02-03-2013, 01:38 PM | #31 |
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I can't remember the last time I was in a book store. I certainly don't use them for discovery. I have a small collection of reviewers whom I trust, plus I get good suggestions here and there for other interesting books, and I've now got far more books than I can read in a year. I buy more books now that I have a kindle (curse you, one click!) than I ever did when I bought paper. (I do still purchase paper copies of particularly good books, however. Recent purchases: Captain Vorpatril's Alliance and Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore.)
As long as people keep writing books that interest me (and I gotta admit, sparlkey vampires, shape shifters, and most urban fantasy don't), I'll keep buying books. |
02-04-2013, 10:49 PM | #32 | ||
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I forgot to mention that breaking leases or selling property is expensive; getting new leases or buying property is expensive; moving stores is costly; staff will be disrupted or fired... Not good. I.e. I suspect there are very good reasons why the B. Daltons and Waldenbooks and small indie stores closed -- and why big chain music stores weren't replaced by small chain music stores. Quote:
If you encourage customers to treat the physical stores as a showroom, the stores will not be sustainable. Their sales will plummet, and they can't keep the stores open. If you missed it, the Nook is unprofitable; B&N is losing money on ebook sales. Turning the stores into showrooms would be a one-way ticket to Chapter 11. You also can't force the customers to buy the ebooks from B&N; and no, free wifi isn't enticing. It's not like you pay $5 in ebook delivery fees on your iPad. And who needs it? Ebooks have samples, so you can read a tiny slice of the book before you buy, no matter where you are. Last edited by Kali Yuga; 02-04-2013 at 11:16 PM. |
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02-05-2013, 12:07 AM | #33 | ||||||
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Are you saying that you read every sample of every ebook on an internet site to determine what you want to read...and therefore you don't walk around in stores?....OK....have fun. I like to walk in a bookstore occasionally and talk with friends/family as I'm perusing the shelves. That doesn't mean I DON'T buy books from the internet. Oh, I get it..."Professional Contrarian"...just saw that in your profile... Cheers! |
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02-05-2013, 04:16 AM | #34 | |
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The problem B&N face is that there just isn't really much interaction between pBook sales and eBook sales. It is the same book wherever you buy it from. There is no discount for buying a B&N eBook from a B&N store, no way to buy a pBook and get the eBook free or cheap. Other than selling hardware (which they lose money on) and accessories, what actual link is there between B&N the book store and Nook.com the eBook store? |
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02-05-2013, 09:48 AM | #35 | ||||||
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What they could do is: • Turn the Nook business around ASAP • Use the college stores to leverage education ebooks • Trim the stores a little bit, but put more effort into keeping them profitable • Don't close a bunch of big stores and open little ones Quote:
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What could keep the stores open is that people do still like paper books, like to browse, and people like to give physical things as gifts, and the indies will stick around as specialty and/or used shops. A handful of books also still work better on paper than digital, e.g. art books, cookbooks and technical manuals. So, what may happen is the stores will not go into free-fall; they'll stabilize. The problem is that if too many bookstores close, then patronizing them will be inconvenient and fall out of people's normal routines. The heavy readers will grumble but switch to buying online, and the casual readers will buy their 1 book a year at Target or Walmart. |
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02-05-2013, 01:46 PM | #36 |
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The boom in publishing is just beginning, but I will not be surprised if B&N goes away. Their internet presence is ridiculous; extremely poor marketing. A new CEO that understands the internet would help.
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02-06-2013, 05:54 PM | #37 |
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It would not surprise me to see physical bookstores moving towards more of a "boutique" type strategy, where they are selling high-end luxury items, not lowest common denominator mass market goods. They would sell books to people that have already read it digitally, and want to own a physical copy. Hardcovers, typically, or leatherbound. Plus a line in first editions and other collectables.
Another alternative is the bookstore that is also a game store, a comics store, and anything else they can get their fingers into. That way when one thing is hot, they reap the benefits, but when it goes cold, they have other things to keep them afloat. For a counter-example, stores that only sell comics tend to all go out of business when the economy goes south or the comics market crashes. |
02-06-2013, 07:44 PM | #38 | |
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The boutique market will maybe eventually turn in to some kind of high quality print on demand with custom bindings, very high end and very expensive. |
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02-08-2013, 03:12 PM | #39 |
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02-08-2013, 03:15 PM | #40 |
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Whats wrong with that? People are turning their backs on paper books so these stores have to do something to turn a profit. I see nothing wrong with these strategies.
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