(no subject)

[cblj_backup]

Okay guys, I have thoughts about publishing and nowhere to put them, so you get them. Sorry.

One: I'm seeing a lot of articles lately about how trad publishing needs to "fight back" against e-books or buck the trend or some other utter nonsense. And the truth is they don't. What trad publishers need to do is yank their heads out of their asses and build a hardcopy publishing and sales model that actually functions in the modern world. You know how long the traditional "do a print run, hope it sells, remainder the remainders" model has existed in stasis? Something like four hundred years. Gutenberg was awesome but he's dead now, time to move on.

Because I want traditional publishing to succeed. And I want ebooks to succeed. I refuse to pick a side in the books versus ebooks debate because if you think one has to preclude the other, you're drastically missing the point. Books and ebooks aren't an either-or proposition; they're an "awesome, both" advantage.

Can I build a model for trad publishers to fix what is so drastically broken? No. I could give suggestions, but I'm not a professional restructuring consultant nor am I an economist. Still, I'm pretty sure there are plenty of those out there who actually live in a world where ebook readers exist, and they'd be happy to help.

Two: I have a really hard time feeling sympathy for Borders and their constant bankrupcy/recievership/whatevercakes drama, because Borders is one of the Big Box bookstores and in its time has edged out countless smaller independent bookstores without offering any significant advantage to the consumer, except for maybe about a ten year period between "big box bookstores open" and "the internet appears" when they offered heretofore unknown diversity. But that's over now, and for a long time Borders has been part of the problem, both for the publishing industry and for independent business.

(Sidenote: I cannot tell you of my enraged reaction to You've Got Mail, even as a teenager. The big bookstore corporation and its slimy, manipulative, lying mouthpiece won? The douchebag gets the girl and closes down her store and that was sold to us as an actual happy ending. What the hell was a film from 1987 doing in 1998?)

So yeah, I'm sorry a lot of people are going to lose their jobs and a lot of giant retail spaces are going to stand empty, but don't let the door hit your ass on the way out, Borders. I hope Barnes and Noble follows you down in flames and someone opens a Trader Joe's in all your retail spaces.

Three: On a less aggressive note, the above boils down to the fact that I would love to see a new model emerge where small bookstores flourish because they serve a different purpose from the past and a different purpose from the big online bookstores. I was talking about this with some friends the other day and I think it would be fantastic if we developed a sort of social order where if you're looking for a specific book, maybe you go online for it, okay, but if you're looking to browse or to find something new, you will have a small bookstore in your neighborhood where you can go for an experience. (Which incidentally would also be a nice step towards exploding the filter bubble.) I think this would actually get more people out to bookstores, in the same way our cultural expectation that everyone likes coffee gets more people out to coffee shops.

And you know what's awesome too, small bookstores can generally order any book you can order online. That does require that you go out and speak to another person, which I'm generally not in favour of. But they can do it -- and if you're just browsing, most of the time the clerk will leave you alone.

And that is my Friday morning rant.

Comments

[mysid.livejournal.com]

I was working part-time in a small bookstore when Borders came to town. We didn't stand a chance. Did I do a little happy dance when tumbleweeds blew through the former Borders? Why yes, I did. But it was years too late for our little bookstore.

And I've never been able to stomach "You've Got Mail" either.

[bkwrrm-tx.livejournal.com]

I adore bookstores, because I can browse and find things that I didn't know I needed when I walked in the door. I can see the cover, read a few (or more) pages and discover worlds that the Internet just can't point me towards.

Besides, a bookstore smells like books, which my computer can't say.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

I need a really big macro that says, "THIS."

Because, well, THIS. I know a thing or two about the publishing industry (enough to know there *are* presses who Get what you're on about and are trying to act accordingly; also, that Borders has been messing publishers around just as much as it's been steamrollering booksellers). And yes, niche bookshops are the perfect way to get people out of the filter bubble and talking to people - particularly to other people who know and love books. Win all round.

[wellowned.livejournal.com]

i kinda love this rant on so many levels. i feel bad that i don't have the neighborhood bookstore i long for. for a while, my neighborhood bookstore *was* borders (a short bus ride as opposed to a long one), and it pained me to see it go.

that being said, there's something about a traditional book that satisfies the arcane in ways that an ereader version doesn't. i admit, i have kindle on my phone and i read books that way, and my at home library is not what it could be. but i love dogeared pages and i still have half my senior semester in college textbooks because of the notes i have in the margins and highlighting and all the information therein.

a friend and i long to open up a strip mall of sorts... a bakery cum coffeeshop cum bookstore on one end, a craft store on the other, and classes to teach you all the things that you can use the area for (cooking 101, sewing, knitting, scrapbooking)... part of my problem with ereaders and big box bookstores is that lack of community you end up with.

anyway. love your rant. i'm pretty sure extribulum will be at the forefront of the new bookstore model. lol.

[celtprincess13.livejournal.com]

(Sidenote: I cannot tell you of my enraged reaction to You've Got Mail, even as a teenager. The big bookstore corporation and its slimy, manipulative, lying mouthpiece won? The douchebag gets the girl and closes down her store and that was sold to us as an actual happy ending. What the hell was a film from 1987 doing in 1998?)

THANK YOU! That is exactly how I felt when I watched that movie and why I'll never watch it again. I kept waiting for the little bookstore to kick the box store's ass and wait, what? He WINS? Are you shitting me? So, so angry.

And you know what's awesome too, small bookstores can generally order any book you can order online. That does require that you go out and speak to another person, which I'm generally not in favour of. But they can do it -- and if you're just browsing, most of the time the clerk will leave you alone.

We have a small used bookstore here, which also sells new books. First off, when you turn books in for trade, you get credit on other used books. All new books are automatically 10% off without me having to sign up for a card or whatever. And Jim will order any book you want, as long as he can find it in the database, for no extra charge.

On top of that, he has a PHENOMENAL memory for the books in his store. He almost always knows what he has used and can help you find anything you might want. But he'll leave you alone if you don't need him. And that is why I almost exclusively shop there for books (except the airport bookstore impulse buys) rather than the big box stores, of which we have two plus assorted Wally World & Target.

[kessie.livejournal.com]

I'm a children's bookseller, so in regards to online vs. actual bookstore experience, I'll say one word: Christmas.

Anyone who claims online shopping can easily replace going out and doing it yourself, they've usually never worked in a bookstore during Christmas. Apart from the stress and general mayham, the amount of people who come in looking for a book for a son/daughter/niece/nephew/grandkid/godkid/babysitter/neighbour's kid and know next to nothing except who they are and they either like to read or they'd like to get them a book. And it is constant for about six weeks.

I'm your go-to girl if you've a vague idea what they like, or if they're in the awkward in-between reading stages, or if maybe an activity book might be the way to go. I'll have been keeping an eye on the media book reviews so I'll usually have a idea of a book you saw mentioned in the paper last weekend but can't remember the title, or I'll know where to look or I can ask a colleague. I won't have read every book, but I spend almost all of my free time reading, the majority books for the section I manage, so when I put a book into your hands that I've read, I enjoyed it.

Yeah, we can't compete with online retailers in price; we have rent to pay at the very least. But I love reading, I read every day, and I know children's books. Someone standing in front of you, listening and asking questions to narrow down the options, and trying really hard to find the right book for you--shopping online doesn't give you that.

[margi-lynn.livejournal.com]

THIS TIMES A MILLIONTY

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Related, @CandlemarkGleam just tweeted this (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/aug/04/price-publishing-ebooks?CMP=twt_gu) thoughtful article about the whole ebooks/print-books thingie.

[dreamwaffles.livejournal.com]

The only thing I liked about You Got Mail was the music. My mom has the soundtrack, and both of us love it. As for the movie itself...the dog was cute, but not cute enough to make up for us both tearing up when she closes her tiny bookstore.

There was an awesome kid's bookstore here which had a back room where a bunch of authors signed the walls and ceiling. Neil Gaiman signed it. So did Brian Jacques, I think, and so many others over the years. I went to book day camp there as a child. It's gone now. I cried when it closed.

-sigh-

[bunnymcfoo.livejournal.com]

and now i'm curious if you live anywhere near me, because that sounds a lot like a bookstore that was around here. :(

[karadin.livejournal.com]

Our bookstores closed years ago, and one of our stores 'Hungry Mind' was known across the country for bringing out authors and promoting new talents, all gone. So, Big Box Bookstores are no loss to me.

My mom ran a small press for years, she explained the process of remaindering and returning (books came back and they had to pay for storage, or donate or pulp) and I always thought, why don't they change this system? It's absurd these days.

I don't buy books online (paperback or hardcover) because I've been burned a few times - the bindings or paper are crap and the book filled with typos - I like to look at a physical book before I buy it, and that's a different consideration than buying an e-book.

[bobcatmoran.livejournal.com]

Hungry Mind! I used to live by there and was so sad to see it close.

And yeah, when I actually did get a job at a (chain) bookstore later on, I was sort of appalled at how inefficient the whole remainder/returning process was, and I always had the hardest time tearing the covers off the mass market paperbacks before they went for recycling.

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

My knee-opinion on the hardcopy vs. ebook bebate (bearing in mind I've been assimilated got a Kindle) is that for the realm of adult novels and technical information, hardcopy is close to dead. It's expensive to print compared to uploading data to Amazon it doesn't make sense for a product that's just words.

Now, illustrated books are another thing. Kindles produce nice crisp text, but B&W photographs don't fit very well in the display format and color is Right Out. Currect readers that do offer color can't match the Kindle's readability. So until that technical hurdle can be overcome, the era of the coffee table book is still safe. Same goes for illustrated children's books, especially anything for readers of the "I'll chew anything I get my hands on" stage.

I suspect our Bookstore of The Future is going to look a lot like a Staples, offering Print On Demand items for heavily illustrated books and for folks who just don't want an e-reader for whatever reason. And unless the cost of PoD goes down signifigantly, printed books are going to be increasingly viewed as luxury items.

[minkrose]

Reading your last sentence, I realised that printed books will go back to being viewed as luxury items.

Weird.

[kitsunec4.livejournal.com]

A Trader Joe's in every former Border's storefront? YES. One of the things I hate about Dallas is the lack of Trader Joe's.

While I was quite fond of the local Border's back home, that was mostly a function of my friends working there and being there so much the booksellers knew me.

My current replacement for a fun book hunt experience is Half-Price Books, used books for cheap-ish? Hells yes. Also, less soul-draining than Barnes & Nobles.

[karadin.livejournal.com]

Oh, I go to Half Price for some of the beautiful antique books they have, I picked up a huge pristine hardcover of Japanese Temples for $15 (retail used $200) I figure if books are going to be more and more expensive, then pretty soon the antique books will be way out of my league if I don't pick them up now.

[etakyma.livejournal.com]

I've never seen "You've Got Mail" simply because it came out at a time the bookstore I managed was going into bankrupcy and I was losing my job.

No thank you, Hollywood, I will not see a movie that glamorizes my RL experience of selling off as much as I could in the hottest summer on record with no air conditioning. Wow, even after more than a decade that still stings!

I was a theatre major in college many many many years ago, and having something like the Kindle or Nook with all of Shakespeare on it would have made my life a whole lot easier - instead of lugging around a million scripts or an entire anthology. So yes, I can see the point of ebooks.

I don't currently have one - but then I like the feel of a real book in my hand too much. Maybe in the future if I continue to travel for work as much as I have been I'll see the point of taking a Kindle instead of several books for the plane.

[oletheros.livejournal.com]

during the great depression, alfred knopf basically had to come up with a new distribution methodology so that he could convince ailing bookstores to buy his books. the system he came up with was basically a consignment system where bookstores didn't have to pay for the books for 90 days and, if they didn't sell the books, they could ship them back to be remainedered. this is still the current distribution system - a consignment model that was devised almost 80 years ago.

a lot of the publisher decision-making is built around this methodology, despite the fact that it really doesn't make a whole lot of sense. but until someone can come up with a new methodology and prove that it works, publishers are not likely to change. they are, after all, risk mitigation machines, unwilling to be the first to do something, but absolutely willing to be the second.

i think you're right - there should be a different way to get a book published than the massively inefficient slush pile system that produces an awful lot of false negatives. but until someone starts saying "i'll do something" instead of "someone should do something" i don't see that changing.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

There are many small presses that ARE doing something about it. Unfortunately, the distribution system works against us in trying to push through change - bookstores love the current system, and have no incentive to accept our "no returns" policy, even if we offer to sell only 1-2 books to them, rather than a carton.

[bluebombardier.livejournal.com]

for a long time Borders has been part of the problem, both for the publishing industry and for independent business.

This is what I told people who lamented its loss on Facebook. Then I told them to hit up the liquidation sales. I scored a Kik-Step (http://www.kikstep.com/) for ten dollars back in April. And those tables and shelves are sturdy if you can shell out the asking price on 'em.

I know a girl who used to work in Borders. She said they treated her like shit, so good riddance, Borders.

[ataralas.livejournal.com]

I actually do have some sadness for the end of the Big Box bookstores—I vividly remember when the first big B&N opened near us, and my parents and I went and there were So. Many. Books. Books I'd never heard of. Books our library didn't have. Books I loved. We must've spent $400 that first day (and this is probably...1993?). We had a bookstore in town, but it was much, much smaller. And the owners weren't keen on children. So yeah, I have a lot of nostalgia for that period when Borders and B&N represented a lot more diversity in books than the small independent bookstore.

And I do think that's one of the problems, the division between Diversity and Experience. My current local independent bookstore has one back and front case of SF/F. My childhood Borders had four. Yes, some of that is more copies of the same book. But the better experience? For this, gonna go with Borders, actually. Sure, I like the atmosphere at my current store better—and they make terrific hot chocolate. But half the time browsing there, I don't find anything that I want to read that I haven't already. Fortunately, I have an extremely well-stocked public library.

So maybe what I'm saying is that for me, Diversity IS Experience when I'm book browsing, and that I find it difficult to browse online. So the big stores met (meet?) a need for me that the local store isn't. Now, I'd not be chuffed if the big store were run by an independent! Or if my local squeezed up their floorplan and shoved in more shelves. But I think it's not realistic to expect that the local indie is actually going to meet the Experience needs.

[tardis-stowaway.livejournal.com]

I'm with you. I remember the first time my parents took me to Borders, when I was maybe 13. We had to drive across the city to get there, but inside it was magical. It was a two story bookstore! So many books they needed an ESCALATOR. That's like half a step away from the library in Beauty and the Beast. And there was music too! And comfy chairs!

Independent booksellers can be hit or miss. The best ones are MARVELOUS. When I was a kid we occasionally drove to a science fiction and mystery specialty store that always had things I wanted and things I'd never known I wanted, though they've long since gone out of business. A small bookstore where the managers share your taste can have a pretty great selection plus unparalleled service. On the other hand, a sizable percentage of independents I've been in have crap sf/fantasy sections and/or really inconvenient hours. I support them on a theoretical level, but it's hard for me to patronize them if they don't have things I want at a time I can buy them.

I wish there was enough business to support small independents, big chains, AND online retailers. They all occupy a valuable niche in how I find and purchase books. Unfortunately, it looks like at least one has to go. I'm hoping the demise of Borders helps out other physical bookstores, because I agree with you that it's much more difficult (and less rewarding) to browse online.

[braidedmane.livejournal.com]

We're lucky enough to have some independent, but not small, bookstores in my area--unfortunately, I've heard rumors that they might be closing (they're a small chain with I think 3 or 4 locations). I'll be very sad to lose them since they were not the big box, but also had pretty much everything I wanted (including a gourmet cafe of awesome).

I would be more likely to shop small/independent bookstores if there was more online interaction. I don't mind waiting for a book to be ordered and picking it up if I can order it online, but I don't want to go to the store, order a book, then have to go back when it comes in. I might be more willing if there were bookstores closer to me, but I'm a bit out in the woods and the only thing within a 10 minute drive is fast food and Walmart. I have to drive about 30 minutes to get to the closest bookstore, so I only want to do it once per book.

[bunnymcfoo.livejournal.com]

the indie bookstore I used to work for would mail you your special order - we didn't have a webpage, but we were always more than happy to do phone orders.

I always wanted to expand that service. It seemed like a good bet to me.

[melayneseahawk.livejournal.com]

Preach it!

[contrarywise]

While there are many valid reasons to say "good riddance" to Borders, there are also reasons to worry about the consequences of its demise. There's a decent chance that Borders will take a number of small presses down with it, which will disproportionally impact minority populations served by those presses. Jason Pitzl-Waters recently posted an article on The Wild Hunt blog about the impact of Borders closing on Pagan publishers and the larger Pagan community, and it's not a cheery picture. Other minority and alternative communities will likely be similarly affected by the loss of Borders, although perhaps not as strongly.

I agree that a diverse and thriving system that produces many different sorts of books for different audiences and supports booksellers and the readers they serve is a great thing and should be encouraged (including supporting a diversity of reading media and formats). However, we've already lost a lot of diversity in the book world that would ordinarily help to absorb the shock of a change of this magnitude, so a full recovery is not assured. I'm not entirely pessimistic about all this, but I can't help but be concerned.

[madripoor-rose.livejournal.com]

The industry really does need to wake up.

We had a fantastic independant bookstore that I went to for most of my life....that closed a month after Borders opened in the nearest mall. Because Borders supplied most of their books.

Still, with Borders going down, we've got a truly crappy Barnes and Noble a half hour away, and a Books A Million two hours away....and three used bookstores heavy on the cookbooks and romance novels. I'm going to miss browsing a decent graphic novel and scifi section.

[supertailz.livejournal.com]

As someone who works in/with publishing people, I think there're a few points that can be elucidated. I don't think anything you're saying is wrong or even off-track, just that I think the general awareness doesn't seem to see that publishers *are* embracing ebooks and that this "you have to pick a side" thing *isn't* coming from publishers, or at least not all of them. I work in the digital department of a publisher and we care about our ebooks and we care about our print books and we're working on ways to integrate the processes and make the entire model more awesome. It's not always easy, but it's not a *bad* thing or something we're fighting against!

...Also the model is still a little more complicated than "print a bunch of books, hope they sell and remainder the rest", as it's explained to me. There's a lot of better going on, certainly, which can be nicely obviated with ebooks, but they factor a lot of things into their formulas of how many to print and how many to sell, etc.

And finally, yes it may be hard to be a bookseller right now, but most people seem to agree that Borders went down in flames because of bad management, not because books are a losing proposition, right now. And yeah, they were assholes in many ways, so I can absolutely understand people not mourning them and your reaction to them, but I do think it's worth noting, in discussions like these, *why* it died the death it did.

Mostly I am just, as always, heartened that people like you are thinking interesting thoughts and showing that books and publishing is still a positive and engaging thing to think about. However it all shakes down, as long as books (as in the text, not as in print books) are the winner, I'll be happy.

[supertailz.livejournal.com]

Arg, that should read "betting", not better:)

[thunderemerald.livejournal.com]

Would you like to come and be a guest speaker at my company? Because we have weekly meetings about This Ever-Changing Market! and it mostly consists of people flailing their arms and going "E-BOOKS ARE A THING!" and other people going "SELF-PUBLISHING IS ALSO A THING!" and other people going "THINGS MEAN NOTHING STFU!" and it's a whole lot of time wasted.

So yes. I too would like publishing to get its head out of its ass.

::goes back to reading queries::

[thunderemerald.livejournal.com]

ETA: To be fair, those meetings are generally for the benefit of the people doing the flailing, who don't have a clue what's going on. Luckily, though they are a vocal bunch, they are actually a very small percentage of the industry as a whole. Very small.

[fleurrochard]

(Sidenote: I cannot tell you of my enraged reaction to You've Got Mail, even as a teenager. The big bookstore corporation and its slimy, manipulative, lying mouthpiece won? The douchebag gets the girl and closes down her store and that was sold to us as an actual happy ending. What the hell was a film from 1987 doing in 1998?)

I've watched it with a group of co-workers - all booksellers. OMG, were we angry! (And sooooo glad about the fixed prices for books in Germany - small, independent bookstores have a bigger chance to survive here.)

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

There was an interesting article on salon.com this morning about the future of the book, which went beyond format (though that was part of it) to the whole "what books are to people" thing. Here you go: http://www.salon.com/life/imprint/index.html?story=/mwt/feature/2011/08/04/book_future_imprint&source=newsletter&utm_source=contactology&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Salon_Daily%2520Newsletter%2520%2528Not%2520Premium%2529_7_30_110

I really need to figure out how to turn a url into words.

[bunnymcfoo.livejournal.com]

on livejournal:

[a href="url goes here"]what you want the link to say goes here[/a] only replace the [ and the ] with < and the > and you've got yourself a link!

[elainasaunt.livejournal.com]

THIS, all of this, and especially this:

Borders ... has edged out countless smaller independent bookstores without offering any significant advantage to the consumer, except for maybe about a ten year period between "big box bookstores open" and "the internet appears" when they offered heretofore unknown diversity. But that's over now, and for a long time Borders has been part of the problem.

As for the disgusting You've Got Mail>/i>, not only was it a betrayal of independent booksellers everywhere, it was also a gross distortion of its lovely source material, Ernst Lubitsch's The Shop Around the Corner.

[madripoor-rose.livejournal.com]

I remember seeing The Shop Around The Corner and boggling that there used to be two mail deliveries a day!

[tree00faery.livejournal.com]

*nodnod* E-books scare me a bit because of the whole proprietary thing (remember when all the copies of 1984 disappeared?), though the technology is pretty cool. I'm not worried that print books will go away; people like them too much. I do think that eventually we'll get back to the small bookstore model. Which is awesome. When I want to go to a bookstore, I go out of my way (sometimes really far) to go to an independent one (luckily there are lots in DC) because I know that I'll a) enjoy myself more and b) spend money that won't all just support a giant corporation.

[madripoor-rose.livejournal.com]

Nods. And that electronic devices fail, or we get clumsy. Flipping through flists I saw someone sighing they dropped their kindle and cracked the screen and it was going to cost 80-odd dollars to fix.