Sponsor Letter, January 8th 2021

 Happy New Year!

Given that I'm writing on the evening of Wednesday, January 6th, I've got to say that 2021 is starting off in a way that is, shall we say, "In tune"?, with 2020.  But, I'm cautiously hopeful that this year will be better than the last.  At other times, I might say, "Hey, it can't be any worse," but after the past two years it would seem too much like tempting fate, so I shan't.  So, on to the business at hand.

First things first.  Welcome to our new sponsors!  Folks who have been around for a while are probably sick of hearing me say this but; Thank you so much for your support.  I (and the rest of the staff) cannot properly express how much it means to us.  That would be true under any circumstances but, after a year like the last one, it goes double (or, perhaps, triple).  I'm afraid that the first part of this year is going to be a bit staid compared to usual.  The quarterly sponsor social is, of course, on hiatus until it's safe to gather and, likewise, our monthly events are also on hold.  But, I hope that by the end of this year, we'll be able to wrap up with quite the party for you all.  All that notwithstanding, if there is anything that we at the shop can do for you, just drop me a line and I'll see what I can come up with.

Further (and equally huge) thanks to all you sponsors who have already renewed.  As always, I appreciate your decision to come along for the ride, another year in a row.  Here's a fun fact - of the 86 sponsors who have renewed so far, 58 of you have been supporting us since the first year in 2015.

On the topic of renewals, if you haven't yet and would like to . . . well, please go on ahead.  You can renew on-line at https://borderlands-books.com/v2/become-sponsor/ or you're welcome to stop by the shop.  You can even send us a check, if you'd prefer to do the old-school snail-mail thing (btw, do we even call it that anymore?).

But, if you're short on money right now, I've got another idea for you.  Goodness knows, this year has been crazy hard for a lot of people.  At the same time, social contact and a sense of connection with other people has been really important while, at the same time, it's been really difficult. I don't want to do anything to make either the tight money or the sense of isolation worse.

So, if you don't feel like you can afford the cost of a sponsorship this year but you'd still like to be part of this -- just send me a note saying so and your sponsorship will be renewed.  As a sponsor, you've been though a lot with us; if you wanna stick around, I wouldn't want to see you go over something trivial like $100.

Don't get me wrong though - oh my, we can use the support if you can spare it.  I don't want to repeat what I wrote in the store newsletter (which you all should be getting; let me know if you're not), but this year is going to be damn challenging for us.

Before I close this note, I do have one neat thing that will be coming up.  I'm leaving for Seattle on Friday in a Big Honking Truck to pick up an awful lot of books.  I'm guessing it'll be around 200 boxes or, if you're the poor sucker moving them, around 5000lbs.  It's the purchase of a complete library belonging to a collector of (mostly) 21st century hardcover first editions.  As is our practice, we'll be doing a preview sale, just for sponsors, once we've had time to organize the books.  At this point, I'm guessing that it will happen sometime in February but it might be in March.

I'm still thinking through the details of how to do such a thing, safely, in the Time Of COVID but, once I have it worked out, I'll let you all know.  You can help me out with planning that, assuming you've got time.  If you're interested in the sale, drop me a note and let me know if you'd be able and willing to come to the shop in person to look at the books.  That is assuming, of course, that we have procedures in place such that coming into the shop was safe per CDC and Heath Department recommendations.  You can reply to this email if you wish, or you can write me at abeatts@borderlands-books.com.

That's about all I've got for today.  I hope that your New Year thus far has been as happy and peaceful as possible.

All Best,
Alan