On Bookstores and Book Retail |
18 July 2010 with 1 comment
Canadian independent bookstores need an e-book strategy and they need one fast (and no publishers aren’t in a position to help them). The recent store closures, Nathan Whitlock’s article in this weekend’s Globe, and the great work at Indiebound all together has me wondering how we got to this spot. Canadian bookstore owners need to get organized. They need — as a group — a technological services plan that includes social media, ebooks, and shared inventory management. That might mean hiring a consultancy like Turner-Riggs or building a Booknet-like division within the CBA. It definitely means cutting through the usual bookstore owner BS and getting things done. Why has there been no will to make this happen?
On book publishing |
17 July 2010 with no comments
licensed by BillyV
On Thursday The Casual Optimist linked to Wired’s interview with Tommy Silverman, founder of Tommy Boy Records. Silverman’s comments on the relative success of rookie artists made me wonder if there was similar data out there for first time novelists — namely how many first time novelists sold a thousand units or more last year? What houses were those authors published by? What did those houses do for support? This is yet another question that could be answered by the data mavens at BookNetCanada. Please pretty please. 
On book publishing |
16 July 2010 with 2 comments
I have been using Safari Online a lot lately and it has me wishing Kobo would do the following…
- lose the desktop app and let users read in the browser
- buyout SimplyAudioBooks and integrate audio into their service
- and partner with libraries to offer Safari-like reading for free with a valid library card
On Your Marketing is Working |
13 July 2010 with no comments
A Harlequin author would be smart to turn the @oldspice campaign on its head. Give me snack sized romance novels for the win. (inspired by this post from SnarkMarket)