Display table at Wessel & Lieberman that holds many of the 21 New(er) Books We LikeFor those who follow Book Patrol you've heard this song before. For a bookshop to survive in today's rapidly changing landscape one must take a more integrated, holistic approach to bookselling. The days of being able to survive selling just new books, or to a lesser extent used books, are just about up. The current seismic tremors in the publishing world coupled with the new and emerging modes of content delivery just might be the straw that breaks the traditional bookstore's back.Here in Seattle, in...
Books – "The New Wireless Platform"
click to enlargeThis clever webstrip, titled "Progress," appeared at Penny Arcade earlier this week.
A Test and a Survey
Brad Johnson of The Book Shop in Covina, CA has circulated this little test within the gates of Facebook. It was created in the late 1960's and is attributed to Charles B. Anderson of Anderson’s Book Shop in Larchmont, New York. The test is both humbling and encouraging and reminds me that one of the reasons I love bookselling is that the learning curve is always vertical.How Good a Bookman Are You?This is a test designed to determine your bookman’s I.Q. A score of 20 right should entitle you to consideration as the editor of the next edition of “The...
The Fax Man : The Archive of Austin G. Cooley
Associated Press Wirephoto, Model 6000, S/N 6148We spend a lot of time here at Book Patrol talking about how technology is affecting the book and newspaper world. Tonight Jeff Bezos continues his Kindle 2 media tour with a stop on Nightline where he boldly claims that "books in their current form are becoming obsolete" and that "over time E-books will be the only way people read books." Only time will tell if the book as a physical object will become extinct. What is in danger of becoming extinct in our lifetime; however, is the printed newspaper.Interestingly enough, we are currently...
A Public Display of the Kindle
With all the press and hype that has surrounded the life of Kindle 1 and Kindle 2 you would have thought that by now I would have seen at least one of them floating around the streets of Seattle; after all it is Amazon's home court. But I haven't seen one yet. I have seen it on Oprah, on the Daily Show, and on Jimmy Fallon's new late night show but not on the bus, in the streets, or at any friends house.Brier Dudley, the tech writer for the Seattle Times, got a Kindle 2 from Amazon to test drive....