Bookselling in a snowstorm. Nine inches of snow fell in Iowa City, Iowa on small business Saturday. The storm disrupted in person book browsing on Small Business Saturday, but not internet book orders that continued to surge.

Bookselling is a lot like soldiering. Each person's experience is a bit different. Just as every veteran's combat experience differs, each bookseller's adventures also vary. Why some soldiers survive, while others perished is an age-old question pondered by each generation, similar to why some booksellers make it and others don't.