Following close on the heels of their recent shady pronouncement that they will be carrying less inventory and altering their display strategy to display more books face-out Borders announced today that they are hiring two Wall Street heavyweights to "explore strategic alternatives, including a sale of all or part of the company". They have also accepted a cash helping from the hedge fund Pershing Capital Advisors (at 12% interest).PersonaNonData has a look at the numbers.The Millions has the face-out issued covered here and here and offers the soundest advice for finding that "strategic alternative." By acknowledging that books are a...
The Dark Side of Seattle’s Rise in the Publishing World
Is there a downside to Seattle's anointment as one of the most influential cities in the publishing world?Julie Bick's recent piece in the New York Times Book Lovers Ask, What's Seattle's Secret? paints only a partial picture of the effect the new bookselling triumvirate; Amazon-Starbucks- Costco, has had on the world of publishing and its "increasing influence of what America reads."There is no doubting the merits of Seattle as a literary town, books and book culture have played a significant role in the city's rise from an outpost to a leading 21st century city but there is doubt as to...
A Home for Booksellers
Booksellers Provident Retreat at Abbots Langley, Herts, 1848"The Booksellers Provident Retreat, Abbott's Langley, Herts, established 1843, is an asylum connected with the Booksellers' Provident Institution, for aged booksellers and booksellers' assistants, and their widows, who are in receipt of annuities from the Booksellers' Provident Institution. Income under £100 per annum." from The Charities of London, by Samuel Low, Jun., London: Sampson Low, Son, & Co. 1861.Believe it or not these guys are still around. It is now run by the "BTBS the book trade charity" and "The benevolence, care and generosity of the members of the Booksellers Provident Institution who...
Beautiful Children for Free
***********************************************Update 3/4: According to Random House during the 72 hours that the book was available to download for free they received:- just under 30,000 pageviews,-20,000 unique visitors-just under 15,000 copies of the book were downloaded.Download results from Amazon and the other publishing partners who participated are not yet available.***********************************************Just days after throwing open their digital doors and committing to DRM-free audiobooks Random House has announced that they will be opening the digital door for printed books as well. The newly released and heavily hyped debut novel by Charles Bock, "Beautiful Children," will be available for free via a PDF download.The...
Dear Bookseller. Marketing the Self-Published Book
This was found in a recently acquired book of poetry by Bill Knott. It was printed on a standard sheet of 8.5 x 11 paper, folded and laid in.With the glacial shift underway in the world of publishing one can easily see a wave of similar messages accompanying self-published books. The "review material", the publicity component of the book that is inserted in copies going to reviewers and booksellers, can become a great source of creativity for the self-published author and just might make the difference as to whether or not your book gets read.Knott, an ardent self publisher for...