I made a lightning visit to Brisbane yesterday and, with half an hour to spare in the schedule, I thought I’d drop in at Pulp Fiction ro see what it was like. Believe it or not, although I lived in Brisbane for ten years and worked within a stone’s throw of the shop, I had never been there before.
Well, it took me about half an hour to find it – it’s tucked away in a little mall off Edward Street, part of a complex little rabbit warren they call Anzac Square – so I only had a few minutes to take a look. But that was OK because the shop was tiny. There were three shop assistants and two customers when I was there (me and another old guy) and the place felt full.
I’d imagined something at least four times as big, covered in posters, crawling with geeks, and packed with shelves stuffed to overflowing with obscure and hard-to-find sci-fi gems. Instead, it has the same, sterile atmosphere as any other modern bookshop. The half of the shop dedicated to SF&F (yes, another surprise, the other half is all crime stuff) amounted to a couple of neatly-arranged shelves. I suspect that a big city-centre bookshop (like the Dymocks not far away on Queen St.) would have roughly the same number of sci-fi books on display as Pulp Fiction. Talk about disappointing!
However, I did gradually realise that it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. Although the shop looked the same as any other and the shop assistants were just as wrapped up in their own conversations as they would be in Dymocks, I started noticing that the books on the shelves actually included some local authors. I also realised that the ‘new releases’ shelf was a service to SF&F (but especially SF) authors that you wouldn’t get from a chain. There were a few (three, I think, maybe four) SF&F magazines for sale (ASIM, Orb, F&SF – possibly one other) and a small rack of ‘graphic novels’. I may be mistaken but it seemed the shelf-space devoted to franchise SF novels was smaller than you’d get in most chain shops.
Marianne will be pleased to hear that they had two of her books on the shelves. I’ve been trying to find a shop or library that stocks de Pierres since Bribie Island. I snapped them both up (Dark Space and Nylon Angel – which I think are the first of their respective series). Turns out they were both autographed too! (So, Marianne, if you’re reading this, you’d better get down to Pulp Fiction and sign another couple!)
So the shop gets no points out of ten for size or atmosphere but it gets a ten for actually stocking Australian SF&F authors and another bonus ten for stocking something I’d been looking for.
I wish I could think of something constructive to say about what they could do to improve the atmosphere of the place. I assume they know what they’re about but it was really disappointing. I felt I might as well be in Angus and Robertson.
Graham.
Isn’t it fascinating – I dropped in to check out Pulp Fiction in May before heading back to Ballarat, and LOVED it! It was helped by the fact that I managed to pick up every one of the books on the list MDP gave me.
Strangely no MDP books left in stock when I was there, though I’ve found them since (yay!)
I even bought a crime novel (felt peculiarly disloyal to genre and haven’t read it yet…)
There used to be a good SF/F bookshop in Melbourne but it’s now purely online I believe, and I miss the experience of browsing the shelves. Maybe that’s why I enjoyed Pulp Fiction so much.
Looking forward to incluing it in my next Brissie trip
While the atmosphere and size at Pulp Fiction may be a bit light, once you start talking to Iain and Beau there, about books and authors you will see why they are still there and successful. They are very passionate about Sci-fi/fantasy and have even started a small publishing house for local authors. I used to work in Brisbane and visit them once or twice a week, and now that I am back on the Sunshine Coast, everytime I go to Brissy I make a point to drop in and spend some time and money there.
Hmmm. Looks like I’m in a minority of one on this one.
Maybe if I’d found an excuse to start up a conversation with the shop assistants-cum-publishers…
And ‘Dan Keioskie’? Any relation to the famous Orbiteer?
Graham.
I popped in there after the Bribie Island retreat too, and i really liked it – though i am not an expert in SF bookshops, i’m embarrassed to say i haven’t visited the only specialty one in Canberra yet.
just discovered that my local library stocks a very good range of Marianne’s books – i bought Dark Space but will borrow a stack more (sorry Marrianne – but you get some royalties from that too, right?)
Jo C.
Yes, Graham, I have the dubious honour of being Luke’s brother and avid fan.
The guys at Pulp also run event nights as well as release parties for local authors which are pretty cool. They also have a monthly newsletter/catalog which they email out to anyone who cares or shows interest, so sign up next time you are there.
Hi Graham – and all,
The Pulpsters give you something you don’t get elsewhere – in depth knowledge of the genre. I think you might also find that they stock books by most SFF writers you would ever want to read – its just that they only have one or two copies of each, not ten.
p.s. G, thanks for buying my books!! And Janette and all of you. Yes Jo, I get PLR from library books.
Sorry Janette, I snuffled up the last copy of Nylon Angel when I ducked in there on the way home.
Yeah I’m with you Graham, it was pretty underwhelming in its presentation as the bastion of genre fiction in Brisbane, but it did pass the China Test*. As for the depth and knowledge of the staff, its really not something you can have on display, and from my experience working the floor in Chapters Bookstore for six months at minimum wage, customers in bookstores really don’t like being approached by staff, so it’s not really something they can flaunt.
Event nights would certainly help to overcome this, but the store just seemed too small for much of a gathering. I remember doing the shopper shuffle when I was in there. I hope they continue to grow and grow, like a potent patch of fungus in the shadowy limbs of online shopping.
I guess the Sydney equivalent would be Galaxy – I remember getting 5 finger discounts from them from them when they were in a shoebox on Castlereagh St. And look at them now. Their current shop is massive, but even then I can still catch them out on books they don’t have.
Hmmm, had a feeling it was an Orbiteer who snapped up the last MDP…