| Categories | trade publication |
|---|---|
| Frequency | bimonthly, quarterly |
| Founder | Carol Seajay |
| Founded | 1976 |
| First issue | October 14, 1976 |
| Final issue | Summer 2000 |
| Based in | San Francisco, California, United States |
| ISSN | 0741-6555 |
| OCLC | 10196440 |
Feminist Bookstore News (FBN) was a trade publication for feminist bookstores. It was active from 1976 until 2000,[1] and issues were published sometimes bimonthly and sometimes quarterly.[2] The publication was described by Tee Corinne as "the glue that kept women booksellers around the world together",[3] acting as a network for feminist booksellers and publishers across the United States and transnationally.[4][5][6]
History[edit]
Feminist Bookstore News was founded by Carol Seajay after the First National Women in Print Conference, intended to help the community that had attended stay in touch with each other.[7] The five largest feminist bookstores donated $100 each ($535 in 2023) to help start the publication.[8] The first issue was published on October 14, 1976.[7]
The publication began as a six-page mimeographed newsletter[9] called Feminist Bookstores Newsletter,[10] supported by funding from Womanbooks, Amazon Bookstore Cooperative, and New Words Bookstore.[11] The name was changed to Feminist Bookstore News in 1984. By 1988 the publication was 48 pages long and issues were professionally printed roughly every two months.[12]
As feminist bookstores became less common due to chain stores and online shopping, the subscriber count of FBN dropped, and publication eventually ceased in 2000.[11]
Activity[edit]
Book lists were common in FBN, with a focus on connecting readers with resources and supporting authors. Early list topics included “Native American Women,” “Black Women,” and “Young Women & Youth Liberation.”[13]
After Toni Morrison's book The Bluest Eye went out of print in the mid-1970s, FBN promoted a campaign to demonstrate demand to publishers by writing them orders for large quantities of the book. The Bluest Eye was reissued in 1978.[10] A similar effort took place with The Female Man by Joanna Russ, which went out of print in 1977 and was also re-released in 1978 after advocacy from feminist booksellers coordinated by FBN. This type of letter-writing campaign was often repeated in the publication.[14]
FBN popularized the practice of sending a portion of profit to feminist authors when selling copies of their remaindered books, because authors did not receive royalties from publishers for these copies.[15]
References[edit]
- ^ "Feminist Bookstore News Records". Online Archive of California. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
- ^ "Feminist Bookstore News — Browse by title — Independent Voices". voices.revealdigital.org. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
- ^ Kuda, Marie J. (2000-07-26). "Feminist Bookstore News closes - Windy City Times News". Windy City Times. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
- ^ Travis 2008, p. 277.
- ^ Hogan 2008, p. 597.
- ^ Hogan 2016, p. xiv.
- ^ a b Sullivan, Elizabeth. "Carol Seajay, Old Wives Tales and the Feminist Bookstore Network". FoundSF. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
- ^ Tyrkus, Michael J.; Bronski, Michael, eds. (1977). Gay & Lesbian Biography. St. James Press. ISBN 978-1-55862-237-1 – via Gale In Context: Biography.
- ^ Harper, Jorjet (21 June 1990). "Lambda Awards Ceremony: Vegas Rising". Bay Area Reporter. Vol. 20, no. 25. p. 82. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
- ^ a b Hogan 2008, p. 599.
- ^ a b Travis 2008, p. 288.
- ^ Travis 2008, pp. 287–288.
- ^ Hogan 2016, pp. 38–39.
- ^ Hogan 2016, pp. 50–52.
- ^ Hogan 2016, pp. 53–54.
Bibliography[edit]
- Hogan, Kristen (2008-03-01). "Women's Studies in Feminist Bookstores: "All the Women's Studies women would come in"". Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. 33 (3): 595–621. doi:10.1086/523707. ISSN 0097-9740. S2CID 144949497.
- Hogan, Kristen (2016). The Feminist Bookstore Movement: Lesbian Antiracism and Feminist Accountability. Durham [North Carolina]. ISBN 978-0-8223-6110-7. OCLC 915120533.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Travis, Trysh (2008). "The Women in Print Movement: History and Implications". Book History. 11: 275–300. ISSN 1098-7371. JSTOR 30227421.
