Borders, you'll be missed (sort of)

Borders announced Chapter 11 bankruptcy today and published a list of the 30% of stores it will be closing—unfortunately all the Borders in Austin are shutting their doors. While this move was not surprising (hey, they owe us money too!) it's still a bit sad. Ah well. Adios, Borders.

For some queer reason, I find the bankruptcy petition document fascinating.View it for yourself here.

New Survey of Book-Buying Trends

How will changing technology affect readers, writers, and the book industry of the future? We can all speculate, but here's some hard data from a recent survey of book-buying behavior. Among other things, the survey addresses the growth of the ebook market. A few highlights:

• People reading 5 or more hours per week are considered "avid readers," and there are an estimated 62.4 million of these avid readers in the United States.
• 52% of respondents said they were “not at all likely” to purchase an e-reader.
• When book buyers were asked their preferred location to buy a book 23% preferred indie stores, 22% preferred chains, and 21% preferred online retailers.
• 42% of respondents said they were at least somewhat likely to buy a bundled package that includes a print book and a digital version. 35% responded “Not sure” to this question.

What do you think will happen with print books and ebooks?

Image: Book People Bookstore, Austin, TX

Introducing TED Books

This may be the future of publishing—ebooks by intellectual luminaries explaining a great idea in 20,000 words or less for a mere $2.99. As Seth Godin pointed out in a recent talk on the new dynamics of publishing, the fact that most hardcover books have been between 200 and 400 pages (and cost $24.99 for that matter) is no more than a historical accident—that's how lengthy books needed to be to be worth publishing. But that was way back in 2010. With ebooks, page count has no economic impact. As a non-fiction reader who has read many an 'idea' book that starts off strong but then just repeats itself for the last hundred pages (yes, Thomas Friedman I'm talking about you), I say, hurray!

Read more about TEDBooks here.

Austin Publishing University presentation

I lugged a projector, handouts, a box full of books, and a laptop out to BookPeople in 100-degree heat this past Sunday to do a presentation on book cover design as part of the Austin Publishing University series (APU). I had a great time presenting to and chatting with Austin writers, designers, and book aficionados. Who knew public speaking could actually be fun? (And what's up with the word 'dongle'?)

There will be two more APU presentations in August. These will focus specifically on book marketing. To find out more, visit any of these links:

Greenleaf Book Group website
 APU Facebook fan page
 BookPeople website

Below is my PowerPoint presentation. It's pretty self-explanatory. Lots of Seth Godin! Highlights include my theory as to why some ugly books sell so well, what it means to fit in yet stand out in your genre, suggestions for soliciting opinions about your cover from others, and the most effective way to give designers feedback. Oh, and you don't want to miss the phallic vegan cookbook cover (slide #51)!

 

Cell phone apps, barcodes, and book sales

Somewhat related to my post here about barcodes and the new empowered consumer... I came across this video on NPR about an app for the G1 T-Mobile phone called Compare Everywhere. It turns your T-Mobile phone into a barcode reader that not only gives you info about a book but, more interestingly, it shows you how much different retailers charge for it. (I think there is a similar iPhone app as well.) This could be deadly for brick-and-mortar bookstores which tend to be more expensive than online retailers. But then again, sometimes it's worth paying a little bit more for instant gratification, no?

Check out the NPR video here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=98658952&m=98658953