Publisher's Weekly is reporting that Amazon's previously announced acquisition of AbeBooks has been completed.A new era of online bookselling has begun.Previously on Book PatrolAbeAzon. Amazon's Acquisition of AbeBooks : The Day AfterBrendan Sherar, CEO of Biblio.com, Weighs InA Response From Brian Elliott, CEO of AlibrisAn Interview With AbeBooks CEO, Dr. Hannes Blum
Courting the Antiquarians
In spite of all the doom and gloom surrounding the life and future of the book the book business still rakes in around $90 billion a year worldwide.Two of the healthiest and fastest growing areas of the trade are online bookselling in general and the selling of used, out-of-print and antiquarian books in particular.In a recent blog post from the Frankfurt Book Fair Edward Nawotka, book columnist for Bloomberg News and Southern Correspondent for Publishers Weekly, had this to say about the future of books:"One immediate consequence of Obama's victory was the boost in sales for newspapers. So now we...
Megalisters Hit the Mainstream
Mick Sussman's essay "Attack of the Megalisters" appears in the Book Review section of Sunday's New York Times and brings to light the work of this new breed of online bookseller.Before I talk about the piece I want to give a tip of the hat to the book coverage at the New York Times. While the book sections of most newspapers are disappearing or crumbling the NYT has expanded their coverage of the book world. Yes, it is still mostly populated by reviews and the the inherent politics that surround them but they have opened the doors to coverage of...
Shelfari Added to the Amazon Mix
Less than a month after acquiring AbeBooks, Amazon has acquired the book social networking site Shelfari.Josh Hug, founder of Shelfari, posted the news last night on Shelfari's blog and the story was quickly picked up by John Cook at the Seattle PI. Amazon has yet to issue a press release on the matter.Amazon invested $1 million in Shelfari back in February of 2007 earning them a seat on the board and a front row seat for Shelfari's now infamous and dubious astroturfing campaign.Of course, the terms of the deal were not disclosed but "sources told the Seattle P-I the financial...
Amazon and Bibliofind: A History
Amazon's acquisition of ABE continues to be a big topic of conversation among online booksellers. Dealers are still attempting to read the tea leaves and divine Amazon's ultimate intentions for ABE and its subsidiaries (Library Thing, Bookfinder, etc.). On the Bibliophile List, discussion of late has turned to the fates of previous Amazon acquisitions, specifically Bibliofind (an early competitor to ABE), and what these might tell us about Amazon's plans. During this recent back-and-forth, Marion Meyer of Marion Meyer Rare Book in East Hampton NY offered the following history of Amazon's buyout of Bibliofind - both in order to correct...