In Part I one of Book Patrol’s Bookseller Manifesto we talked about the shifting landscape of bookselling and the challenges that both the new book and non-new book industry face. We also talked about the need for new definitions for the various guises of bookselling. In Part II we offer some thoughts and ideas on what needs to be done for bookselling to prosper in the 21st Century.Step 1Our first order of business is to accept the fact that independent bookselling as we know it is on its death bed. Period. The model has been severely disturbed by the changes...
The Bookseller Manifesto Part I: I am a Bookseller – New Definitions for a Shifting Landscape
There are not many industries in the last 10 years that have undergone the volcanic eruptions that the world of bookselling has. The world of the antiquarian and used bookseller has been turned upside down. A dinosaur of a trade that pretty much moved at turtle speed for most of the 20th century has had it shell torn off in the last decade. The new bookseller has feared worse. It has become almost impossible to sell new books. Though as a whole the new book world was not as set in its ways as the bookseller in the resale market...