interview with Jesse & Charlie from This Ain't the Rosedale Library, one of Canada's best bookstores

Too much attention has been paid to literary prizes, which are only as good as the juries that select from the current crops. Too much attention has been paid to market research in the cultural realm. In our case we enjoy, perhaps even a little too much, the work of researching culture on our own. We go to readings, we take recommendations from customers (many of whom are writers) and, especially, we aren't afraid to look backwards at books that were published in the past but still deserve a place on our customers' shelves. When we're traveling, we check out as many bookstores, galleries and readings as we possibly can. As a natural result of our enthusiasm we are happy to billet out-of-town poets, and keep abreast with the cutting edge in the areas of film, music, and especially visual art. All this demystifies the whole idea of marketing books and brings it down to earth, turning it back into a pleasure for all involved...