More fun from the folks at Green Apple Books:
Round 4: Do books help you sleep?
Round 5: Looking for Mr. or Mrs. Right - Too bad!
Round 6: Customer Service - The machine is always right?
Four more rounds to go.
Showing posts with label bookselling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bookselling. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Kindle vs Books - The first 3 rounds
Everyone is always talking about the Kindle and there are aspects of owning one that do sound attractive. I realize that ebooks are with us to stay and having books available in a digital format does have a lot of advantages. However, it bothers me that one company could exert so much control over the entire publishing industry and so I have more concerns about the Kindle specifically than with the general concept of ebooks. The technology is evolving at such a rapid rate that I am not sure where the independent bookseller will fit into the picture. So I am following San Francisco's Green Apple Books series The Book vs The Kindle with interest.
Round 1 - Selling Your Old Books
Round 2 - Buying Books
Round 3 - Sharing Books
Round 1 - Selling Your Old Books
Round 2 - Buying Books
Round 3 - Sharing Books
Friday, December 5, 2008
Bookseller Stories - National Feral Cat Day
In my never ending research for the opening of Paragraphs, I love reading stories from other booksellers and I will occasionally share some of these experiences with my readers.
I have been catching up on my twitter and blog reading this evening and found this post that I thought was relevant to the Island. My understanding is that at times South Padre Island has had a problem with feral cats although I believe the situation is much better now.
From The Booklady's Blog
I have been catching up on my twitter and blog reading this evening and found this post that I thought was relevant to the Island. My understanding is that at times South Padre Island has had a problem with feral cats although I believe the situation is much better now.
From The Booklady's Blog
(Phone rings)
Me: “Good morning, this is Rebecca.”
Caller: “Hi, my name is Blah Blahblah, and I’m a publicist for Gobbledygook Books” (clearly, I’m changing names to protect the innocent…or ignorant…or, nevermind). “I work with an author from your area who has written a book about cats, and she’s interested in doing a signing in your store.”
So far, this seems pretty normal. I get calls and
drop-in visits like this all the time.
Me: “Okay, can you tell me more about the book? Is it a children’s book or a book about pets? How would you describe it?”
She proceeds to describe the book, which is apparently written for adults, but classified as Christian/Inspiration, and is written entirely from the perspective of the cats. Okay. For adults. Really?
Me: “Well, I generally do one or two signings per month, and I’m all booked up in September and December. What timeline were you thinking about?”
Caller: “She can really come anytime, but she would really like to do it on October 16th to coincide with National Feral Cat Day. We were you thinking you could tie that
into your marketing and get the audience really excited about it.”
Internal Monologue (National Feral Cat Day? WTF? How am I supposed to market that? “Have you hugged your feral cat today?” “Come celebrate feral cats–bring yours and join the party!” “Buy a book, get a free rabies vaccine!”)
I rein in my snarkiness, request a review copy of the book and a publicity package (a word to the wise: never schedule a book signing without having actually seen and read the book. Bad things happen.), and tell her I’ll get back to her. Then I immediately hit Google to look for publicity ideas.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Now I Understand
For a lot of bibliophiles the idea of owning a corner bookshop is a dream that occasionally flits across the back of ones mind, as witnessed by the popularity of the movie I've Got Mail. My theory is that everyone who loves books could imagine themselves in the role of Meg Ryan.
But, as I began preparing for this adventure, I heard a familiar refrain from many booksellers, "I don't have time to read, anymore." I thought, can that really be true. When one is surrounded by books, galleys, reviews and everything new in the literary world how could one not have time to take advantage of all these treasures.
The truth is, I have fallen victim to the same problem. Where I used to read a couple of books a week while probably working my way through a serious more difficult read at the same time, now I have a stack of books I would like to at least skim and a list of books that sound like good candidates for curling up with, but I never seem to be able to get to any of them.
Instead of reading books, I have been reduced to reading about books. Interesting, yes, but just not the same. And then there is the ubiquitous computer and internet.
To be able to live this daydream, I needed to figure out a way to sell enough books and sidelines to support myself. Yet there are times when I reviewed the mission statement, vision and plans for Paragraphs and felt they read more like something prepared for a non-profit or civic organization. But this is the nature of being a neighborhood bookshop as opposed to a B&N or Half-Price Books.
The part that I hadn't considered, being a relative recluse, is that having a community business means coming out of ones cocoon and socializing, listening, talking, and just plain interacting with others. And in today's world that means spending an awful lot of time behind a computer screen. Answering emails, commenting on blogs and participating in online discussions has replaced huge chunks of my solitary reading time
The web has created an entirely new model for marketing. The advent of social media almost requires one, if she wants to be recognized, respected, and ultimately have another spend money in her physical shop or online store, to establish an on-line identity. As I review the stories of successful booksellers, many have a full-time internet guru specifically in charge of social networking.
Gone are the days of a single website, even with an attached e-commerce capability. Now one needs to consider Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and blogging platforms, not to mention Del-ici-ous, Stumble, Technorati and Digg.
And what has just occurred to me is that if it takes the bookseller this much time to interact with others via this cornucopia of networks, when do the people I am communicating with, have the time to read?
So unless it is a hobby, I think the days of the curmudgeonly gentleman sitting in the back of a dusty book-filled shop wearing a tweed blazer and smoking his pipe while contemplating the words of a literary giant, have passed into history.
But, as I began preparing for this adventure, I heard a familiar refrain from many booksellers, "I don't have time to read, anymore." I thought, can that really be true. When one is surrounded by books, galleys, reviews and everything new in the literary world how could one not have time to take advantage of all these treasures.
The truth is, I have fallen victim to the same problem. Where I used to read a couple of books a week while probably working my way through a serious more difficult read at the same time, now I have a stack of books I would like to at least skim and a list of books that sound like good candidates for curling up with, but I never seem to be able to get to any of them.
Instead of reading books, I have been reduced to reading about books. Interesting, yes, but just not the same. And then there is the ubiquitous computer and internet.
To be able to live this daydream, I needed to figure out a way to sell enough books and sidelines to support myself. Yet there are times when I reviewed the mission statement, vision and plans for Paragraphs and felt they read more like something prepared for a non-profit or civic organization. But this is the nature of being a neighborhood bookshop as opposed to a B&N or Half-Price Books.
The part that I hadn't considered, being a relative recluse, is that having a community business means coming out of ones cocoon and socializing, listening, talking, and just plain interacting with others. And in today's world that means spending an awful lot of time behind a computer screen. Answering emails, commenting on blogs and participating in online discussions has replaced huge chunks of my solitary reading time
The web has created an entirely new model for marketing. The advent of social media almost requires one, if she wants to be recognized, respected, and ultimately have another spend money in her physical shop or online store, to establish an on-line identity. As I review the stories of successful booksellers, many have a full-time internet guru specifically in charge of social networking.
Gone are the days of a single website, even with an attached e-commerce capability. Now one needs to consider Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and blogging platforms, not to mention Del-ici-ous, Stumble, Technorati and Digg.
And what has just occurred to me is that if it takes the bookseller this much time to interact with others via this cornucopia of networks, when do the people I am communicating with, have the time to read?
So unless it is a hobby, I think the days of the curmudgeonly gentleman sitting in the back of a dusty book-filled shop wearing a tweed blazer and smoking his pipe while contemplating the words of a literary giant, have passed into history.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Free Expression Threatened by "Libel Tourism"
From the American Booksellers Foundation For Free Expression:
On Wednesday, September 10, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) joined 18 groups in issuing a statement urging members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to support the Freedom of Speech Protection Act of 2008 (S. 2977), legislation that provides that foreign libel judgments cannot be enforced in the U.S. if the speech is not actionable under U.S. law. The groups are concerned about the growing threat posed by libel suits that are filed in foreign countries in an effort to intimidate American writers and publishers.Read more...As a recent example of libel tourism, ABFFE cited the lawsuit filed by Saudi billionaire Khalid Salim bin Mahfouz against Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, an American expert on terrorism, over statements in her book, Funding Evil: How Terrorism Is Financed and How to Stop It (Bonus Books).
Although the book was never published in England and only 23 copies have been sold there via online booksellers, Bin Mafouz brought suit in an English court. Under British law, the burden of proof in the first instance is on the defendant to prove the truth of any allegedly libelous statement. Faced with the prospect of enormous legal costs to meet this burden, and objecting as a matter of principle to having to litigate in England without having published her work there, Ehrenfeld refused to defend the suit. The English court entered a default judgment, enjoined further distribution of the book in the U.K., and awarded substantial damages and legal fees.
Monday, September 8, 2008
A Bookstore Quote
From Shelf Awareness:
"I am keen to preserve what is good in life, and that is often at odds with what is most profitable in life. Leaving aside the price arguments about supermarkets, bookshops have, or should have, a special place in our culture. We need books, and books are best browsed in the energetic peace of a small store where the owner loves reading, just like we do. . . . Books are for everyone. Culture is for everyone. There is no need to apologise. No need to explain. The small bookshop where you are always welcome is an essential part of life."--Jeanette Winterson in the London Times.I couldn't have said it better myself.
Getting Back to Business
The last two weeks were full of emotional highs and lows as I followed the Democratic and Republican National Conventions in the news and on the political blogs. As I posted earlier, I was proud of Denver and how this city handled acting as host to the DNC and being here and able to soak in the experience was pretty incredible.
But, alas, now I can concentrate on the final stages in preparing to move to the Island. The time has come to get back to making lists because my mind is having trouble staying focused and the paperwork on my desk is growing exponentially each day. I really do not know what happens to the days -- they seem to just slip away, then it is a week that has gone by without my realizing it.
Today, I returned a contract to the SPI Chamber for an advertisement in the 2009 Visitor Guide, since I hope I will be open by the time it is published, although I am not sure how I will list a phone number and all the other important stats that usually are displayed. I'll need to think of a clever way to say that I am not providing any information while inviting the reader to stop by to find out what Paragraphs is all about.
Even more exciting, I am enrolling in what is known as the First Steps program with Baker and Taylor (a book distributor). I have identified a number of categories of books, music, and DVDs (thanks to everyone who responded to the survey) and in return B&T will send me a list of titles based on their sales reports and knowledge of bookstore inventories. Then the fun will begin as I get to go through approximately 6,500 entries on a spreadsheet and decide which of the suggested books I want to order, which books I don't want and finally I will have the opportunity to add to this list those books I have been keeping track of for the last year.
I have been feeling an awful lot like the proverbial kid in the candy store as the boxes of publisher catalogs announcing the new fall releases arrived on my doorstep. For a person who cannot enter a bookstore without coming out with an armful of potential new experiences waiting to be shared with new friends and characters, these catalogs are a veritable treasure trove of possibilities. Deciding on which of the many fascinating books to carry is going to be the hardest part of this bookselling business.
But, alas, now I can concentrate on the final stages in preparing to move to the Island. The time has come to get back to making lists because my mind is having trouble staying focused and the paperwork on my desk is growing exponentially each day. I really do not know what happens to the days -- they seem to just slip away, then it is a week that has gone by without my realizing it.
Today, I returned a contract to the SPI Chamber for an advertisement in the 2009 Visitor Guide, since I hope I will be open by the time it is published, although I am not sure how I will list a phone number and all the other important stats that usually are displayed. I'll need to think of a clever way to say that I am not providing any information while inviting the reader to stop by to find out what Paragraphs is all about.
Even more exciting, I am enrolling in what is known as the First Steps program with Baker and Taylor (a book distributor). I have identified a number of categories of books, music, and DVDs (thanks to everyone who responded to the survey) and in return B&T will send me a list of titles based on their sales reports and knowledge of bookstore inventories. Then the fun will begin as I get to go through approximately 6,500 entries on a spreadsheet and decide which of the suggested books I want to order, which books I don't want and finally I will have the opportunity to add to this list those books I have been keeping track of for the last year.
I have been feeling an awful lot like the proverbial kid in the candy store as the boxes of publisher catalogs announcing the new fall releases arrived on my doorstep. For a person who cannot enter a bookstore without coming out with an armful of potential new experiences waiting to be shared with new friends and characters, these catalogs are a veritable treasure trove of possibilities. Deciding on which of the many fascinating books to carry is going to be the hardest part of this bookselling business.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Bookstore and Politics - What Do You Think?
Robert Gray shares a discussion on his Fresh Eyes Now bookselling blog which examines the role of the neighborhood bookshop when it comes to political advocacy.
As those who have followed my blog may have noticed I have some trouble staying on topic and especially when it comes to politics. This may not have been an issue except that we have just been through a hard-fought primary season and are heading into what I predict to be a hotly-contested and at times vicious presidential race. The fact that Denver is hosting the Democratic National Convention and having the opportunity to experience the atmosphere and excitement around this convention which will become one of those occasions in history that becomes part of the American experience has made it hard for me to keep from "blogging the convention".
The debate in Gray's blog is a reflection on the debate I have been having with myself as I have wanted to write about the convention but was afraid of possibly offending or alienating my future customers. This is more of a problem now, because people have not had the opportunity to actually get to know me and I don't want to make the wrong first impression.
But, I am interested in the general question about the role a bookstore plays in the community. One of my core beliefs and reasons for wanting to be a bookseller is the concept that books and those places where readers congregate provide the fodder and environment for us to discover, digest, discuss and debate the ideas which shape the quality of our lives. Many of these ideas ultimately end up with politics.
So here are the questions asked by Robert Gray but rephrased to you my customer and readers. Let me know what you think.
As those who have followed my blog may have noticed I have some trouble staying on topic and especially when it comes to politics. This may not have been an issue except that we have just been through a hard-fought primary season and are heading into what I predict to be a hotly-contested and at times vicious presidential race. The fact that Denver is hosting the Democratic National Convention and having the opportunity to experience the atmosphere and excitement around this convention which will become one of those occasions in history that becomes part of the American experience has made it hard for me to keep from "blogging the convention".
The debate in Gray's blog is a reflection on the debate I have been having with myself as I have wanted to write about the convention but was afraid of possibly offending or alienating my future customers. This is more of a problem now, because people have not had the opportunity to actually get to know me and I don't want to make the wrong first impression.
But, I am interested in the general question about the role a bookstore plays in the community. One of my core beliefs and reasons for wanting to be a bookseller is the concept that books and those places where readers congregate provide the fodder and environment for us to discover, digest, discuss and debate the ideas which shape the quality of our lives. Many of these ideas ultimately end up with politics.
So here are the questions asked by Robert Gray but rephrased to you my customer and readers. Let me know what you think.
Is a community bookstore a neutral corner or an advocacy center?
Can there be a, well, "third place" between the two when it comes to politics?
What type of political sidelines or books would you find appropriate? Do the political books a bookstore carries affect your comfort level or willingness to shop in that store.
What do you expect from your bookstore? If you sensed a spirit of advocacy would you feel excluded or offended?
If the store provided a venue where there could be a free and spirited exchange of ideas, would you be offended, feel excluded or appreciate the possibility to engage in intellectual thought and discussion?
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