We are scheduled to be like in tucson and in san antonio as well read they are all canceled. Assuming of the effective it is having on book fairs and large gatherings but it is having an effect also on bookstores and smaller businesses. Mitchell kaplan runs a chain of bookstores and based in florida. Coronovirus impact on books and books, Mitchell Kaplan, has coronavirus affected your business. Mitchell yes it has but it looks like starting tomorrow, were going to be closing down all six stores that we have in the area. In trying to move our selves online. And encourage people to buy on a website. And this is happening i believe across the country with bookstores everywhere and like normally what happens, their very rep. Of what is happening in Small Business of their many many thousands upon thousands of Small Business people are suffering the same loop we are. Peter are you doing this because the state of florida has mandated it or you seen such a drop in for traffic and sales that is unprecedented. If. Mitchell theres a couple of reasons why were doing it. At this point, with the mandates then it come thorough, and the guidance from cdc about people not gathering in places where there are more than just a few people, we feel it is our responsibility to heed this mornings. Ironically, the things that makes an independent bookstore so great is the gathering place. Communities come together. Now its one of the big liabilities that we have. So in the attempt to help flatten at the curb as they say, we are closing our stores. Peter what about author events have you had a lot of cancellations prior to the closing a resource. Go ahead. Mitchell we have had 30 or 40 author cancellations starting a couple of weeks ago. People were canceling so we have had lots and lots of cancellations going into april and theres some very big names authors that we expected the very large turnouts for as well as as well as smaller others. So is having an impact all across authors as well. Imagine being a young author in your first book comes out and he comes into the world right now. Its very difficult situation for the literary community. Peter have you thought about doing online videos with these authors. Mitchell yes. That is something that we are exploring we have the podcast gocalled literary life. I was usually doing it with authors coming here but im going to do it remote interviews as well. Peter were going to keep alive as much as possible. Mitchell this will be through facebook live, instagram, our youtube channel, as well as our website. Peter how long do you think you will be closed. Mitchell is a really good question. I wish i had the answer to that. What we are announcing is that we will innocence every two weeks, basically march 31st, we will look at it. And we see where we are than. And see if there is a chance to open. I suspect that this will impact not only my business for Small Businesses everywhere for many many months to come. Even if we do get open. Weve been open last week with very minimal business. People do not want to watch. Probably until a vaccine scan we will feel secure, there will be that sense of insecurity gatherings. Peter what about your restaurants. Mitchell restaurant is shutting down tonight. It is the one thing that the state has mandated. The restaurants will only be open for takeout. That is not happening too much either. I heard that it is slow and people are staying away from it too. People really hunkering down. Peter booktv has worked with Mitchell Kaplan for years my guess is that youre quite concerned about the employees. Mitchell is the key thing. One reason i stayed open as long as i did to get my employees working. Its been said that most people are paycheck to paycheck and most Small Businesses work revenue day to revenue day. If in fact there is no revenue coming into Small Businesses, there is not money to pay the police. If nothing is happening. I have kept my employees on as long as i can and were going to keep her Health Insurance going and were going to try to protect them is much as we can why to lobby another associations lobbying the federal government. When the starting to bail certain things out, that they pay close to pension to the Small Businesses and the people they employ. The people on the frontlines. Peter Mitchell Kaplan is also cofounder of the Miami Book Fair. Is there any talk yet about the Miami Book Fair happening in november. Mitchell know, we have not gotten to that point yes. And i hope we dont have to. I hope by then, there is amount of caution, or there is enough room for people together cautiously in a book or setting. Because you know. Peter, even in the book fair. It is so meaningful to the city and county. We never really had to cancel the booker completely. When your we had a hurricane coming so we canceled the street fair but we have all of the authors there. If we did cancel, it would be the first time in close to 40 years. It. Peter what is your website if people which to purchase books, or listen to your podcast. Mitchell thank you for giving me the opportunity to tell people about books and books. Com. If to spell out the end, books and books. Com and you can purchase books online there, you can sign up for a letter, i podcast is available wherever podcast, where you listen to podcasts. It is also available through this hub. Com but you can find it on apple, and thanks. Is the literary life of Mitchell Kaplan. It is kind of like a conversation in your backyard fence. It is just a conversation with authors and people in the literary world. Peter Mitchell Kaplan thank you for spinning a few moments with book tv. Mitchell peter, in his always a pleasure. Next book tv afterwards, chief White House Correspondent provides a behind the scene look of the trump administration. Afterwards is a weekly Interview Program worth relevant discuss
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