We’ve talked a whole lot about e-books this past week, about the new Kindle millionaires, how e-books are priced relative to hardcovers, and I even confessed that I find e-books superior to paper (but still buy paper books, swear!)
What would you tell a bookstore owner in this landscape?
What could they be doing to survive or even thrive amid the chaos?
Eden says
I've been looking for a good place to write, as well as read. I might be in the minority, but I'd love to find a bookstore that does NOT have wi-fi. The internet is the biggest time-sucker for me, and it does neither my reading nor my writing any good. But it's hard to get away from it these days!
I want to find a bookstore that welcomes readers and writers alike and focuses completely on books. When I walk into a bookstore, I want to get the sense that they take the art seriously. (And reading well is no less an art than writing well.)
This might not be viable from a business standpoint. In reality, it probably isn't. But it's what I'm looking for.
Carrie says
Have a wide selection in stock. I went to spend my B&N groupon the other day and none of the books on my Want to buy list were in. If I can get something instantly on an ereader for less money or close to the same price then I'm going to do that.
Heidi says
You know what I never understood? Why don't the bigger bookstores like B&N, etc., have a "Local Authors" night? There are great writers all over the place, who are always trying to get their books out to the public.
Hosting a local authors event would generate a whole new brand of customer – the consumer who likes to support local business would also be interested in supporting local authors. It could also be a way for the big box stores to stay in touch with their own communities, as well as being a promotional event to just get customers into the store.
I think it's what you call a "win-win."
Michael 'Rob' Robinson says
Hybridise. Become multi-service enhanced libraries. Most already do coffee shops. Hitch a ride on the e-book star and provide access points/e-book recommendation/critique/review service. Let’s face it; there are some pretty dire e-works out there. Publishers/agents act as a filter mechanism in the t-model (traditional)-model; someone needs to fill that same role in the e-model. Evolve or die.
Michael 'Rob' Robinson says
I should have said, 'E-volve or die.'
Emily Wenstrom says
If I owned a bookstore right now, I’d be desperately searching for ways to take advantage of my wi-fi hotpost to offer exclusive to readers that can only be gotten at my location – GPS marketing all the way, baby. Exclusive discounts through foursquare, for example. Exclusive sneak peaks into the books we’ve got in our big displays to entice them further to purchase. Maybe even discounted bundles when you purchase the paper copy AND the digital of the same book for peopel who want both, like you, Nathan. Offer a hot book for free in weekly doses – but you only have access to the story inside the story, so readers have to keep coming back to me (and of course, hold a talk about the book when each is finished). That kind of stuff.
Shannon Chamberlain says
Like movie theaters, make the money off concessions. (And be creative about it. Liquor laws, at least as applied to wine, are pretty liberal in places like California and most of the West Coast.) I'd rather drink coffee or adult beverages surrounded by books and book lovers than by Bay Area food and wine snobs, although I realize that there's some overlap between those two groups.
But the diversity of responses in this thread holds the real answer: diversity. Specialize. Different people want different things out of their bookstores. For every wine swilling godless lush like me, there are two teetotaling Christians who want a lame "family oriented" experience with plush ark animals and shelves full of books about women getting it on in the righteous context of holy wedded matrimony. And that's just the Twilight fans! But seriously, folks, as the Internet fragments us into pieces, we expect more of our individual experiences in real life to be similarly tailored to our very specific needs. So unless there's a national chain that's versatile enough to respond to conditions on the local level–and by their nature, they're not–you'll see a lot more local commerce. And before you anticapitalist types crawl out of the woodwork to gloat, remember that localization, too, represents the operation of capitalism.
Gigi says
Check out the PW Shelftalker blog for what not to do. The bookseller should not be a scold.
Move with the times. Think about what people want. Your customers are readers, after all. They can download any book they want without leaving home, so why do they need you? Give them what they can't find on the couch at home — community, curation, connection. Give them ambience. And for God's sake, give them a fair price. If you can't do that, get into a different business.
-shadowflame- says
Boon no book is crap now days because the publishers only take on the best just because you dont personally like a book it doesnt immeadiately make it crap you know-theres a reason there are bestsellers out there.
one book that might appeal to one person may disgust another but that's cause everyone and everybook is diffrent.
if you only stock the books you like then i won't be going to your store.
my advice to bookstore owners would be:stock more books take more risks and lower the prices.
especially with kid books i get £3 pocket money and want say a book that waterstones is selling for £6 but it's on amazon for £3 or less what one do you think i'd go for?
Short Thoughts says
I don't know what the answer is, but a lot of these suggestions are good. I would recommend that they don't try to supplement their income with paid memberships, magazine subscriptions, etc. I try to visit bookstores and buy books from them, but Books-A-Million is one place that is making it hard to buy from them.
Metropolista says
Books & Books in Miami is an anomaly, because that city has the lowest IQ and least intellectual curiosity of any major city in the US. But they are very successful. Store layout: visually exciting, looks nothing like a library, very open plan. They don't just have a high end cafe, they also have a bar. Their author reading schedule looks like a university evening course list. They feature local authors, and bestsellers are rarely to be seen. Foreign books abound. You will always find something INTERESTING at Books & Books. I don't miss Miami, but I do miss that bookstore.
KSCollier says
I'm Torn! Believe it or not, I love my local stores B & N and Books-a-Million. I do have to drive quite a distance when I want to peruse the shelves. I love the handson feel of looking at the covers and seeing who published it, etc., and I do buy from them most times I am there, however, I LOVE MY NOOK! I love that I can carry a library with me in one book when I travel. I love having them all at my fingertips at any given moment. So I AM TORN between the two. Amazon is so convenient to use, and they are set up in a manner that you can check out the cover and read a snippet or two about the book. So my advice to the bigger stores would be to figure out a method of using online sales like Amazon and giving them more competition in order to keep there local stores open. Offer more book signings to pull people in. Offer more deals to draw the public. You will always have your diehards, but eBooks are NUMBER 1 and you can't deny technology advancement. If you don't go with the change YOU LOSE! It's as simple as that. Jump on the bandwagon or get out of town. (SIMPLE) Hope we can keep both methods up and running. SO TORN because I love the convenience of AMAZON and the nostalgia of bookstores.