Much has been written about Amazon's new strategy of offering print on demand titles sold on their website exclusively through their POD company, Book Surge. Cries of monopoly and unfair business practices have permeated the discourse but there are I believe, potential opportunities for publishers and authors within this new paradigm.Just as the arrival of Amazon changed the bookselling landscape forever their new POD strategy is sure to alter the publishing landscape in similar ways and how the publishers respond will ultimately determine their chance of survival. Will we lose as many publishers as we have book stores?I see nothing...
Tainted Independent : Trouble at the Strand
Kimberly Thorpe exposes some significant structural flaws at New York's legendary independent book store in her cover story in the current issue of the New York Press.Allegations of racism and unfair labor practices abound with much of the heat being focused on Nancy Bass Wyden, the daughter of longtime Strand owner Fred Bass and wife of Oregon senator Ron Wyden, who interestingly enough is "widely known for his impassioned support of equal opportunity in the workplace."Most people interviewed for the piece refused to give their name for fear of retaliation though all believe "that the problems at the Strand stemmed...
The End of the Travel Guide?
Like the bookselling trade the travel industry has been turned upside down by the internet. With most people now using the web to book their travel the traditional travel agency has all but disappeared. Are printed travel guides the next vicitim?Wayne Curtis's piece in the Atlantic, Weni, Widi, Wiki, gives us a glimpse of what the future might hold.On his trip to Seattle last fall Curtis decided to use only online resources to guide him as he explored the Emerald City. He "would depend on the kindness of strangers," relying "solely on user-generated information" as he mapped out his lodging,...
A Little Bookselling Wisdom From Larry McMurtry
"The problem with large bookstores is that they contain usually a lot of junk. My focus as a bookseller is to keep the junk out. Because good books don’t pull bad books up, bad books pull good books down."-From a brief interview with McMurtry by Julie Riggot for the Los Angeles Downtown News.McMurtry will receive the Los Angeles Public Library Literary Award later this week.LA City Librarian Fontayne Holmes says of McMurtry "He really is such a book person in every single meaning of the word, as a bookstore owner, as a book collector, as a writer and as an...
Technology, technology, technology
Here's a piece I wrote that appears in the latest issue of Amphora the journal of the Alcuin Society. It was written back in early January and though things continue to change at a rapid pace in the book world I thought it still worth sharing.************Technology, technology, technologyIf your time to you Is worth savin’Then you better start swimmin'Or you’ll sink like a stoneFor the times they are a-changin’-Bob Dylan Technology, technology, technology has not exactly been the battle cry of the bookselling trade over the years but technology has now become an inescapable influence. The seismic changes bought about...