When Barnes & Noble decided to close their Chelsea store in New York City many thought that the small rare- and out-of-print-book department that was housed at that location for the last 8 years would disappear too.
Instead the company decided to not only relocate the department to a larger store on Broadway and 66th Street but is also "spending a significant sum on the department, installing custom display cases with locked glass doors" and moving it to a more prominent location on the second floor of the store.
Although they are claiming that there are no plans to "replicate the effort in other stores" and are calling it the pet project of Karen Catalanotti, who set up the department in the Chelsea store, there exists a tremendous opportunity to capitalize on this growing market.
One can imagine in the not to distant future a Barnes & Noble Rare Book command center which would house seasoned booksellers and an extensive reference library and uses the latest technology to communicate with their various stores and booksellers on the front lines.
Picture this: Someone walks into a Barnes & Noble in Des Moines, Iowa with a box of books for sale. The trained used bookseller on staff deals with the general out of print material using a comprehensive internal database and if there is an item that might warrant further work they simply image or video it and send it off to the command center. A short time later the command center responds with either further bibliographic questions or a fair offer price.
For one, the profit margins are significantly higher than new books but more importantly it bolsters the role of the bookstore in the community and brings the company closer to being the full service bookstore they aspire to.
The future is near!
Celia McGee's piece, Rare Indeed: A Chain Committed to Selling Out-of-Print Books, in the New York Times
Monday, July 14, 2008
Barnes & Noble Not Giving Up on Rare and Out-of- Print Books
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Bookseller Catalogues Part II
Having just issued my first two catalogues during the last year, Michael's weekend post on the resurgence of this bookselling tool was of particular interest. I completely agree that catalogues are making a comeback, perhaps especially among younger booksellers (an incredibly relative term in the antiquarian book biz - see Between the Covers' Tom Congleton for more on this). In addition to the previously-mentioned Derringer Books and Jeff Maser (and even, for that matter, Wessel and Lieberman), I would also throw out the examples of Garrett Scott (whose Some preliminary notes on the aesthetic merits of interesting catalogues is another great take on the matter), Royal Books, Harper's Books, and Lux Mentis as examples of younger(ish) booksellers issuing exciting catalogues. Jed Birmingham approached the question of catalogues from the point-of-view of a collector last year for his Bibliographic Bunker column on the William S. Burroughs website Reality Studio. And at the risk of quoting myself, around the same time I expanded on my own reasons for issuing a catalogue and what the future of catalogues might be:
For me, the decision to issue my first catalogue was one I made more than a year ago and was due to a number of factors. First and foremost, I had items that required a catalogue to sell them properly. The constraints of most databases mean that for important items needing long descriptions, necessary information would have to be left out or only suggested. Catalogues allow you to sell the book the way you want, with as many images as desired and with as much verbosity as you can muster.Finally, I should also mention new bookseller Chris Lowenstein of Book Hunters Holiday, who has been documenting her own experiences readying her Dante catalogue on her blog. Having read a draft of the catalogue, I can say with certainty Chris will make a fine addition to the list of booksellers using this still-vital tool.
Not only that, but put frankly - a dealer is not going to sell very expensive books on the internet. Few collectors or institutions are going to plunk down several thousand dollars on a book through ABE. A quick look at ABE’s monthly list of most expensive books sold bears this out; these prices are regularly eclipsed by book auction results and listings in dealer catalogues. A catalogue demonstrates a certain professionalism and proficiency that lend themselves to confidence on the buyer’s part. A catalogue also allows you to target your marketing, aiming your books at the customers and collections who would most be interested in your offerings. And finally, as a new and relatively young dealer, my hope was my first catalogue would act as a kind of calling card within the book world - a way to announce myself. So there were both practical and marketing reasons for my decision to issue my first catalogue.
That said, I recognize that the internet necessitates certain changes in catalogues, modifications that in my opinion need to be adopted if catalogues are to continue and if they are to be used successfully. In the current climate of easy price-comparison and simple access to many millions of books, a catalogue to succeed must meet two or more of the following criteria, and the more the better:
1) Scarce, rare, unique or unusual offerings.
2) Competitive, if not down right tempting, prices.
3) An interesting and informed perspective.
4) An appealing format and presentation.
5) A cohesive marketing identity - branding, if you will.
Before the ubiquity of the internet, a dealer - because of asymmetrical information - could often get by with perhaps a well-designed catalogue, or a well-written one. Now, however, either #1 or #2 are musts (and preferably both) and they need to be coupled with at least one of the remaining conditions. Why? Because for catalogues to succeed they must offer something the internet does not.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
The Return of the Bookseller Catalog
Publishers might be considering giving up on the printed catalogs but bookseller catalogs are making a comeback. Since the early days of bookselling the catalog was the cornerstone of a bookseller's business. It was the premier sales channel for the trade. They became; however, an early casualty of online bookselling. Many booksellers completely abandoned the catalog format while focusing on developing an online presence. Most of us thought they were no longer necessary. Now, a little over a decade later, most have returned to the catalog.
Why? A lot has to do with online saturation. Outside of one's own website it has become very difficult to separate oneself from the hoards of people who have joined the online bookselling ranks. There are just too many books online and most are being listed by people with little or no experience in traditional bookselling. The quality is being swallowed up by the quantity. The saddest part is that it has become virtually impossible for the end user, the potential customer, to make sense of what they are seeing online. Buying books online has become a crap shoot.
So, it is back to the catalog and while we were away the technology, printing and production options have improved greatly allowing us to infuse new life to this old bookselling staple. As the images in this post show, high quality graphic design has also entered the fray.
While I was preparing this post we received the latest catalog from Rulon-Miller Books. Rulon-Miller's cover rant perfectly conveys the frustrations and new challenges the traditional bookseller faces. Click on it to enlarge and enjoy!
Monday, June 16, 2008
82% Still Curl : Zogby Polls Readers
Random House hired Zogby International to get out there and find out what is going on in the world of reading and book-buying. They polled a little over 8,000 people and here are some of the highlights and lowlights:
82% say they still prefer to "curl up with a printed book" rather than reading online or using an e-reader or smartphone.
Only 3% of those surveyed currently own an e-book reader, and only 4% have plans to purchase one.
A whopping 80% reported that they have no plans to purchase an e-book reader!
Independent bookselling did not fare so well in the survey either:
The top three retail choices for buying books were buying online (77%), buying books from a chain bookstore (76%), and buying from an independent bookstores (49%).
When asked if they "regularly" shop at an independent bookseller only 33% said yes and 64% said no!
When asked if "the trend toward bookstores with a 'community center' feel make you want to visit and linger at bookstores," 41% said yes and 43% said they it didn't make much of a difference.
Most book buyers head to a bookstore with a purpose but often they buy something in addition to what they came for.
77% say they end up buying something else. These unplanned book purchases are heavily influenced by subject matter (48%) though the book's design also plays a key role.
30% of the readers surveyed said that they had spent less time reading books over the past year 23% reporting that they had spent more time and 53% said that of the books they bought last year between and one and five of them have yet to be read.
In the end, the good news is that the printed book still reigns supreme, the bad news is that where and how people buy them has changed drastically.
Story at the ABA's Bookselling This Week
Random House press release
Zogby International's Poll final report (pdf)
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Biblio.com to Offer Bookhound Software for Free
UPDATE : Luke Lozier, co-founder of Bibliopolis, has alerted me that Bookhound is now available for free to ALL booksellers not just Biblio.com members.
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AbeBooks.com has Home Base, Alibris has its reincarnation of Bookmate and now Biblio.com has Bookhound.
Biblio.com will begin offering the Bookhound inventory management tool for free to its sellers. The Mac version will be released first with the PC version to follow in July. Bookhound, a product of Bibliopolis, has been around for over 10 years and is currently used by many leading bookshops and booksellers both here in the U.S. and around the world.
From the press release:
"BookHound boasts many features, such as an integrated BISAC subject library, integrated spell checking, advanced searches and global editing of data, and easy-to-use options for managing inventory across multiple online sales venues. BookHound also includes tools specifically designed for brick-and-mortar shops."
Brendan Sherer, the CEO of Biblio says “We believe that delivering a high quality, mature product for inventory management will materially contribute to the growth of their businesses, and therefore, to ours as well.”
Let's hope so. For out of the big 3 non-new book aggregators (Amazon is a different animal entirely) Biblio's focus is on the more traditional and professional independent bookseller, there are no mega-listers and no penny sellers allowed and their model is guided by the triple bottom line approach using the "three goals of achieving profit, serving people, and preserving the environment as the benchmark measurements for a company's success."
"In a world increasingly globalized and seemingly spinning faster, we are working to position ourselves somewhere between the old and the new, somewhere between our local community and the world around us, between dreams and practicality, between profit and social responsibility."
Hard to argue with that but a business with a conscience faces tremendous obstacles in the current marketplace. The addition of Bookhound is a big plus now they have to work on increasing their exposure as a sane alternative to the increasingly confusing and saturated online bookselling world. A tremendous need exists for an alternative marketplace and Biblio is in a position to take the lead.
Biblio.com Press Release
Saturday, May 31, 2008
IndieBound or Bust
That's the title of Jim Milliot's piece for Publisher's Weekly on the unveiling of the American Booksellers Association (ABA) new marketing “movement/revolution” initiative, IndieBound.
The good news is that it replaces Book Sense which has failed miserably in helping independents remain competitive in the fast changing world of bookselling. The bad news is that IndieBound won't fare much better.
What is IndieBound? Here is their Declaration:
When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for individuals to denounce the corporate bands which threaten to homogenize our cities and our souls, we must celebrate the powers that make us unique and declare the causes which compel us to remain independent.We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all stores are not created equal, that some are endowed by their owners, their staff and their communities with certain incomparable heights, that among these are Personality, Purpose and Passion. The history of the present indies is a history of experiences and excitement, which we will continue to establish as we set our sights on a more unconstrained state. To prove this, let's bring each other along and submit our own experiences to an unchained world.
We, therefore, the Kindred Spirits of IndieBound, in the name of our convictions, do publish and declare that these united minds are, and darn well ought to be, Free Thinkers and Independent Souls. That we are linked by the passions that differentiate us. That we seek out soul makes to share our excitement. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the strength of our identities, we respectively and mutually pledge to lead the way as we all declare that we are IndieBound!
Their kidding, right? How is this going to help their members sell books? In the last 20 years independent bookstores have gone from selling 100% of the books sold in this country to less than 10% today! And for most of those 20 years the cries of 'support your local independent bookstore' has been heard loud and clear in communities throughout this country. New t-shirts are not going to make a difference.
Simply providing cheerleading merchandise and tools won't solve the fundamental problem.
What is needed is a comprehensive e-commerce solution that provides independent booksellers an opportunity to compete with the big boys. What is needed is a portal, call it IndieBound if you wish, that offers the same book-related merchandise, content and convenience that Amazon does. A place where one can order any book in print and have it at their door in a reasonable amount of time. You don't need to be price competitive you need to be technologically competitive. People will pay more if they know that their purchase is helping their local independent bookstore. Don't ask them to put their zip code in when they hit the home page- let them shop- and when they put their zip code in at checkout up pops a list of the independent stores in their area. Let them decide which store will receive a portion of the sale, then keep a portion for website maintenance and marketing.
If the distributors don't want to play and adjust their shipping model to provide direct to consumer shipping than do it yourself. Use some of the $39 million that you have in reserve and invest in a distribution center for your members.
There are plenty of people out there who would support an alternative to Amazon and Barnes & Noble but a viable online alternative has yet to be created.
“I want to be enthused about IndieBound. I don’t think it is much more than Book Sense renamed. I kind of felt like a teenager who only got to second base last night.” said Maryelizabeth Hart, co-owner of Mysterious Galaxy Books in San Diego, after witnessing the unveiling of the new initiative.
Unfortunately, they are still on first base.
They same issue persists in the non-new book world as well. The Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) has also failed to provide its members with a viable alternative to the used book aggregators like AbeBooks.com, Alibris and Amazon.
I wish I knew what everyone is waiting for.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Stimulated Reading
The Written Nerd has been one of my favorite bookseller blogs for some time now. The author, Jessica Stockton Bagnulo, details her experiences working at one of NYC's best independent bookstores (including this jealousy-inducing run-in with Jonathan Lethem), all the while planning to "have a bookstore of my own in Brooklyn."
Stockton recently won the $15,000 Power Up! business-plan competition sponsored by the Brooklyn Public Library in order to help bring her bookstore plans closer to fruition. And closer to fruition they are:
I opened a small business money market account with the prize money, which will also be the depository for other funds raised. And he gave me the paperwork to fill out for a great big (to me) small business loan application. I'm hoping to get that in by mid-June, at the same time as I'm looking for retail spaces.To that end, Stockton has created a rather clever fundraising campaign. Stimulated Reading is hoping to find "investors" to:
In the meantime, I've made some other great business friends: the Retail Committee of the fabulous Fort Greene Association. It turns out that the beautiful, developing neighborhood of Fort Greene wants a bookstore almost as bad as I want to create one, so I'll be working with them on finding a space, building community support, and doing some more fundraising.
[...] use your [IRS] stimulus package to become an investor in an independent bookstore -- specifically, the one I'm creating in Brooklyn.It certainly seems that Stockton has the chops to successfully pull-off her endevour. Besides her bookselling experience and prize-winning business plan, she is (as her FAQ explains) "on the executive board of the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association, the chair of the Emerging Leaders Project, [and] a member of the ABA Digital Task Force." And having read her blog for the past two years, I have no doubt she will be successful.
The website will explain the details -- basically, you can choose an amount to kick in and receive some Book Nerd swag and/or buying power at the future bookstore. And using your rebate in this way is a way not only to show your support for my little literary project, but to stimulate the economy through supporting small and independent businesses.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
A Holistic Approach
On Reading Ahead, the blog of the National Book Foundation, Executive Director Harold Augenbraun offers us this nugget regarding the state of reading in this country.
If literary reading is on the decline, one way to stem that decline is to create a holistic approach along a spectrum of age-appropriate activities and to allow flexibility, which the balkanized literary culture will most likely not be able to do because of varied cultural, political, and social ideologies that have very little to do with inculcating a love of reading. If we leave the creation of readers to ideologues—and I use that word in its broadest sense—as we have done for decades, we will end up as a nation of non-readers. And I am not only talking about the easy-to-predict failure of Reading First and No Child Left Behind, but the results of the actions of boards of education, curriculum developers, parents, and even book salespeople.
The same need for a holistic approach applies to the bookselling world. Here are some excerpts from Bookselling 2.0 : The Bookseller Manifesto. Part II that appeared on Book Patrol back in January of 2007:
Step 3
The barriers that separate the different forms of bookselling must be torn down. A bookseller must be willing to sell new, used, rare and out-of-print books. They must be willing to sell books by small presses, fine presses and book artists. Hand-made and machine-made, limited and unlimited editions.
One must embrace the rich world of the book, in all its forms, to succeed. Each bookshop becomes a book center where all the book needs of the community can be met.
Yes, you can put a used copy of a book next to a new copy, next to the DVD of the filmed version, and you can have the first edition and a fine press edition available too!
Step 5
The bookselling industry remains completely fragmented, both within the various segments (new, resale, book arts, etc.) of the industry and within the industry as a whole.
To date the leadership of the
At minimum, the leadership of these trade organizations must unite their resources and begin a concerted effort to work together. They should also reach out to the various Book Arts Guilds and Centers for the Book throughout the country. We need to build book epicenters in our communities not independent outposts. We do not want to, or need to, be survivors.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
The Book Divide
A colleague of mine recently received this feedback from an Amazon customer:
2 out of 5 stars: "Three layers of wrapping for a book! This is expensive
and wasteful. Just stick it in an envelope and send it."
Another illuminating example of the wide range of relationships that people have with books. There are those who cherish the book as an object and those that cherish the content and unfortunately, rarely the twain have met.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
"You'll never find us and we're rarely open."
Lloyd and Lenore Dickman are booksellers with perhaps one million books. But they don't advertise, don't keep regular hours, and are located on a farm in rural Wisconsin. Oh, and one of their twelve (!?) buildings-full-of-books is in a former manure tank remodeled to look like a castle. Bill Geist recently profiled this charming and wildly-endearing couple for CBS.
Now, I have to go check plane fares to Wisconsin...
UPDATE (5/23/08): Recently came across the store's exact contact info/location: County Road K in Markesan, WI. 920-398-3375.
Monday, May 05, 2008
In Defence of Amazon : Their New POD Strategy as Opportunity.
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 wrong with Amazon's surge into POD. They are, after all, a business and are obligated to develop the most cost effective ways to succeed. By printing needed titles on demand to include or "marry" with other items will save them zillions of dollars in shipping charges and in shipping supplies. Just think of how many fewer boxes they will need or packing tape, or related labor expenses in being able to cut down on the amount of shipments without a decline in the number of items sold.
So where is the opportunity?
Publishers and authors can still produce books that will differ from the Amazon edition and be desired in the marketplace. The Amazon POD editions will be the mass market paperbacks of the new publishing era. There will remain a healthy market for other editions. The publishers can capitalize on this by offering their own editions that might include extra material much like the movie studios do with their DVD releases. An extra short story, an extra poem, interviews with the author, signed copies, manuscript pages etc.; the possibilities are endless. Not everyone wants their book the next day nor do they want a cheaply produced version. Quality still counts and many will still pay for it.
This is not a wake up call as some of said this is more of a last call. The rules of bookselling and publishing have changed drastically and the publishers that can respond in new innovative ways will be the ones that prosper.
Previous Book Patrol posts on the Amazon sales tax issue:
ABA Misguided In Their Support For An Internet Sales Tax
New York Booksellers Ask Spitzer to Reconsider Online Sales Tax
Saturday, May 03, 2008
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 from a single source: Nancy Bass Wyden. They believe she has worked harder than anyone to transform the Strand from an intellectual oasis to a profit-producing machine."
Before coming home to help her dad Bass Wyden got her MBA from the University of Wisconsin and spent three years working at Exxon honing her corporate skills. Going from working for a giant oil company to running a giant independent book store is alone a recipe for disaster.
“They focus more on making money than on the enjoyment of running a bookstore,” said Trexler Chisholm, 26, who works in the rare books room on the third floor.
One of Bass Wyden's major initiatives was to ramp up the Strands books by the yard program, the "selling of books arranged decoratively on shelves to the rich and famous," which has nothing to do with books and everything to do with interior design. It just doesn't seem to be about the books anymore.
Yes, profits are up at the Starnd and business is good but those "profits stem from a salary structure that almost seems to push employees out the door."
Is there a point when a bookstore becomes too big to remain truly independent? Does size matter? Can there be a large independent book store with a Costco-style approach to their employees?
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
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, sightseeing and culinary needs. No guidebooks, no picking from the racks of tourist brochures in hotel lobbies, and no help from the concierge, all his "decisions would be based on advice from TripAdvisor, Yelp, Chowhound, Wikitravel, and other online travel communities."
"The information online is often piping fresh—some of these reviews had been written just days before I arrived" says Curtis.
As is the case in the bookselling world the flood of content now available to all has its drawbacks, Curtis found that "the biggest downside of Travel 2.0 is the surfeit of information—how do you sort through all this detail and random advice?" This same dilemma is front and center in the online bookselling world. How does one make sense of the fact that there could be 100 copies of the same book available for sale with a price range of $1 to $100? Unless you are a seasoned book person the answer is you can't. For the general public searching for a book online is becoming more problematic with each passing day.
We are in need of a trusted source.
Thanks to Brian Cassidy for the lead
Saturday, April 26, 2008
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 incredible reader of literature"
Ironically enough, McMurtry will receive the honor on the same day that the venerable LA bookstore Dutton's closes its doors for good.
Monday, April 14, 2008
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.
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Technology, technology, technology
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For 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 by the arrival of online bookselling in the mid-to-late 1990’s might have just been an appetizer. In the last year alone we have seen numerous technologies introduced each with potential far reaching effects for the bookseller. Three that stand out are the LongPen, new breakthroughs in digitization and Print on Demand technologies and the Book Social Networking craze.
The LongPen is a technology that allows authors to sign books from the comfort of their own homes. It is billed as "the world's first real time, pen and ink long-distance autographing device" which produces "legally valid" signatures. It includes an audio and video component which recreates the particulars of a reading without the presence of the author. The two most interesting uses so far were what I believe was Norman Mailer’s last “book signing” when he went LongPen for the Edinburgh International Literary festival and convicted felon and book collector Conrad Black’s recent LongPen session. As far as I can tell no copies of books signed via LongPen have hit the market yet but it is sure to create a stir as the market determines the value of these “signed” books.
Print on demand has been around few a few years but this past year the Espresso Book Vending Machine hit the scene. The machine has the ability to produce two 500 page books every 7 minutes. The books are glued in full laminated covers and can be printed in any language. Though presently prohibitively expensive for most booksellers the seeds are here for a future version that will be affordable. Conceivably every out of print and hard to find book will be available to be printed on demand. This will not end the need for the original book version but it will greatly diminish the pool of potential customers for that book in its original form. Then there is the issue of digitization. Google will eventually run out of libraries to court and with their insatiable need for content will be forced to look elsewhere for material. Outside of libraries booksellers are one of the few repositories for untapped information. There is an enormous amount of unique content stored within the confines of the bookselling trade. From books long out of print to ephemeral items that present core samples of our material culture, there is a treasure trove of content awaiting the light of digitization. The door might not be open for long but if entered correctly it might become a new source of revenue for the bookseller.
Then we have the new world of social networking for book lovers. The three major players in this field are Librarything, Shelfari and Goodreads. Each brings readers and book people the opportunity to visualize their library and meet up with others with like interests. Though the act of reading is a solitary activity and doesn’t necessarily lend itself to the socializing and networking elements of this technology there still remains tremendous potential here. For example the library of Thomas Jefferson has recently been added to LibraryThing and one can imagine all the great collections both public and private that can benefit from being exposed to this new format.
In a trade that remained pretty much stable for hundreds of years we are now faced with change as the constant and how the bookseller adapts to this new playing field and these new technologies will ultimately determine their success.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Better World Books : Are They Better for the Book World?
Last week it was announced that Better World Books has raised $4.5 million including a $2.5 commitment from the Social Enterprise Expansion Fund of Good Capital.
I have been following this company for a while and on the face of things they are doing many positive things and are deserving but there is something unsettling about this company. As much as I desire to support a socially responsible company involved with books something about Better World Books just doesn't sit right with me. They seem to be lacking a sense of humility and transparency that I would think would need to be paramount for such an endeavor.
I understand the challenges of uniting commerce and philanthropy but we are ultimately talking about a for-profit enterprise and as far as I can tell they have not released any information as to what the percentage of profits donated to non-profit partners is nor have they released any financial figures or salary figures of employees and executives (though according to Wikipedia NPR reported that its top executives make $100,000 or more).
"We have become an expert in finding new homes for old books" says co-founder F. Xavier Helgesen. If that is indeed the case how is that the have 1.8 million used books and 500,000 new titles in stock? I frequently look at the thousands of books in our inventory and think mistake rather than expert in finding new homes.
They claim to employ "two full-time, in-house Antique, Rare & Collectible book experts to grade & care for rare books." I am assuming that these are the same two people that attended last summer's rare book school at Colorado Springs representing Better World Books. If that is true they are far from expert and to promote them as such is a bit misleading. I have been selling books for over 15 years and the last thing I would call myself would be an expert. Experienced maybe, expert never.
Here are a couple of descriptions for their books as seen on AbeBooks.com
Joan Crawford. My Way of Life
Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Shipped to over one million happy customers! Your purchase benefits world literacy! First Ed. $116.25
Dawson The War That Was Never Fought- Used - Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Shipped to over one million happy customers! Your purchase benefits world literacy!. $1
-there is also another listing for the same book with the same description for $3.64.
A $100 book and $1 book are given the same treatment, each with the same lack of precision. Using terms like "perhaps considerable marking on inside" and "may have some markings on the inside" does nothing to help the customer know what they are in for should they choose to purchase the book and the marketing jargon ("100% Money Back Guarantee. Shipped to over one million happy customers! Your purchase benefits world literacy!") carries more weight for them than the actual specifics of the book.
For a company that exists to promote literacy in the world it is disheartening that they lack basic, fundamental bookselling literacy.
They might be trying to make the world a better place but I am not so sure they are helping the book world become a better place.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Vendor Satisfaction and Online Bookselling
Last week Which?, a Consumer Reports type organization in the United Kingdom, released the results of a survey focusing on customer satisfaction as it relates to online shopping for entertainment products.
Abebooks UK lead the field with a rating of "89% for overall satisfaction and were praised for how easy it was to find products on their site." The sample size for AbeBooks was pretty slight at 89 respondents where Amazon UK had 2812 and, the other company that shared the top spot with AbeBooks, Play.com had 416 respondents. Categories included Price, Availability, Delivery and Returns.
I would love to see someone undertake a similar survey of the vendors that make up the core of the offerings for the major book aggregators like Alibris, Amazon, AbeBooks, Biblio and even the websites of the professional organizations like the ABAA and the ABA.
For the most part, the publicity and focus of the book aggregators is on the end user with very little attention paid to the vendors who supply the inventory that make these sites run.
How happy are the vendors?
How satisfied are they with the way things are going?
This dream survey would be broken down by type of bookseller so that one can see who is really being better served by the current mix of online third-party bookselling.
Categories could include:
Booksellers that are members of a professional organization.
People that sell books only online.
Megalisters - vendors that have available for sale more books than they own.
It would also be interesting to survey independent bookstores that sell new books to see how satisfied they are with the current state of the publishing industry. All have been side-swiped by the new pricing models that exploded on the scene with the rise of Amazon and Costco, are they satisfied with how the publishing industry responded to their needs?
There is a collective power among independent bookstores and booksellers that has yet to be effectively harnessed and unleashed. For now, many of us are taking what we can get from these various venues waiting for the day when we find our ultimate online home.
Which? article on the results
Friday, March 21, 2008
The Annoying Bookstore Contingent
Over at Bookgasm Rod Lott has posted his list of "The 9 Most Annoying People I Always See at the Bookstore."
"I think the real reason behind the booksellers' declining fortunes is due to the people who crap in their public bathrooms. And who sit on the floor in the sci-fi section. And who go there to "study." says Lott.
The 9 offenders are:
Coffee Drinkers
Dumpers
Overly Eager Employees
First-Timers
Aisle Sitters
Couch Sitters
Study Groups
Halitosis Checkout Guy
Ol' Whistlenose
Lott deals with each of these in depth.
I would add a few others:
The Cell Phoners- People who have no clue that their private life is of little interest to fellow browsers and who are completely unaware that their cell phone conversations are completely disruptive to the people around them.
The Repeat Offenders- those who visit on a regular basis to peruse the shelves and rarely, if ever, buy anything.
The Independent Killers- they scout your shelves for books of interest and then go online to buy at a cheaper price.
and
The Members of the Church of False Hope- these are the ones who come in and start the conversation with I have a book that I am interested in selling and I looked online and... Invariably their hopes are dashed when you enlighten them to the realities of the marketplace.
Thanks to Beatrice for the lead.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Forget Face-Out Borders Is Just About Face-Down
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 'knowledge product' and not a 'commodity product' then and only then can the right approach to successful bookselling be created. As Max says "it's crazy to try to sell books as a commodity product because, (and this is just a guess) out of all the retail categories out there, bookstores by far offer the widest array of products, and therefore would require the most guidance and the best systems to help customers find what they are looking for."
Books have special needs and until the chain retailers attend to these special needs they will continue to falter.
Borders Press Release.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
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 whether these new business models are actually helping the literary cause.
Both Amazon and Costco have played a role in dismantling the traditional pricing structure of books. These new pricing schemes have played a large part in the demise of many independent booksellers. It takes a herculean effort on the part of new bookstores to survive on this new playing field. Luckily, here in Seattle we have enough of a base of independent-minded book-loving people that continue to support the remaining bookstores.
Also, though Amazon provides an unparalleled selection there is no physical component, no opportunity for the tactile experience that historically was such an integral part of bookselling and book buying. On the other hand, while both Starbucks and Costco do provide the physical experience there is a very limited selection. Starbucks offers up one book at a time while Costco offers up a limited number of books on table displays within their vast warehouses of consumer goods.
Yes, each of these companies plays a different part in the publishing puzzle yet each in their own way contribute to the winnowing of the independent community bookshop. The very bookshops that are part of the foundation of the city, part of the fabric of the city which fosters the atmosphere that leads to the creation of these companies in the first place.
Lastly, Bick talks with Kim Ricketts who owns a book promotion company here in Seattle that brings authors directly to corporate clients. This 'literary catering' approach completely bypasses the independent bookshops and does very little to support the local book community. Though it may be seen as a good corporate perk it has a negative effect on the local bookstores. Many of these authors are no longer giving readings at the book store, they are giving them at corporate offices. If these companies truly wanted to support the local bookstores they would schedule the reading at the bookstore and line up their shuttle vans to bring their employees to and fro.
