Bookselling

Bookstore Celebrates 200 Year Anniversary

The Boston Globe | Brian Benson | Posted 12.03.2009 | Books


The store - the second oldest in the country after a bookstore in Pennsylvania - features a fireplace, reading nooks, and a popular weekly author seri...

Cyber Monday Brings Bump In Book Sales

Christian Science Monitor | Marjorie Kehe | Posted 12.01.2009 | Books


For some shoppers, post-Thanksgiving shopping means dreams of an Olympus 10.0 Megapixel or a widescreen Bluetooth GPS navigator. But there are also co...

Evie Wyld, British Bookseller, Wins UK Literary Prize

London Evening Standard | Louise Jury | Posted 12.01.2009 | Books


Evie Wyld, 29, defeated rivals including Aravind Adiga, who took the Man Booker last year, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the Orange Prize victor two y...

No One Warned the Dinosaurs. Will Anyone Warn the Publishers?

William Petrocelli | Posted 12.01.2009 | Books


William Petrocelli

The major publishers are in a difficult position: they are service companies that function like manufacturing companies -- 20th century businesses in a 21st century economy.

Borders, Barnes & Noble Experience Major Losses

Huffington Post | Jessie Kunhardt | Posted 11.25.2009 | Books


Things aren't looking good for big booksellers Borders and Barnes & Noble. The AP reports that both chains have posted major losses for this quarter, ...

Brits Complain That Chains Stores Are Killing Books

The Guardian | Stuart Jeffries | Posted 11.10.2009 | Books


"They simply treat books as a commodity," says Nicholas Spice, publisher of the London Review of Books, and one of the chain's sternest critics. "Ther...

Evolve or Die: Why Reinvent Independent Bookstores?

Praveen Madan | Posted 10.29.2009 | Books


Praveen Madan

We believe that independent bookstores can have a great future and we are betting our careers on it.

Not a Simple Price War -- It's a Fight Over What You Get to Read

William Petrocelli | Posted 10.28.2009 | Books


William Petrocelli

What looks like a simple price war between Amazon, Target, and Walmart over a handful of bestsellers is symptomatic of a much deeper problem in the book business.

I'm In Sales

Amy Dickinson | Posted 10.23.2009 | Books


Amy Dickinson

What I learned during my book tour is that I was dying to have people actually read my book, and if they were going to read it, I was first going to have to sell it to them.

Indie Bookstores Reject Bestseller Price Wars

The Cleveland Plain Dealer | Janet Cho | Posted 10.22.2009 | Books


Independent booksellers say they have no intention of joining the fight among the bigger chain stores over the $9 prices of 10 highly anticipated best...

"I Didn't Like That Book": How Booksellers Earn Your Trust By Un-Selling Books

John Mesjak | Posted 10.21.2009 | Books


John Mesjak

A sales rep's credibility (whether they be independent or house) is boosted as much by a sense of when to "un-sell" as it is by the ability to make a strong recommendation for a beloved new book.

Why All the Fuss About "Independent" Bookstores?

Praveen Madan | Posted 10.13.2009 | Books


Praveen Madan

We started writing this week about why independent bookstores have to reinvent themselves, but then it occurred to us that we ought to step back and first discuss what an independent bookstore is.

I Sell Books. More Specifically, I Sell Time.

Geoffrey Jennings | Posted 10.09.2009 | Books


Geoffrey Jennings

The number of independent booksellers is growing, and the explanation is very simple. Independent booksellers sell books.

Small Publisher Hits It Big

Elaine Petrocelli | Posted 10.08.2009 | Books


Elaine Petrocelli

When our head buyer, Sheryl Cotleur, told me she had fallen in love with a novel, I was amazed that it came from a press that's connected to a hospital that makes most of us think of mental illness.

Dan Brown's Lost Symbol Boosts Sales of Secret Society Books

Entertainment Weekley | Posted 10.05.2009 | Books


If the mind-over-matter science on display in his newest novel is to be believed, Dan Brown must be thinking really hard about selling books. Over two...

Why Did We Quit Our Cushy Corporate Jobs to Reinvent Independent Bookselling?

Praveen Madan | Posted 10.05.2009 | Books


Praveen Madan

"You did what?" is the typical response when we tell our friends that we quit our cushy corporate jobs and bought an independent bookstore in the heart of San Francisco.

What If the Book Business Collapses?

Hugh McGuire | Posted 01.27.2009 | Media


Hugh McGuire

The book business has stopped caring much about books. Like all businesses with stock, the people running them have one central responsibility: to increase shareholder value.