A quick aside, then Wi5 information

How is ABA different from Apple? There are a lot of answers to that, but the relevant one this week is that our marketing officer - who, among other things, oversees all our branding - is a woman. Apple, with its unfortunate name for the Unicorn Tablet, not so much. Sara Zarr deconstructs it beautifully.

Wi5: It's next week. No Omnibus posting, and an abbreviated Bookselling This Week (BTW's coverage will appear in the 2/11 issue), so the #Wi5 hashtag on Twitter is your best bet for information, whether you're there or playing along at home.

(Speaking of playing along at home, this week's Digital Book World attendees did a great job of sharing the essentials with those of us who were too busy preparing for other events to get there. DBW has posted a round-up of links during and immediately after the show, and I'm really looking forward to what the attendees will be blogging about once they've had time to mull everything over.)

Posted at 01:48PM Jan 30, 2010 by Sarah Rettger in General  |  Comments[0]

Paywalls, advice, and covers (plus a few other things)

Several topics of notes this week (and I'm not counting the Unicorn, which will appear or not, as it sees fit, next week):

The New York Times announced that it will resume charging for online access, using a paywall-by-any-other-name, in 2011. There are questions of method and timing that will sound uncomfortably familiar to people who are looking to charge for other forms of digital content (say, e-books), so all eyes will be on the Gray Lady for a while.

Clay Shirky, after amusing himself by telling independent bookstores what they need to do to succeed decided to try telling women what to do. Between the fact that Shirky's blog now allows comments (it didn't back in November) and the fact that there are a lot more women than booksellers on the Internet, there's been quite a response, including this from HarperStudio. Another advantage of the larger subject population is that this time I can link to actual studies that show why Shirky's idea doesn't work.

Just a few months after rejacketing Justine Larbalestier's Liar, Bloomsbury has announced that it is stopping production of Jackie Dolamore's Magic Under Glass and producing a new cover. As with Liar, the issue was identified and pursued by bloggers, before the story was picked up by larger outlets.

And there's some non-Unicorn e-book news about, including David Hewson's take on Kassia Krozser's criticism of enhanced e-books, while Michael Cairns offers an example; Guy LeCharles Gonzalez on how a zero-sum mentality drives the e-vs-p debate; one of the reasons publishing staff are disconnected from the consumer e-book experience

Finally, take my word when I tell you these links are worth a look.

Posted at 03:19PM Jan 22, 2010 by Sarah Rettger in General  |  Comments[0]

Testing profanity, disappointing customers, and other news of the week

Because it doesn't have to be one or the other: "Without question, print galleys will rightfully live on, but the digital galley can go further, faster, at less cost, and bulging with supporting materials that would be cost-prohibitive in print."

The unglamorous side of publishing: "The content supply chain is a dirty, ugly, frustrating, and expensive part of the business that facilitates the movement of money and product. Ordering, billing, shipping, status, returns, and product information movement, are things that publishers and readers simply take for granted. But without it, there is no business, and no money for anyone." (see also)

On the role of passion at work: "While it’s true that you don’t need to be a scientist to edit Ray Kurzweil or a yoga fan to promote Elizabeth Gilbert, let's be honest: it's easy to see the magic that happens when people work on books that resonate with their interests."

I haven't figured out a hook that will improve on Guy's insights, so just go read it: "Experimentation leads to progress, and every success sits atop multiple failures; that’s a lesson the publishing industry should learn from their technology partners and start to embrace, instead of just being led around led by the nose by them." (see also)

Alas, I did not make it to this event: "What will save us is fun, and allowing fun to be at the center of what we do... Too often it seems that for we merry band of book-making and bookselling brothers, thinking outside the box just means stepping outside the box, then pivoting, turning back around and looking at the box from another angle and thinking about how the outside of the box looks." (see also here, here, here, and here)

Where's the fun in being uncomplicated? "Conservatism is, I should say, as much a part of the bookseller's business thinking, as liberalism is likely to be the cast of his or her politics. We tend to embrace change everywhere but in what we do for a living and the means by which we do it... Ours is also conservatism in the best sense; a respect for tradition, a reverence for history and literature, an enthusiasm for the preservation and dissemination of established culture, and an almost evangelical, and indeed, perhaps old fashioned, belief in the transformative power of ownership of the written word."

Mike Shatzkin wins this week's metaphor award: "With the encouragement of Microsoft and the hardware makers promising that all computers would soon have CD-Rom drives, many publishers jumped into what we can look back and see was an enhanced ebook business with both feet. It turns out they jumped into an empty swimming pool. Many legs were broken."

Why surveying your audience is worth it: "We live in times when the architecture of news is shattering. For the past year, we have been experimenting and tearing down traditional barriers and building new virtual platforms. We have enjoyed having a more personalized experience with you. Although we have always believed that radio is an intimate medium, we now know that radio alone is not enough - we need to continue fostering the new media paradigm."

On choosing a model and believing in it: "We’ve had a few people get pretty flustered — “What do you mean we can’t be seated? We have to wait a couple of hours?” Like somehow we’ve violated their human rights. Why is it a crime that we’re not open seven days and we’re not seating 100 people?"

Probably the closest you can get to experimental design in books: "As always with writing the best way to test an idea is to back up your original and leap in with the scalpel. I cut out the swearing. It didn’t make a blind bit of difference to the text. Even when I needed people to swear I could get them to do it without uttering a single word that might offend someone. They simply curse under their breath or mutter some quiet imprecation. For my books that’s enough."

PDF alert, but if you like equations, click through: "So, on a given night out in London there is a 0.0000034% chance of meeting one of these special people, about 100 times better than finding an alien civilization we can communicate with. That’s a 1 in 285,000 chance. Not great." (via, courtesy of @Harkaway)

Posted at 05:03PM Jan 15, 2010 by Sarah Rettger in General  | 

A mountain of links

I will not overwhelm this post with links. I will not overwhelm this post with links. I will...

Oh, who am I kidding? It's been two weeks since Omnibus saw an update, and my list of cool things to share just keeps growing.

I'll try to keep it organized by theme, at least.

Tech stuff:

Industry stuff:

Bookstores:

Olio:

Posted at 01:22PM Jan 10, 2010 by Sarah Rettger in General  | 

Reindeer. (Pause.)

Since I've linked to all the rest of this story, it's only fair to end with the thank-you: "Very late in the evening -- actually, very early in the morning -- one gentleman, immediately after getting his books signed, stood slightly off to the side, opened his copy of Sandman, and for several minutes stared at what you had written with an expression of deep bliss and contentment. I am certain many hundreds of other people shared those same emotions last night." (see also)

Are non-linear narratives the future?: "All those boys who struggle reading novels for school but could spend hours with The Guinness Book of World Records do so because they like the puzzle of putting a narrative together in their heads."

Now I'm trying to picture a bookstore at the North Pole: "Do you have a favorite indie at the North Pole, Santa? I hope you do, because a bookstore like that is a fabulous place to be -- surrounded by books and book lovers -- on a cold, snowy day."

Changing Hands and the challenges of e-books: "The more we looked, the more we found that eBook pricing wasn't just bloated, it was erratic. No clear patterns emerged. Worse still, from publisher to publisher and from book to book we had no reliable way of determining our cost, which of course makes selling eBooks at cost problematic."

It's such a balancing act: "As a human, I understand this. As a person who loves books, I’m a bit frustrated."

If you're not reading Dr. Syntax, you should be: "In the end, just as the fight with Amazon over pub dates is largely about pricing, the fight over who owns backlist e-rights is largely about royalties." (see also)

A valuable counterpoint in the comments to this post: "Having 100 000 title in a digital warehouse does not help a physical retailer sell them, they still have to select those that match most closely their customer base and then merchandise and display them… this is still retail after all."

The hardships of representing young people's literature: "I still don't have my Ambassador Attack helicopter."

If you missed him at the E-Book Summit, you have another chance at Winter Institute: "LiVolsi was the perfect example of having a flesh-and-blood human representing a company."

Who can pass up a Pinterized Christmas carol?:
"Scene: Up on the housetop.
Woman: Reindeer.
(Pause.)"

Posted at 05:01PM Dec 21, 2009 by Sarah Rettger in General  | 

You were wondering what happened this week?

Jeffrey Trachtenberg reported this week in the Wall Street Journal that some of the major publishers are planning to delay the e-book release of some of their major titles. Depending on your perspective, the moves are elitist, short-sighted, perceptive, necessary, stupid, arrogant, practical, or some combination of those.

For some of the more nuanced discussions (and really, read through the comment sections), check out posts from HarperStudio, Miriam Goderich, James McQuivey (two links because both comment feeds are worth reading, especially this one from Jack McKeown), Kassia Krozser (two different posts this time), Rose Fox, Phil Simon, Mike Shatzkin, and Todd Sattersten.

Phew. I think it's time for a fluff break. How about an interview with @HalfPintIngalls, otherwise known as Wendy McClure? ("I don't know why you future people like "wire-less" things so much! It makes you harder to find when you're buried in a snowdrift!")

Conveniently, Digital Book World's "Indie Booksellers and the Digital Transition" webinar was already scheduled for this week, and the slides are up.

Back to fluff: Josie and Elizabeth share some of their favorite book rejection stories (and, in case I haven't repeated myself enough this week, read the comments for more).

Mark Bertils weighs in on the bookstore user experience (with some help from Ann Kingman). I'm going to jump in with a tidbit from my usability days: You can't evaluate your own stuff. You're too familiar with it. If you want real user experience data, you need representative users - or in this case, customers. (Shameless plug: We're offering a session on conducting customer surveys at Winter Institute, so if you're thinking about it...)

(Related: Guy LeCharles Gonzalez on indies and community.)

And one more fun thing to end on: the Chronicle of Higher Education's profile of a rare book specialist who's opinionated and cranky - but not in the way you might expect.

Posted at 04:58PM Dec 11, 2009 by Sarah Rettger in General  | 

Just the facts edition

You may have noticed yesterday's announcement that both Wi5 and the Winter Institute hotel are currently sold out. Guess who's handling the waiting lists? Yup, that's my excuse for giving you headlines only today, no cute teasers. But I do think these posts are worth a look:

Posted at 02:37PM Dec 04, 2009 by Sarah Rettger in General  | 

Nothing but opera and Beethoven? Not here.

From Digital Book World: "No conversation about publishing’s future and the importance of engaging readers directly is complete if it doesn’t include the perspective of the independent bookseller — our partners, curators and, most importantly, community organizers."

On the origin of humor: "When a child is about a year and a half old, they might point to a dog and say, 'cat,' and that’s the beginning of humor and nonsense."

Who says studying rare books is impractical?: "What struck me was Professor Traister’s reminder that the book was never intended to be read. It was intended to be owned."

If you're looking to spend a little more on presents this year: "Some items come from James Marshall's estate, some from International Wizard of Oz Club founder Fred M. Meyer's collection, and some from the artists themselves."

And a very happy blogiversary to you!: "This public service announcement brought to you by White Readers Meet Black Authors is to remind you to pick up a book by a black author while you're doing your Chrismukkwanza shopping next month."

Michael Cairns makes me glad I didn't go to b-school: "More analysis is likely to show that a variable approach to pricing and packaging will generate more revenue. For example, in an approach the authors suggest for music, a publisher with a selection of 10 political/legal thrillers could generate more revenue selling the package for $29.95 than relying on selling each separately for a total of $79.00."

How Diana Peterfreund celebrates her Next List status: "Hi there, Indie booksellers! Would you like a signed bookplate or five to go with your copies of Rampant? Would you like a few of these gorgeous sparkly RAMPANT bookmarks?"

How a multimedia story is built: "The process I used was that, when I came up with the idea for Skeleton Creek--and this is a little different than any other story I've come up with--I didn't come up with the plot first, I came up with the characters first."

David Hewson has little sympathy for his former profession: "If the press still reviewed music the way they review books they’d be full of articles about nothing but opera and Beethoven, and they wouldn’t be read much either."

Can we use this logic to take Go Ask Alice out of the curriculum, too?: "Once it is established that the book presents a false picture, Carnes said, the argument that the school board acted as ideological censors 'collapses on itself.'"

Possibly the single best response to this: "Shirky's plan to save bookstores sounds like he wants to make them into public libraries! Nonprofit, 'third place', community gathering place, "inviting physical location" etc. Strange that he doesn't mention libraries as a model." (see also)

Not sure I like the conclusions, but as an astronomy nerd I have to love the analogy: "I tend to believe that gravity is working in Amazon's favor, I just hope they don't turn into the black hole of publishing. In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for publishing supernovas, companies throwing every last dollar into one brief burst of unsustainable activity before collapsing in on themselves and their industry creditors to become white dwarfs of bankruptcy."

Ownership, permanence, and chemistry: "You buy a book, it’s 'permanent'; you 'own' it. But books degrade, over time. If you bought a cheap paperback printed on last-century’s pulp, the clock is already ticking — the paper itself was insufficiently processed, so trace amounts of acidic lignin remain, which is why the pages of many books yellow and grow brittle over time... Ironically, books from four centuries past (printed on vellum or parchment) will last longer and will in fact survive after the vast majority of books — those from the industrial age, printed on mass-produced pulp paper — have crumbled to dust."

Little Shop of Stories: "So I started to find excuses to take the kids to the bookstore--any chance I could get we would visit. You know, 'for the children's sake.' Then I'd find excuses to go without the kids."

Graveyard Book contest update: "Still, two were ever-so-slightly out in the lead. I watched their videos over and over, trying to decide. I wondered if I could legitimately award points for climate, or for whether I actually wanted to go there or not, (suddenly throwing Octavia Books in New Orleans into the lead), or deduct points for it being probably rather cold in, say, Winnipeg, in the winter. No, I couldn't. It was all about the parties."

Old Harbor Books: "Now, this is mavericky." (see also Green Apple Books)

Oblong Books: "I was literally raised in our bookstore! Oblong Books & Music in Millerton, NY was founded by my dad ten years before I was born, and I spent time in the store every day after pre-school. He had me ringing up sales by age eight."

New York metro stores: "I believe it's family run, the owners or managers live upstairs (a woman and her son)."

Harvard Book Store: "Jeff said they’ve had the printer for about a month and a half, and it is used three or four 15-40 times a day (which was more often than I expected, but then again, the store is right across the street from Harvard. Nerds.)" (quite possibly related)

Skylight Books (and surrounding stores): "4 days later, it was anonymously returned. That happens like 1% of the time, so I feel pretty fortunate. The next day, I felt wonderful, full of helium balloons, and I wanted to get out into the world. Let me share 3 great independent businesses I went to."

Posted at 05:59PM Nov 20, 2009 by Sarah Rettger in General  |  Comments[2]

Tree houses and book covers and buttons, oh my!

Okay, it has nothing to do with books, but go admire anyway: "Putting this principle into practice, Whole Tree Architecture is dedicated to building with materials that lumber companies consider scrap – weed trees, also know as 'managed forest thinnings.' The resulting projects are beautiful displays of locally sourced and sustainably managed materials." (via @TatteredCover)

Looking for a place to donate books?: "He contacted Bullitt County Public Schools and churches in that area, asking people to help him collect 100,000 books for libraries that needed them. He asked for textbooks, reference books, children's books, anything people had on their shelves collecting dust but not enhancing minds."

As a big rereader, I'm intrigued (and mystified) by this worldview: "Still, every time I look at one of my old books, I feel a much stronger desire to check out something new than to go back to my greatest hits."

Mr. G continues to narrate his Graveyard Book party judging: "Then I made my decision. I called Elyse Marshall at Harpers and told her. 'Ah,' she said. 'I'll have to check with the lawyers to find out if you can do that.'"

Bookselling in a nutshell: "In short, I asked each of them to choose a book that, for whatever reason, is overshadowed but still awesome."

So where do cover designers get their ideas? "But it's frowned upon to walk into a class room and use them as a focus group. It's better to take them out for a beverage an listen to what they have to say."

Print this, frame it, something: "Reading doesn’t have to be a 'tool,' a screwdriver to tighten the screws of a particular disciplinary scheme (or, later in childhood, of any other educational agenda). Yes, reading can be a means to an end, of course. But reading should also be an end unto itself, and if we fail to value that, we are in trouble."

Something that keeps arising in e-book discourse: "The goal of Project Gutenberg has always been to create 'An Information Age' not as something on the order of 'The Digital Divide,' but something greater in terms of bringing literacy and education to the masses free of all charge and in a way the vast majority can access instantly."

How to detect a master of handselling: "Picture Elizabeth Bluemle, bookseller extraordinaire, two years ago when The Book Thief came out in paperback...A customer asked her if the book was really good. Elizabeth just raised one eyebrow and the woman bought two."

Because free speech nerds need fantasy leagues too: FantasySCOTUS.net (via @NCACensorship)

When rebranding goes wrong: "Macy's may be doing well financially in Chicago, but as a Chicagoan who was highly insulted by Mr. Lundgren's comments again and again, I'm happy with never shopping there for the rest of my life. I thought it would be tough to follow through on my boycott, especially that first Christmas season, but it wasn't, and it isn't."

I could go for a Shuffle button, especially when it comes to bookshelves: "Below are a list of my favorite common buttons and links that, decontextualized, make a kind of wishlist for my life in general."

Bookmark this one: "After yet another experience of a customer saying that books are too expensive, after watching the Amazon/Walmart pricing wars, I decided we need some perspective."

I think we need some "Please close the gate" signs in the ABA offices: "Signage in the editorial department hallway — this is an Algonquin original from when the company was run out of co-founder Louis Rubin's home!"

Because it's not fun to hear about any bookstores closing: "Not only are they full-time booksellers, but they've been working there for years and years, and they're important to the community they serve despite the fact that they work for people whose ideas about bookselling I disagree with, and I am just as sad about their loss as I am when I read about an independent bookstore shutting its doors."

Forty years ago this week: "Hersh won a Pulitzer Prize for the story. It was a story that changed history."

Posted at 01:50PM Nov 13, 2009 by Sarah Rettger in General  | 

Something for everyone edition

For those who prefer their information in flowchart form: apostrophe usage and "Hey Jude."

If you're just looking for an excuse to write on walls - or know your customers would love to: IdeaPaint.

Ugliest? Sure. But some of these qualify for so-ugly-it's-cute - although I don't think I'll be trading my Civic for a CitiCar.

If you thought the Harry Potter parties of 2007 were impressive, check out BTW's photo gallery from bookstore Graveyard Book parties.

Speaking of holiday events, Buy Books for the Holidays is gearing up for another season, and they've extended a special invitation to independent bookstores.

Would Paul Revere have tweeted? That's not exactly the question considered at Experience: The Blog, but now I want him to join the company of HalfPintIngalls, BozDickens, and Edgar_Allan_Poe.

Also, to address the perennial question of practical uses of social media, I present Josh Christie's recommendations. (He did not, however, recommend any $1,200 books.)

John Mesjak has a roundup of the regional association holiday catalogs.

If you were hoping to set youngest-employee records - well, you're too late. Martina Kashkashian has already granted her first interview about the world of book-buying.

At Chasing Ray, check out some excellent underground photos by Julia Solis. (Who's up for some forgotten subway exploration?)

The book industry made it on TV a bit more than usual this week, between a NewsHour segment featuring Kassia Krozser and Lev Grossman, and then John Grisham on Today.

Posted at 01:30PM Nov 06, 2009 by Sarah Rettger in General  |  Comments[1]