The business case for the Babysitters Club, and other news from the world of books

Because we still haven't mastered the growing-money-on-trees trick: "If you sell too cheaply you are going to have to compromise somewhere else. And we thought, 'Well, you can't compromise service, you can't compromise information, you can't compromise your display because that's all about making it a special place for your customer.' So our customers, I think, appreciate that."

You never know what aspect of customer service will do the trick: "[Harvard Book Store] cashier kindly gave me a free pen on Tues bc I was having a rough day. Today I went there to buy books instead of Amazon."

The only SXSWi-related link you'll find in this post: "It's easy to think that 'public' and 'private' are binaries...What people experience when they talk about privacy is more complicated than what can be instantiated in a byte."

For those of us of a certain age: "Ms. Martin imparts two more important messages that modern readers need to hear: Teen girls are capable of handling far more responsibility than we give them credit for, and they, like the rest of us, can choose to make their own way in the world."

If both regular March Madness and the Tournament of Books aren't your thing, check out SLJ's Battle of the Books: "Argh! This is a horribly evil match."

That accounting textbook I never managed to get through? Might have been a page-turner if Don Linn (ably assisted by Nick Harkaway) had written it: "Thinking about long term capital needs isn't as sexy as talking about technology and content, but capital markets are ruthlessly efficient in sorting out winners and losers, survivors and dinosaurs. Unless we can attract capital to this industry (and not only to the Big Six) we will have very little control of our future."

Your vocabulary word for the week (well, mine, at least): "There's a category of information that slowly changes throughout the course of a lifetime. Sam Arbesman calls them mesofacts."

Posted at 11:10AM Mar 19, 2010 by Sarah Rettger in General  |  Comments[0]

Book design secrets of ancient Venice (and other news)

This article was written when I was four years old. Change some of the names, add a few references to e-books, and it could have been in last week's Times: "The conventional wisdom is that competition from chains that discount best sellers is the main obstacle to the survival of independents." (via)

Wouldn't an oral history of bookselling (and publishing) be cool?: "But I've come to love the region. Old-timers in the business will go on about what a bookselling powerhouse western NY ('the southern tier') used to be, how you needed reps that were based there, and how it took days and days to sell accounts."

When free is good (Chris Anderson, I'm not talking to you): "This list is an attempt to clue booksellers in on some of the things they can take advantage of - online and off - to reach out to customers. Since the economist in me is avoiding sticky topics like opportunity costs and the fact that a little bit of time needs to be invested in each of these things, they are essentially free."

PDF warning: The Google Books Settlement version of March Madness.

I couldn't even tell you how many times I've linked to this blog and told you to do exactly the opposite: "But you can read 'newspapers' into this nearly everywhere it says 'books.'"

Why Ursula K. LeGuin won't be throwing sabots: "I'm part of the technological age whether I want to be or not, and mostly I enjoy it very much. I'm not protesting technology -- how stupid would that be? Writers against Computers, or something?"

Boys and non-linear narratives: "The information presented was not initially absorbed in a linear fashion by these boy readers but they were able to bring the various elements together, to grasp the facts as Ramadan has suggested, and recompose a narrative that made sense to them."

Some authors are passionate about book design: "The cover of The Undrowned Child is printed on paper so soft that it seems to have been aged by floating the book down the Grand Canal for a couple of centuries before being hand-dried by blind nuns in the shade of an ancient convent. Orion didn’t work with the usual stock photo of Venice. They commissioned brand-new cover art in unmistakeable Venetian colours. They gold-embossed the lettering in a font that perfectly recreates the 1899 setting. The flaps are satisfyingly – no, wantonly – wide. The pages are a classy cream. The boards are 3mm thick."

Posted at 11:37AM Mar 12, 2010 by Sarah Rettger in General  |  Comments[0]

Martel's dream tattoo, ICBA fans, and biographies

Yann Martel may have won the Booker, but he still appreciates fan mail: "If there was a way of tattooing it on my back, I would." (via)

Always nice to be noticed: "These are the people I trust to guide my reading and the Indie Choice Awards distills their recommendations. These books are the best of the best, chosen by people who love books and working with readers. How can you go wrong?" (Booksellers, click here to cast your vote!)

A worthy goal, methinks: "Though my voice caries little weight in this world, I’d like to see a ten-year moratorium on biographies for children on any subject for whom there is already adequate coverage in print. More books like The Day Glo Brothers and Mermaid Queen, stories of people readers never heard of, and fewer books about the usual faces that populate history. Fewer 'brand' names and more obscure ones."

John Sargent has something to say: "Our e-book sales over the last year clearly indicate that only about a third of our e-book business is in the digital versions of new release hardcovers. Unit sales of older books far exceed our new release hardcover sales, so the $9.99 and lower prices will continue to represent the largest portion of our business."

If you didn't catch Scott Simon and Daniel Pinkwater reading the condensed version last weekend, click here: "This most delightful of children's books (if you find the tragedy of the human condition delightful). "

Why Charles Pellegrinos happen: "I don't take on a work of nonfiction, especially a controversial or even unconventional one, without satisfying myself, perhaps just at gut level, that the author is presenting the truth responsibly. But I have to recognize that I can be fooled." (see also)

Posted at 03:34PM Mar 05, 2010 by Sarah Rettger in General  |  Comments[0]

Book world news, snow day edition

A socialist library in the White House? LibraryThing is on the case: "As I see it, Kennedy's administration was marked by a rare embrace of intellect, ideas and even scholarship, but was also constrained somewhat by the mental world of contemporary east-coast elites—the "Harvards" that irritated Johnson so much. Although flattened by politic initial choices—it includes no living authors of fiction, and few works by non-US citizens— the 1963 White House Library was, in a sense, the library of the "Best and Brightest," and it reflects their world view."

A historical view of the platform-content battle: "Note the pricing: a print set of Britannica averaged about $1,600, but a personal computer with a 'free' digital encyclopedia thrown in went for about the same price. Parents made the obvious choice: buy the kids a personal computer."

Also: "But I don’t need the IMAX 3D, if you’ll let me stretch the metaphor a little more. And I think our conversations would be better served if we identified as such: when you talk about ebooks, do you mean genre titles? YA? Historical nonfiction? Academic? Reference? Children’s popup books?"

Why we listen to Paul: "No, a book is not its format. Nor is it merely arranged text. A book is a collective enterprise, only completed when the last reader has gotten a hold of it and sucked the last bit of meaning out of it. A book is an effin journey from one mind to another, then another, then another, ad infinitum, a very complicated journey. Its complexity is something many people bemoan. They want the world to be simple."

This may be the first rational discussion of sociology inspired by YouTube comments: "I'm also thinking of a friend who recently announced that anything over $5 was too much for a tea kettle. Places like Walmart have convinced us that 1) we're all consumers, all the time; 2) that this position is somehow empowering rather than a subservient position, and 3) that we should value quantity over quality in every instance. So take this position over to the bookstore and see where it gets you."

How La Casa Azul Bookstore gets press: "I think the media coverage is a result of both my dedication to promoting Latino writers with the work that I do (book club, readings, newsletters), mixed with the need that there is to highlight and showcase Latino literature."

From Boswell Book Company, a cautionary tale: "That said, the various companies who operate yellow page books and sites continue to operate. And based on how bad the information can be with our store, it frightens me regarding using them for anyone else."

McNally Jackson's secret: "I think one of the reasons she so loves McNally Jackson is because of the high propensity of Open Letter titles on display there." (more on Open Letter's indie outreach)

And some love for Tattered Cover: "In the way that a church is said to be the people, not the building, a 1970’s customer transported to the Colfax store circa 2010 would probably be right at home- if a little surprised by the computer screens and extensive selection of vampire books."

Posted at 08:18PM Feb 25, 2010 by Sarah Rettger in General  | 

Connectivity, cheating, and "bookstores"

Something for those of us who spend our days connected (and yes, by "us" I mean "me") to keep in mind: "The percentage of people who never use the Internet has also dropped, the report concludes—from 37.6 percent in 2007 to 31.6 percent in 2009. But that's still almost a third of the country."

For those who are online, a chance to show off: "What Do You Know About Chicago's Independent Bookstores?"

Trust me, this is not a faux pas: "I think it’s bad form to cheat on one book with another, but I’m constantly doing it." (If you follow the link, you'll see that Elle has become the latest magazine to add a book blog - Fashion Week isn't keeping them busy enough?)

And speaking of new book bloggers, say hello to Ruby, who is taking over the Vroman's blog from Patrick: "My most recent favorite word is nugatory (syn. insignificant… like a little nugget)."

We spend all this time talking about "curation" and stocking independent bookstores with unique, well-chosen inventory... and then some people just don't get it: "For a moment — a moment – I actually believed that this "City Lights" was a real bookstore and that this "Paul" person (presumably Paul Yamazaki, a fictional character described on the "bookstore" site as "Chief Book-Buyer") actually had chosen to run a bookstore in which the works of P.G. Wodehouse would never be sold."

The Electronic Frontier Foundation offers a guide to analyzing e-book privacy: "As new digital book tools and services roll out, we need to be able to evaluate not only the cool features they offer, but also whether they extend (or hamper) our rights and expectations."

And turning from bookstores to libraries: "The digital movement cannot lead us to believe that we are wasting money by preserving and storing actual printed books!... a library, with actual books, with quiet space, with trained librarians, can offer a uniquely situated, incredibly important sanctuary to nurture the inner life Diaz alludes to in his novel."

Anthology New & Used Books has produced my current favorite piece of localism marketing (even if I admit that I've never understood the appeal of the Colin Firth portrayal): "What would Mr. Darcy say if you didn't?"

Why perception is what matters: "I overheard a woman at our township library recently as she was checking out a video: 'This is so much better than when there were video stores, and when you had to bring them back by noon the next day or something.'... There are still a number of Blockbusters in our area. But as far as this woman was concerned, only a bad memory -- 'when there were video stores.'"

And speaking of perception - you may not have given it much thought, but typography is important (for legal documents as well as books in all formats): "You are not making your PLEADING easier to READ; you are just MAKING it more ANNOYING."

Posted at 02:47PM Feb 22, 2010 by Sarah Rettger in General  | 

First-half-of-February Update

Sometimes it's just not worth it to apply logic: "I can see this being a compelling reason not to include Bill Martin's Ethical Marxism on the curriculum list for elementary school children in Texas -- the more compelling reason being that of reading level -- but Ethical Marxism was not the book under consideration. Brown Bear was."

I can't pick just one of these to highlight. Check out all the 28 Days Later authors and illustrators, and think about adding some to your inventory.

Mike Shatzkin is a very smart guy, but this time I refuse to believe him: "If you are for the most rapid possible adoption of ebooks, you are for killing bookstores faster."

Does this describe your store?: "Good independent bookstores – like Tolstoy’s families – are all different. But they are very happy places. When I walk into one, the colorful jackets of books that are my old friends or may become new friends excite me the way walking out of the dim concourse of a major league baseball stadium onto the bright, geometrical familiarity of the diamond below excites me."

Data point #1: "Nothing has encouraged me to read more books than blogging here. It provides content for the site but it also makes book-reading more enjoyable."

Data point #2: "Books I really really want to read, books I was so excited about that I pre-ordered them to get them early, are lying around unread, or partially read, stacking up against the walls and the chairs. Luxury, my brain tells me. Not now, my brain tells me."

Sounds like a document I should have picked up in sixth grade: "Professor Thomas Newkirk at the University of New Hampshire, author of Misreading Masculinity: Boys, Literacy, and Popular Culture, notes that boy humor consists of two types: physical and verbal. Boys are either saying funny things, or doing funny things."

She's a smart one, that Book Maven: "One of the things many readers and folks in publishing have derided about the rise in e-readers and digital publishing is that e-books don’t have dust jackets/book design/information (of course, eventually they’ll have all that and more…), things that readers have come to take for granted over the last decades. I wonder: If we don’t have the same number of immediate ways to evaluate a book, might there be a resurgence in reader reliance on reviews and word-of-mouth marketing? What do you think?"

I'm just following orders: "I have a little ambition for this post: for people to bookmark it, and when something comes up that triggers familiar annoyance, you come here and post a tip for the rest of us (albeit kindly, understanding that ignorance, not malevolence, is behind most people's missteps)." (see also, for a case in point)

Also, this post features the cutest kid-pic of the week: "Gavin clearly affirms the book as a tactile object. He loves the physicality—the being- in-the-world—of books. Even given all the seductive hype surrounding electronic media, I think he’s still—like his grandpa—old school. We both know what we like. I almost forgot to mention the taste test. Gavin reports that the pages are good to gnaw on and the Elmo puppet’s soft hands (paws?) don’t taste that bad either."

Posted at 03:42PM Feb 12, 2010 by Sarah Rettger in General  |  Comments[1]

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  | 

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  | 

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  |