Print on Demand has arrived on main street. There has been a tremendous amount of publicity surrounding the recent installation of the Espresso Machine at the NYPL.For a nice primer on the print on demand issue check out Peter Brantley's post "Where lies the Print on Demand" over at O'Reilly Radar.He reproduces a highly informative thread of "a debate on POD business models."All you booksellers out there need to keep your seat belt on for this is going to shake the book tree as hard as the advent of online bookselling did.Book Patrol post from December 06 - Books: Espresso...
The "Overly Attached Syndrome"
That's the diagnosis given to many book lovers by Alina Tugend in her piece New Ways to Do It Make Giving Away Books a Bit Less Painful that appears in the New York Times today."Getting rid of books creates tension for many, although it is often one of the first things people have to do when downsizing or simply trying to organize their lives." says Tugned.For some, including the author, giving away or selling their books at the appropriate time is a liberating experience. There is little remorse. For others, the disposing of books from their library is one of...
Gotham Breathing
Robert Schuster's piece in the Village Voice "The Gotham Book Mart's Final Chapter" confirms that we haven't heard the last of it."Something's cooking," and "important things happening" is what people in the know are saying."Don't issue a death certificate just yet" says Schuster.Why is this not surprising? The more you talked to veteran booksellers after the auction shenanigans the more you got the sense that this was not the end. There were still too many unanswered questions for it to be over. At minimum, the sheer carnival of the auction guaranteed a second act.The auctioner Eliot Millman sums up the...
Mailer Goes LongPen
The Guardian is reporting that Norman Mailer will be appearing at the Edinburgh International Book Festival via the LongPen.Mailer, who is 84, says the "Triple As', age, asthma and arthritis" make traveling very difficult, forcing him to "cancel his trip to the "great luminous grey city" Edinburgh."Catherine Lockerbie, a spokeswoman for the festival, says Mailer's canceled visit has become "an opportunity to showcase the LongPen system."Queen LongPen Margret Atwood will be in attendance. She is scheduled to interview fellow Canadian Alice Munro and then "coordinate a trans-oceanic book signing."George over at Bookninja has his take on the story complete with...
Changing Reading Habits
"Insomniacs used to read, but now they turn on TV and there's 200 channels, with everything from the pope saying mass in Brazil to Girls Gone Wild to QVC selling cheap diamonds" - John Shaver talking about the closing of his shop, Shaver's Books in Huntsville, Alabama, after almost 20 years in business."Your heart can lie to you, but your balance sheet won't...The numbers reached out to me and said, 'John, it's time.'" says Shaver.Shaver also points out that the old mantra for retail success - location, location, location has now evolved to price, price, price and there is no...