I AM writing in response to “Latest battle in book price wars,’’ Jeff Jacoby’s Oct. 28 op-ed column about the American Booksellers Association’s clash with discount sellers. I was a small part of Spenser’s Mystery Book Shop, an independent bookstore on Newbury Street from 1982 through 2001 that now exists only online, and I can attest that the movie “You’ve Got Mail’’ was fact masquerading as fiction. The big guys ultimately beat up the little guys, no matter how dedicated the independent’s following may be.
In 1991, 5,200 independent booksellers were members of the ABA; today there are fewer than 1,200. Publishers set discounts based on volume, so the large chains get much better discounts than independents can.
Independent booksellers were the first to feature and hand-sell the first Michael Connelly (“The Black Echo’’); we hand-sold Janet Evanovich, Charlaine Harris, and Elizabeth George long before they were on a bestseller list, but it was the bestseller that brought customers in.
We were the corner store you spent your childhood in, where you found soon-to-be favorite books, chatting with the owner or another customer. Jacoby can tell his kids how it used to be, because it won’t be that way again.
Kathy Phillips, North Andover 
