This one has all the makings of a David and Goliath biblio thriller. Corporate giant infiltrates university campus.Book spies, stolen textbook lists, divided communities and tons of money at stake.In one corner is North Light Books & Cafe and Coppefield's, two independent bookstores, in the other the Barnes & Noble run Sonoma State University Bookstore.When the University was looking for new manager for the bookstore they sent out an RFP (request for proposal) directly to three national bookstore chains. There was no public announcement. The RFP also stated that the bookstore was "seeking to establish a business partnership with a...
Rent or Exchange: The Next Wave For Books Online
There has been lots of talk of late about the new rental model for audiobooks. The model which is basically the Netflix web-based, subscription format is being embraced by audiobooksonline in the UK and BooksFree in the U.S.In addition to the audiobooks, Booksfree also is an online book exchange.The deal:-80,000 paperbacks in stock- The number of titles you rent depends on your membership plan and how quickly you return each order.-Plans range from 2 books for $8.49 a month to 12 at a time for $35. Why they call themselves Booksfree is a little baffling.-Paperback books are shipped 2-3 books...
The Biblio Campaign Trail: The New Road to the White House
Since the 1950s, when then senator John F. Kennedy published “Profiles in Courage” which won the Pulitzer Prize and helped him become president politicians have been writing their way to electoral victory or defeat.With all the negative energy surrounding the printed format of the book it is pretty astonishing that this campaign season the book is a candidate must have. Julia Bosman covers this phenomenon in her article in the New York Times "Time to Throw Their Books in the Ring"Peter Osnos of PublicAffairs talks about the three types of "candidate books":- the “introduction” book, in which candidates without much...
Of Mice and Money: John Steinbeck at Auction
In the middle of what seems like an endless stream of the "book is dead" articles it is nice to know that books still sell!From the London Times online article "Could This Be the Final Chapter in the Life of the Book" to last Sunday's "The End of the Book?" story at the Orange County Register one would think that the book is on life support. Should I start looking for a copy of the last book ever printed?Then here comes the John Steinbeck auction. It was the most signed and inscribed books by Steinbeck ever offered at auction.The auction...
The Kenyan Literary Express
It was almost 3 years since Maude Newton first blogged about the Camel Library Service that serves the semi-nomadic people of Northeastern Kenya. Author Masha Hamilton went for a visit in early 2006 to get some first hand experience for the novel on the Camel Library Service she was working on. The book is due out in the spring.From Hamilton's Story Behind the Book:The actual Camel Bookmobile made its first run almost a decade ago. Three dromedaries trudged through arid northeastern Kenya near the unstable border with Somalia to bring a library to settlements so remote they had become nearly...