I've got the t-shirt (from the American Library Association) that reads:
Free people write books
Free people publish books
Free people sell books
Free people buy books
Free people read books
I missed the memo that said I didn't have to do all of these things myself.
I publish books through my company, Crum Creek Press/The Mystery Company. We publish books for mystery lovers in print and digital formats.
After a five-year stint as Manager of the Kenyon College Bookstore, I moved to Pennsylvania in 2015 where I'm now the Director of the Bryn Mawr College Bookshop. At Bryn Mawr, I sell books, both trade and text. Before Kenyon, my wife Jennie and I owned an independent bookstore in Carmel, Indiana. On Alibris, we list a small collection of books for sale from our own overstuffed shelves — www.alibris.com/stores/overstuf.
I don't exactly write books, but I contribute essays to books and newsletters, and I've edited a few books, including They Died in Vain: Overlooked, Underappreciated and Forgotten Mystery Novels (winner of the Agatha, Anthony and Macavity Awards for Best Nonfiction of 2002) and Mystery Muses: 100 Classics That Inspire Today's Mystery Writers (Anthony and Macavity Award winner for Best Nonfiction of 2006), and Organizing Crime: The Mystery Company's Guide to Series (2011). I speak and write occasionally about mysteries and the business of books; you can find links to some of my comments on my "Essays and other words" page. You'll find more comments on the blog and on Facebook.
I seem to buy more than my share of books, not just to stock a store but to stock our home too. (The Erasmus line -- "When I get a little money, I buy books and if any is left, I buy food and clothes" -- is all too apt.)
As for reading books? That's what got me into trouble in the first place.
-- Jim Huang