All About ACES

When I arrived in Carson City, I was surprised to find that Nevada’s state capital lacked a full-on, dedicated new bookstore. I was told that a Borders store had once been in business on the south end of town, but it had closed back in 2011 when the chain went bankrupt.

I’d often thought about starting a bookstore of my own, but to be honest, I lacked the financial capability to do so. Besides, I didn’t become an author to spend my time running a business – and operating a bookstore would be a full-time job, and then some. I became an author, well, to write.

Still, most authors these days have to spend a good portion of their time promoting their work. Unless you’re a bestselling author writing for one of the major publishing houses, you have to do most (if not all) of the legwork yourself. That opens the door to opportunists seeking to take advantage of authors’ desire to get noticed by offering them all sorts of “services” with the promise of exposure and readership. At a price, of course.

So, for one thing, I recognized an unfulfilled need among Carson City readers for a dedicated bookstore. And on top of that, I knew authors could use exposure for their work – without having to sift through all the scams and schemes that are continually being thrown at them.

This site is my attempt to address these two needs. ACES: Authors Collective e-Shop is an online hub where local readers can connect with local authors, find out more about them, and purchase their works. For authors, it’s a way to maximize exposure to the readers who will appreciate them most: their neighbors right here in Northern Nevada.

Authors don’t pay to be part of this site, and the site doesn’t collect money from readers, either. You won’t even find a “shopping cart” here. ACES is different: It’s a portal to the authors’ own sales sites. As the site administrator, I don’t make a dime from it – except, of course, through any sales my own books generate here. The goal of this site isn’t to make money; it’s to provide a service that connects local authors to local readers. I see it as a win-win.

One more thing: ACES is in no way meant to replace your LOCAL BOOKSTORE (if you have one in your city) or to compete with local outlets that sell books as part of a larger inventory. My own books can be found at a number of museums — such as the Sparks Heritage Museum — as well as at Sundance Books in Reno; the Purple Avocado, the Nevada Gift Shop, and Chamber of Commerce here in Carson; at the Flag Store in Sparks; and elsewhere. ACES enthusiastically supports reader patronage of these and other local sales outlets. But as any author will tell you, the more places where their books are available, the better, and ACES is one more such place.

It is my hope that ACES will serve as a hub that facilitates author-reader interaction by publicizing authors’ works, public appearances, announcements, and websites. I invite you to experience books as I believe they’re meant to be experienced: as a gateway into the mind of creative individuals and to the myriad worlds they open up to the rest of us. If ACES performs this role, it will be, in my estimation, a smashing success.