hour. little instances like that, more then getting shot. i know he's very good at what he does. he always told me what he did amendment is on the show manhunt, you really saw what he did. that's a mouselike that's what you really do. that was more reality. you know, i always knew he was cut up what he did, so that always got me through. >> and my wife is a deputy u.s. marshal, so she knows -- and she carries a gun now. i behave myself. >> thank you so much for coming. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> i.d. means he is sitting there. how did i? good to see you.

[inaudible conversations] >> in 1986, the chairman of the communist party by the name of who yell bomb he was sympathetic the student and debate and democracy movement at that level was stripped of his position in put under house arrest. when that happened, china came into a relatively repressive. but all the debate had to go underground and which cost a lot of tension and the build up until the 1989 -- spring of 1989 with who yell by unexpectedly died of a heart attack and by

that you remember was the event that triggered tiananmen square demonstration and the students wanted to go out to the street and demanded that they would be allowed to receive royalties take it high to someone who is sympathetic to students. when that demand was refused, the students took to the street had developed into a massive demonstration. at the time i took pride in the movement with a lot of my friends, who some of them became very prominent in the movement and became student leaders and let hunger strikes are not for example and throughout the seven and and a half weeks at the tiananmen movement. when june 4th came, they turned right into beijing and opened fire on the students. the movement was crashed and after that comment regime came

under martial law and this university campus is very sailed off and there was a lot of arrest. their executions and it became a very dangerous place. and i had before that tiananmen event earned a scholarship from the u.s. to continue my graduate studies. so i was able to get my passport after hiding in the countryside for about a week. once i received my passport, i got my ps2 in the u.s. consulate and left china the second of august to america. i remember clearly and still today when i arrived in williamsburg and stood on the campus of william mary agnes very quiet.

it was an amazing and liberating feeling to be standing in a place where you realize for the first time in my life that no one was watching me and no one was going to report the things that i said. >> booktv asked, what are you reading this summer? be back before i answer your question, they could give you a background over the last 10 years of concentrated most of my reading on the early cons to teach the history of our country and early presidents of our country. i suppose i studied that status 50 years ago or more, but it's good to go back to it.

thomas jefferson, john adams, most recently john quincy adams. so let me tell you my main interest this summer is going to be a book with a loud title. the great debate: edmund burke, thomas peyton and the birth of the right in the last. the reason i am very interested in that case i have quoted edmund burke so much during my political career, never really studied his back round. and this gives me an opportunity as i've read a short synopsis of this book, gives me an opportunity to find out what a conservative that thinks you ought to have incremental change versus the other writer that see right to do it by revolution and make change very, very quickly. so it's the difference between what i would call edmund burke a

conservative or not i would even call thomas paine a conservative. people might disagree with my analysis of pain, but they seem to be people how they want to change more than exactly that they disagreed on what are to be done. and so, since i have quoted these people so much during my political career, i want to study them in depth and i've never done that. >> oren teicher is the ceo of the american booksellers celebration. what is the aba? >> where the national trade association that represents independent bookstores across the united states.

we've been around for 114 years. asking a member that easily because we were founded in 1800. >> with sizes of membership? i'm an independent bookstores are in the u.s. out? >> we currently represent about 1700 companies who do business in about 2400 locations all across the country. >> does that include the larger chains such as rooms available? >> it does not. our members are independent. we define it as not being publicly traded companies. our members range very, very small scores of the few hundred square feet or perhaps would do a quarter of a million dollars a year and last in total sales to some very, very large come to me said too many, many millions of dollars in locations, but the key thing for us is we are independently owned businesses

not owned by any corporation. >> how would you describe the financial health of the independent bookstores in america today i >> surprisingly, we are in a lot better shape than a lot of people think. i know there is a popular narrative often that takes about independent bookshops has been added to injury species that were against the wall under enormous pressure. i'll need an independent bookstore is a tough business, but it got over the last few years, there is a research and in the stores across the country. membership numbers have shown hottest growth. sales across the network of our stories have been strong. so we are actually doing far better than is often properly perceived. that is a lot of hard work and very sophisticated, clever entrepreneurship by thousand of

retailers across the country. but the news is far better than was popularly perceived. >> host: oren teicher, according to your website, the independent bookstores is 10% of total book sales. >> guest: that is about right. it varies on specific individual titles. some titles a mature market share substantially higher. send substantially less. independent bookshops in america really has become the early warning system if you will. we're the place where books get discovered. often they go on to sell far more copies than other outlet. but our stories tend to be the place where consumers discover books, discover books perhaps they didn't know about. one of the interesting things about the book business these days that despite all the quantum leaps forward in technology and despite all the

remarkable changes going on, the fact is nothing beats a bricks and mortar store to discover title suited know about. so browsing the shelves at the store in the isles of the store, you'll find book suited to know about. you can't do that anywhere else. despite the fact that our total market share is modest, we hope try the rest of the business and lots of folks are discovered in our stores as perhaps they may not all be bought from our members. >> mr. sub to promote effective the readers in a publishing hand on the members? >> well, you know, we are actually think that all of the technological leaps forward actually are working to our advantage. in fact, one of the reasons there is this research and it can be bookstores is because we are figuring out how to embrace

technology and how to use technology and make it our friend. he now come a decade ago, a lot of that knowledge if it existed either is unavailable to an independent story because it simply was far too expensive for just didn't exist yet. in today's world, there has been this incredible democratization of type allergy and our members can use technology in the same way lots of our large corporate competitors since certainly the dimension of being able to operate online, be able to sell books, physical books online, we can do that in the same way as well as being able to sell digital content. we know that our men are spurred on by melanie our bricks and mortar stores. they are going to be engaged in selling physical books. some of the time some of our best customers are going to read digitally and we've empowered

them to reprogram a canadian company to deal to sell digital content. it's a modest piece of our total business, but it is exactly one of those places where we now can contribute and participate in the family lurched stores can. >> host: when you think about amazon and its effect on the book selling business, what are your thoughts? >> guest: well, look, amazon is the thousand pound gorilla in the book business today. publishers, agents, authors as well as other books doors and clearly what they do influence is a great deal of the market. but what we are finding is despite amazon suffers inside, there are still millions and millions of readers who want to come to a bricks and mortar physicals were. they want to take advantage of the enormous knowledge in passion about books that you

find amongst the people who work in our members stories. and you know, interestingly in a world in which so much of our day is spent in front of a computer screen, people do yearn for interact with other human beings. that happens in a bricks and mortar store. it would be naïve not to acknowledge that amazon has enormous influence to do business these days. but we are managing to find our niche and to make our nice work quite well and to serve a critical role, whether it's a volvo school systems, other organizations and to be in the forefront of one community. bricks and mortar, local independent stores can do that in a way nobody else can. >> with the involvement with the education system? >> well, lots of stores work closely with the school system in their communities.

they bring offers. to help identify titles. as i said a moment ago, one of the strengths is the six-run area knowledge about votes. people who work in those doors actually read the books and their ability to communicate educators about what are the books they might want to be using it schools is exactly one of the ways in which we are able to contribute to our community. lots of stores have active relationships with schools. they do school book fairs. they do lots of things to help promote the school somehow provide books to schools throughout the community they are in. bookstores are by their very definition needs to be a function of the community in which they are in and the members of ours who do that well help make that an import piece of their success. >> host: recently come a

couple months ago, mr. sub to come he wrote a letter the american booksellers association to just basis of amazon. you start the letter off by saying dear jeff, i am puzzled. what is this letter about? >> guest: well, there are a lot of things we've had some issues with amazon about over the years. one of them has been our fight to create a level playing field with regard to the collection of sales tax on internet sales. we first on the ice, along with lots of other independent retailers and frankly along with several other large big box retailers have been making the case that it really isn't the appropriate role of government to be choosing favorites between competing retailers. we are going to succeed or fail in the marketplace because we operate with stores. the customers want to come and shop and not because our competitors are in effect been

subsidized by not having to collect sales tax. it is generally now pretty widely read. having a level playing field makes a lot of sense. and though amazon has paid lip service to wanting to support it equitable solution to sales tax fairness, state after state they continue to fight efforts to require internet sellers to collect tax. so we think amazon has been trying to have it both ways. we welcome their support of the marketplace fairness act, which is the legislation working its way through congress. but would also like their help in ensuring the states to the right thing and we create an environment where all retailers are treated the same and there is a level playing field and as i say, it will succeed or fail because they are good business people, not because their competitors subsidized. >> host: what is the aba's position on the google book

settlement issue? >> you know, that is not something we been particularly aged in. it is our view authors have a concern and we are supportive of the effort to ensure that copyright is protected. it's an important principle in our business that not only protects authors and publishers in booksellers, too, that helps encourage the creation and creativity of content that would eat pretty disastrous world if that creativity was stymied. so to that degree for settlement in effect cut an impact on that, dataset can turn to us. our view is that copyright needs to be precise date and we certainly joined with our colleagues in the publishing committee to ensure that happens. >> some more statistics from

their website in 2012, 23rd team, independent bookstores growth rate 8%, all bookstores negative 1.6%. but the number of independent bookstores in the u.s. by year. you can see in 2009 about 1650 and in 2013 that was set in 1845. for if opened in 2014. mr. teicher, where does the growth come from? what is the strategy that has been used? >> paraben should rescind that it accounted for the resurgent in these stores. one of them is the democratization of tape elegy that i talked about before. and that is -- has real significant effect on our members, our ability to be able to sell online, to sell a digital product online. our ability to communicate with customers and social media and e-mail so the change in technology in the way are

embracing tech elegy certainly is one thing helping contribute to our success. there are two other things though. one is the localism movement across the country is absolutely changing the way millions and millions of americans to mercer shopping. it is no longer a dispute over and dispute that there are millions of consumers making decisions about shopping in a locally owned independent this because it is locally owned independent business books because those dollars get recirculated in the community, they go much further when it gets that locally as well as it helps make every community different and unique. the localism movement is changing the way people are shopping. bookstores have been at the forefront of the localism movement ever since its inception. it continues to grow every year and it absolutely is helping contribute to our reasons.

so they've got to changing technology and the localism movement. the other thing that is happening this hour colleagues in the publishing community frankly understand the vital role of the independent workshops play in ensuring that consumers have access send us other titles that perhaps as i said earlier they may not know about. our friends in publishing has said to us, look, how do we work together? it is not in our interest that we survive, it is in their interest. so there are lots of things being done in terms of reinvent in the traditional is this model, hopping, but newer, better, more contemporary ways to do business and distribution indeed even the kind of co-op advertising plans that exists. frankly our friends in publishing has been very responsive and supportive and understanding that the road is changing and they need to help

us ensure that we survive. so you've got the democratization of technology as i like to call it, the localism movement, the publisher's willingness to adopt new business models. and then of course, what you have got is this extraordinary entrepreneurial spirit of independent booksellers. they are the most entrepreneurial folks who find anywhere. they love what they do and they desperately want to figure out how to continue to be able to do it. and you know, in retail, there is a time in which the presumption always was that baker was better. in this world today that is changing so fast, often being a little smaller so you can adapt, and make made course corrections all the time is actually an advantage. so we are finding our sizes actually working for an advantage these days and allows us to be able to adapt and

change them to be competitive in what is the very, very competitive business. after all, folks can divide applied anywhere. a book is exact the same product, whether you buy it from us or you don't get a different ending if you buy in the independent bookstore. but the fact is that shopping experience is different, is unique and clearly there are consumers who value that and are interested in continuing to see that we not just survive, but that we thrive and can play the role we do in our communities. >> two very well-known authors have gotten involved as well. sure menelik fan james patterson. what is the role? >> well, sherman did some last father was actually really extrude neri. sure many lives in seattle, has had a fan of plot to seattle area bookstores for a long time

put out a challenge to his authors and the boat, put your time where your mouth is and why to use in the day hoping this worse do what they do. and that is sell books. so he put out a call on his twitter account, urging fellow writers to comment at their local bookstore and volunteer to be a bookseller for the data mall business saturday last november. amazingly we had over a thousand authors respond and those thousand authors showed up in hundreds, literally hundreds of stores across the country to work on small business saturday in contribute to what had been -- but was a great day in bookselling. sherman wanted very much to be able to demonstrate to us that the authors are on our side. we called it indecent worst. that is when he called it.

it was both in terms of giving something back to the store is and also to ensure that stores listed the independent option on their website, that people didn't just presume that the other company was the only way in which people can buy books online and those authors respond and join him in working stores last november. mr. patterson has done something quite different, he announced some weeks ago that he was going to in fact tony a million dollars to indie stores across the country. he has in fact already been giving out some of this money and therefore all kinds of things. he has been a strong supporter for a long time about programs that encourage kids to read, daycare kids to read at a young age. he often speaks about how

terribly that wasn't his own family, about getting his son to read at a young age in wanted to spread the joy of reading to kids all across the country. mr. patterson has put his money where his mouth is and has been helping stores to all kinds of things, helping create programs with their school systems, doing outreach programs, policies stores be more competitive retail businesses. so we are thankful to jim patterson into sherman alexy. they are but two of many authors who i know how a great deal and feel they owe a great deal because it was those booksellers that helped launch their careers and they want to come back and figure out a way to pay the bookstores back and both of them have done so in an incredibly generous way. >> host: oren teicher has been the ceo of the american booksellers association since

2009. in 2013, mr. teicher in the aba board virtuousness publisher weekly's person of the year for their role in leading the resurgence of an append a bookselling. who serves on the board, mr. teicher? >> guest: we have 10 practicing booksellers who are from 10 stores all over the country. there are large stores, small stores, all different. they are an extraordinary group of volunteers who spend an enormous amount of time working on helping us frame the policies and programs of our association. aba has been really fortunate over the years to have had a long line of really active, affect good, hard-working board members who really wrote their sleeves and help make our association at her. we are a trade association and

at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is what is that we can do to help make our stores more profitable, more successful. our board helps us do that. we have a staff of about 30 folks in our office and we work as hard as we can to try to ensure that the flag of independent bookselling has flown high and that we help innovate and help members figure out how to be creative and innovative in a world that is changing. bloomberg delighted and obviously enormously gratified by publisher weekly selection of us this past november, this past fall as their person of the year and a kind of gave us confidence that we were on the right track, have been a respected third-party journal do that that is read widely by everybody in the book business.

so it was a nice thing to have happen and what we are enormously proud of. >> host: what is the aba's relationship with the publishers? >> we work closely with the publishing community. as i mentioned a moment ago we've been working with publishers in trying to figure out what might be the ways we can work more effectively together. not as charity for us by any stretch of the imagination, but how is it we can create a business relationship that can help them sell more books and help us sell more books. i will tell you that i think publishers large and small have responded to that challenge. some years ago at the aba annual meeting i observed one of the peculiar things in our business was we really were doing business the same way as today as we had been doing 25, 30 years ago and the fact is

there's very little and business be done nothing today than it was 25 or 30 years ago. since we issued that challenge to our friends in publishing, they have responded. every publisher has done different things, but as i said, we are delighted they've acknowledged and understood that there are opportunities for us to work more closely together and how we can succeed in ensuring more people have access to a greater number of titles. it's a good relationship and when we work at all the time. >> host: on the flip side are the readers. that mcfarlane recently had an article entitled books are losing the war for our attention. here's how they can fight back. in this, i'm sure you saw he writes technology has reshaped everything from how we communicate to how we find a mate or job coming up the experience of reading books remains largely on transformed

in the popularity of books has suffered in the face of flashier media formats that are perfect for busy world. then he goes on to say the number of nonbook readers has tripled since 1978. >> you know, i don't disagree with the overall premise that i think this is probably the most significant challenge that all of us in the book industry have today and that is the competition for peoples leisure time. and zero, we live in a world in which everybody has access to everything always. we all walk around devices that we can watch films and play games and read magazines and do everything possible to compete with one's leisure time. it is incumbent upon all of us in the book business to be figuring out how we continue to

make reading interesting and fun. it is absolutely a problem that we have. you know, i would say though that some of those statistics are an out of the correct, our members, that is the independent stores across the country continue to find that we have a significant number of folks who still do love to read. our book clubs and member stores have more members today than they've ever had for. the attendance at our events seems to be greater than it ever was before. so i don't diminish the overall concern about the competition for peoples leisure time. but we are fighting back in many ways a month to stores continue to be serving a substantial population base in their communities. so we are not an amazing the

challenge, but we still find there are lots of people who love to read. >> host: mr. teicher, are there areas for independent bookstores are thriving in areas where they are not? >> guest: you know, it's a good question. the 30,000-foot answer to that is our membership literally as everywhere. stores in the resurgence i describe has happened in the rural areas and small towns in suburbia and urban centers. here in new york, brooklyn for example there has been the explosion of new stores that have opened over the last four or five years so that our reach across the country is pretty consistent. there are one or two markets that historically have had stronger in the stores. seattle, san francisco, boston

to name three. those markets had a long history of strong, independent stores. one of the challenges for a preset retail brand in many major cities tend to be really high and the economics of operating at book shop in a place for the event is as high as difficult. but i would say overall this resurgence that i have been describing is absolutely a national phenomenon and that resurgence is manifest as an existing stores expanding. we have stories that are opening additional locations, which some years ago certainly was unheard of. we've got stores expanding their existing space. so there's a lot of things happening that i know again as i

said earlier is not what is part of the popular narrative about what is happening. i guess some of these old legends are hard to bury it hard to put behind us. as they say, we are figuring out how to make it work in a very, very competitive environment. not just because of the question you asked a moment ago about the competition are leisure time, but the fact books are being sold everywhere and consumers have asked is in any number of ways other than shopping in a bookstore. we appreciate that and that of course is further evidence -- surprising evidence as to how it is surprising we are doing as well as we are. >> host: a lot of tourists of politics & prose bookstore in a list of places to visit. mr. teicher, when you go in the

world, where are some of the bookstores you've toured recently do you think people would enjoy? >> guest: politics & prose is one of those stores. one of the great things about my job is i get to visit the dearly hundreds and hundreds of bookshops all the time, both in the united states and has the privilege of visiting many around the world. they are all my favorite. it's hard to pick out any number. i would urge folks as you travel, looking for stores. there are some incredibly unique stores in every market in the country. i know sometimes people think maybe they only exist in one kind of a community. as i said, our members are doing well in all kinds of communities, large and well. stores are all kinds of shapes and sizes.

there are some of our members, powells, for example, and portland, chop or is the largest independent bookstores in the country, which is a place to when you go to portland, for sure you want to visit powells. i can rattle off 30 cities off the top of my head in which i know there are some incredible stories. i have been traveling this spring and has been in cleveland. i've been in minneapolis. i've been in denver. in each of those cities, there have been great stores. so we are everywhere and we are hoping to welcome customers to shop in our stores right away. >> if you want to see the numbers, the website is both web to work. oren teicher is ceo. thank you for being with us on booktv. >> guest: my pleasure. i enjoyed it.

>> booktv continues with philip k. howard. he argues leadership in the united states has been replaced by stifling an outdated rules and regulations and laws. he says government needs to be simplified in a way that allows people the freedom to be practical. this is about an hour and 15 minute. >> thank you so much for joining us here today. i'm pleased to welcome y