「……風滾草的天氣……
今天,我們一本書也沒賣出去……
營收:0……
這可能是開店以來第一次……
我們知道大環境不好,但是如果你願意幫助我們,請上AbeBooks圖書網站選購,全部75折……」
彼得斯菲爾德書店(Petersfield Bookshop)是一家獨立書店,位於英格蘭南部的漢普夏(Hampshire),專賣善本書、舊書與地圖,經營已有百年歷史。14日那天風雨如晦,客人少了許多,一整天下來,書店沒有賣出任何一本書。
13年資歷的店長桑孫(Robert Sansom)有點兒難過,於是上推特(Twitter)發了一則推感歎文,配上滿滿的書架與空蕩蕩的走道照片,期望愛書人就算不想出門,也可以上書店的網路商城支持一下。
...Tumbleweed...
— Petersfield Bookshop (@The_PBS) January 14, 2020
Not a single book sold today...
£0.00...
We think think this maybe the first time ever...
We know its miserable out but if you'd like to help us out please find our Abebooks offering below, all at 25% off at the moment.... pic.twitter.com/Cn5uhYWw88
這則淒風苦雨的推文觸動了英國科幻與奇幻小說家蓋曼(Neil Gaiman),隨即轉推,而且一推不可收拾。蓋曼在推特上有275萬個追隨者。
一夜之間,彼得斯菲爾德書店在AbeBooks網頁擁入超過1000英鎊(新台幣4萬元)的訂單,愛書人來自天涯海角。桑孫說:「很感動。」
It's always the after talk conversation which shows how much people appreciate the speaker... thank you Dawn for captivating us with Grimm tales and other this evening. pic.twitter.com/V0c3j9PASE
— Petersfield Bookshop (@The_PBS) January 16, 2020
到17日,桑孫的推文已經被轉推近9000次、被1萬8000人按讚,書店也新增1100多位追隨者。英國廣播公司(BBC)、《衛報》(The Guardian)都做了報導。書店也辦了幾場店內活動,反應熱烈,門庭若市。
56歲的店主威斯特伍(John Westwood)不太用社群媒體,對這樣的效應只覺得神奇。他說「我熱愛出版業,但是亞馬遜(Amazon)之類的網路書店把我們打得好慘;我為了繼續經營這家書店,已經賣掉房子。」不過威斯特伍對未來還是保持樂觀,相信業務會蒸蒸日上。
「我從父親手中繼承這家書店。你如果想發大財,你不會做賣書這一行。書和一般的事物很不一樣,逛書店是最美好的經驗……看看書,摸摸書,聞聞書,書店是個特別的地方。」
Can we just say thank you @neilhimself this is not the day we thought we were going to have but it's been the best. People are kind and that's something to never forget
— Petersfield Bookshop (@The_PBS) January 15, 2020
This is a small portion of the orders we received overnight and today as a result of the Gaiman bump pic.twitter.com/9qxDx7Ct58