At any given time you are probably only one mouse-click away from someone online bemoaning the downward spiral that independant bookstores are caught in. It seems that most of them simply want to vent the romanticism of small local book shops. Which I get. Perusing local bookshops makes me about as happy as I can be. But there are realities and the change that goes with those realities.
And the reality is, that there was an ad for an Amazon coupon flashing on the website as I was reading this article featuring quotes and interviews with local booksellers. So even when they are in the spotlight, Amazon is blinking in the sidebar.
So I hope more people will take time to simply say “here is the current situation” and then start developing ways to help local shops maintain their rightful place as local anchors. And I do wish I can visit Carlson’s Bookman’s Alley someday.
Set your VCR’s and DVR’s! Depending on where you live, you will get a chance to catch Helvetica, on your local PBS station, either Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. The full-theater release was about 80 minutes long, but they have condensed it to 50 minutes and are airing it as part of their Independent Lens series.
You can go here to see when it’s showing in your area. If I’m reading the schedule correctly, it first will air, in my little corner of Birmingham at midnight, Wednesday, January 7th.
BTW, I took the quiz and it turns out that the internet thinks I am Times New Roman. Not sure how I feel about that. It could have been worse I guess (can anyone say Comic S***?).
JPG Magazine broke out with a bold content generation plan a couple of years ago: bring a “photo enthusiast” print magazine, they would scour the internet for the best of the best non-professional images and reprint them in their pages. It’s always been a fun magazine to flip through. As innovative as this approach was, their business model was not so much, as they relied on ad sales to support the printed product.
In my opinion they made a VERY good run at it and I am sad that they are closing up shop. You can get the full run-down from their blog. At a minimum, they are one great case-study for publishers everywhere trying to divine the future of print media. I just wish Laura and crew could have made it.
Merriam-Webster has declared the word “bailout” as the 2008 word of the year. It nabbed top honors for receiving the highest number of on-site searches in the shortest amount of time. Last year’s winner was “w00t“. Kinda paints a picture of how things have changed, doesn’t it?
And the reality is, that there was an ad for an Amazon coupon flashing on the website as I was reading this article featuring quotes and interviews with local booksellers. So even when they are in the spotlight, Amazon is blinking in the sidebar.
