all kinds of books.

Trojan Bookstores
840 Childs Way
Los Angeles, California 90089-2540
(213) 740-9036
http://www.uscbookstore.com
USC Bookstore

Santa Monica and Beverly Hills

Beyond Baroque Bookstore
681 Venice Blvd
Venice, California 90291
(310) 822-3006
http://beyondbaroque.org
Poetry-centric, bad link

Mystic Journey Bookstore
1319 Abbot Kinney Blvd
Venice, California 90291-3739
(310) 399-7070
http://www.mysticjourneybookstore.com/
Spiritual exploration

Small World Books
1407 Ocean Front Walk
Venice, California 90291-3605
(310) 399-2360
http://smallworld.indiebound.com
Fiction, mystery, science fiction and poetry

Barry R. Levin Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature
720 Santa Monica Blvd
Santa Monica, California 90401-2602
(310) 458-6111
http://www.raresf.com

Alias Books
1650 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, California 90025
310 473 4442
http://www.aliasbooks.com
Used books

CG Jung Bookstore
10349 W. Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, California 90064
310-556-1193 ext 228
http://www.junginla.org/bookstore
Entirely about the life of CG Jung

Diesel, a Bookstore, Brentwood
225 26th St.
Santa Monica, California 90402-2541
(310) 576-9960
http://www.dieselbookstore.com
Lots of author events, looks like all kinds of books

Village Books
1049 Swarthmore Ave
Pacific Palisades, California 90272
(310) 454-4063
http://palivillagebooks.com/
Link goes to a restaurant - whaaaa?

Central Los Angeles and Hollywood

Storyopolis
12348 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, California 91604
(310) 358-2500
Children’s books

Bodhi Tree Bookstore
8585 Melrose Ave
West Hollywood, California 90069-5105
(310) 659-4428
Dedicated to the growth of a peaceful world through personal transformation

Traveler’s Bookcase
8375 W. 3rd Street
Los Angeles, California 90048
(323) 655-0575
http://www.travelbooks.com
Looks almost exclusively travel books, I found one that looks like a mystery

LA County Museum of Art Bookshop
5905 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, California 90036-4504
(323) 857-6147
http://www.lacma.org

Dawson’s Bookshop
535 N Larchmont Blvd
Los Angeles, California 90004-1372
(323) 469-2186
http://www.dawsonbooks.com/
Antiquarian books

Chevalier’s Books
126 North Larchmont Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90004-3705
(323) 465-1334
Adult fiction, art books, children’s books

Skylight Books
1818 North Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90027
(323) 660-1175
http://www.skylightbooks.com
General bookstore, events, etc.

Stories
1716 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, California 90026
213-413-3733
http://www.storiesla.com
Cool little indie store, looks like they have it all

Aldine Books
1498 W Sunset Blvd # 2
Los Angeles, California 90026
(213) 482-0264‎
A “hidden treasure”

Kinokuniya Bookstore
123 Onizuka St #205
Los Angeles, California 90012
(213) 687-4480
http://www.kinokuniya.com
I can’t tell what this is

The Last Bookstore
453 S. Spring St.
Los Angeles, California 90013
(213) 488-0599
http://lastbookstorela.com
Looks like they have a lot of all kinds of books

Caravan Bookstore
550 South Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, California 90071
(213) 626-9944
“Cool little book nook”

Glendale and Pasadena

Mystery and Imagination
238 N. Brand Blvd.
Glendale, California 91203
(818) 545-0206
http://www.mysteryandimagination.com
Looks like a lot of mystery, sci-fi and horror

Book-em Mysteries
1118 Mission Street
South Pasadena, California 91030-3212
(818) 799-9600
http://www.bookem.com
Indie mystery bookstore

Distant Lands Travel Books and Outfitter
56 South Raymond Avenue
Pasadena, California 91105-1935
(626) 449-3220
Travel guides, etc. They have a lot of lectures about places

Apostrophe Books
340 E. Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, California 91101
(626) 744-9630

Cliff's Books
630 E Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, California 91101

Vroman's Bookstore
695 East Colorado Boulevard
Pasadena, California 91101
(626) 449-5320
http://www.vromansbookstore.com
Fabulous indie store

North Hollywood and Studio City

Books in the Belfry
5453 Satsuma Ave.
North Hollywood, California 91601
(818) 943-4695

Geographia Map and Travel Bookstore
4000 West Riverside Drive
Burbank, California 91505-4328
(818) 848-1414
Travel books

When the Deep Purple Falls, by E.A. Aymar

Our very own E.A. Aymar wants to make you all aware of a couple of releases he has coming up. His debut novel, entitled I'll Sleep When You're Dead (formerly Goodbye, Beautiful,) will be coming out this fall from Black Opal Books. But in the meantime, he is releasing a short prequel, entitled...

When the Deep Purple Falls

Please see the above video for an entertaining introduction to this work. You can also read more about it here, on E.A.'s website. 

***E.A. is currently holding a contest and a chance to win artwork.***

See the website for further details.