Nothing is what it seems in the offbeat and out-of-the-way town of Eureka, California. Shrouded in fog and hidden behind a curtain of redwoods, this rundown mill town is home to a peculiar cast of characters, a unique homegrown horticultural industry, and one of the last bookstores in America.

No one is more surprised by the unlikely survival of the Firebreathing Dragon than Lewis Hartman, its newest owner. By the time his uncle Sy died and left the bookstore to Lewis, even the most ardent bibliophiles had abandoned printed books in favor of a charming and highly literate digital device called the Gizmo. Bookstores all over the country had closed their doors. But somehow, the Firebreathing Dragon has kept going.

Lewis and his wife Emily find themselves in the unlikely position of owning one of the last bookstores in America. But how has the Firebreathing Dragon managed to survive the death of the book? And if it isn't keeping itself afloat selling books, what is it selling? Reporters, federal agents, and corporate executives out to salvage their own imperiled industries all converge on the bookstore to uncover its secrets. What they discover is a small town that has fallen under the spell of the Firebreathing Dragon's unique offerings.

In her first work of fiction, bestselling author and bookstore owner Amy Stewart takes an offbeat and lighthearted look at small-town life and the future of that marvelous two thousand year-old communication device, the printed book.

In keeping with the spirit of a book about the future of the book, this book is being offered as a 'beta test' to readers who already enjoy reading ebooks. Participate in a discussion about this book, and find out more about why it's being distributed this way, by visiting www.lastbookstoreinamerica.com.

And in case you're wondering: This novel is not really 699 pages long. It's really a breezy 300 pages, but it's been formatted especially for your screen, which makes it appear much longer (by traditional printed book standards) than it really is.

And why is it priced at $1.81? Because after Scribd takes its cut, that leaves the author with $1.05, which is exactly the standard royalty an author would get for a new trade paperback.