Changing Reading Habits, Changing Bookstores, or How Soon is Now?

By •

If you are a regular reader of Shelf Awareness (and if you’re not, you should be!), you know about the steady drumbeat of bookstores closing. You also know about the rising chorus from booksellers who are changing, adapting, growing, and understanding their place in the larger community. I am really lucky: I have two branches of an independent bookstore within comfortable distance of my house (the venerable Vromans). Sprinkled throughout my neighborhood are specialist bookstores. One is devoted to theology, one is devoted to cookbooks. Once upon a time, we had two stores focused on mystery and crime fiction, they […]

The Future of Publishing

The Daily Square – From Her Fingers Edition

By •

Todays links of interest: A fix on anythingBrian O’Leary tackles the difficult topic of change in the publishing industry. Read. Discuss. How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the KindleBob Miller of HarperStudio sees a silver lining after he spent some time reading on the Kindle. Quo Vadis, Amazon?Evan Schnittman on Amazon’s apparent strategy to steer customers to the Kindle store and keep them there. Yes, indeed, why is a company so devoted to choice in other areas trying to force customers into a single choice? Selling Sex in a Recession: EroticaThe fab Gwenda Bond looks at the current

The Daily Square

The Daily Square – Ice Water Edition

By •

Todays links of interest: Former Firebrand Agents Hangs New ShingleUpstart Crow Literary agency features Michael Stearns (formerly of HC Children’s), Chris Richman, and Danielle Chiotti. Houghton Mifflin to cut 65Very sad news. Condé Nast to Save Magazines by Canceling All Newspapers SubscriptionsYay! Save newspapers. We love it when cost cutting starts with the tiny stuff.

The Daily Square

The Daily Square – Sunday Under Glass Edition

By •

Todays links of interest: Patti Smith at Book Soup on SaturdayYeah, this is the important stuff! Advance PW Review: Nabokov’s ‘The Original of Laura’Not sure if this makes me sad or very sad. The aspect that deals with the artifact of a writer’s process is fascinating, but act of putting it into the world was contrary to what the author wanted. Publishers Lunch Deluxe: Kindle Krunching: Week 2While it’s still early in the analysis process, we bring you Week 2 of the Publisher’s Lunch analysis of Kindle sales.

The Daily Square

The Daily Square – Funk Pop a Roll Edition

By •

Todays links of interest: Amazon’s troubling reachDavid Ulin of the Los Angeles Times looks at recent issues involving Amazon and enters the bigger conversation of what this kind of control means. Man Booker 2009 longlistCongratulations to all authors! The Future is Now: Ann Kingman and Michael KindnessGreat interview with two of our favorite people on the planet! Very smart thoughts about talking about books.

The Daily Square

Quality Control: It Matters

By •

I posed a question last week and received no response. I didn’t expect one because it addresses issues great and small, depending on how you approach it. I was looking at it from a narrow perspective, but you know how it goes: the more you think about something, the bigger it becomes. So here goes. Are publishers undermining their own arguments through lack of quality control? I asked this question in the narrow context of ebook prices, addressing, specifically, the issue of lousy final layout in digital books. So much effort goes into the acquisition, editing, and marketing of a

Back To Basics

The Daily Square – Do It Edition

By •

Todays links of interest: Ain’t That a ShameJustine Larbalestier takes on the serious issue of whitewashing book covers, and how the idea that black covers don’t sell breaks faith with readers of her new novel Liar. Talking Ebooks with CustomersStephanie Anderson of Word, Brooklyn writes about the discussions she’s having with her customers about ebooks. We are so pleased to see booksellers looking at how to make ebooks part of the mix rather than a cause for doom and gloom. Target’s Book Club Can Make Sleepy Titles Into Best SellersA look at how Target is positioning itself as a bookselling

The Daily Square

On Budget Busting

By •

The next few months will see book releases from a slew of literary giants (just in time for the holiday shopping season!). Is the reading world ready for Thomas Pynchon, Dan Brown, A.S. Byatt, Michael Chabon and more to duke it out on the shelves and bestseller lists? “It gets us excited, but the big question is, will people buy that many books?” Mr. [Ira] Silverberg said. “What’s unfortunate about that is, it’s a short season! All these books are coming out in three months, and there’s overlap in their core audiences. Also, these are hardcover books–at 25 to 30

Quote of the Week

The Daily Square – Ako Edition

By •

Todays links of interest: Counting Down, Ramping UpLove reading about the starting up of a bookstore start-up. Go Greenlight Bookstore. Book publishers exploit starsTruly hilarious. Demand Pricing for EbooksEvan Schnittman makes an argument for demand pricing for ebooks — and smarter pricing strategies by publishers.

The Daily Square
Scroll to Top