Category Archives: News

Book Collecting, Book Column, Book Talk, library, News, On the TV

Rare Print Discovered in Library Book

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I love stories like this… The NY Times published the recent account of a Brown University archivist finding, what is believed to be one of only five copies of a print done by revolutionary heavyweight Paul Revere himself. No doubt the chance of this happening increases if your job is handling books from the 1700’s. But it’s still pretty cool to think that such a unique rarity was just stuck in the back of a book on physics. Revere was quite the engraver and printer, flooding the colonies with pamphlets and political information. He’s certainly not known for any kind of iconic or religious art, which ups the “cool factor” of the find. Be sure to click through to read the article on the library archivist and see the photos.

If nifty old archives of historical significance interest you then you should tune into Book TV (on CSPAN2) this weekend. At noon, on Saturday, they will be touring old bookstores and the Nichols Collection at the University of Oklahoma. They have books going back as far as the 15th century! They also have a History of Science Collection with papers and books from Galileo, Copernicus and other famous people in white lab coats. I think it’ll be fun to watch.

Bookstores, Digital Publishing, E-Books, News, Publishing Industry News

Google Dumps Indie Booksellers

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I can not express how sad this makes me. Google has announced that they will pull all support for selling e-books, from independent booksellers. They seem to be playing the same game that Apple and Amazon are. I guess starting in January 2013, they will be no different.

I am guessing their plans like: giving away the Android operating system, supporting the ebook infrastructure for bookstores, etc. just wasn’t paying off fast enough. So they’re copying the iTunes/Amazon model, with the launch of Google Play.

No doubt someone like Copia or Kobo will step in to fill the void, but I’m betting many many booksellers will just throw in the towel. Who can blame them? Why sign on with another service, if they can just be bought by Google or Amazon who kick the bookseller back to the curb?

The capitalist in me says Google is a business and needs to do what’s right for their business, just like all these indie bookstore owners have the right and should do what’s in their best interest. But I remember the materials that went out when Google was courting the American Booksellers Association and indie stores. None of it was conditional. None of it said “Now remember one day we may pull the plug”. At a minimum Google could preserve their “Do No Evil” mantra by supporting their current roster and just say “we won’t be taking on any more shops, because it’s not working like we thought”. That would be honest and fair to those shops who jumped on board to support ePub, Google Books and serve their store’s customers.

This really is another indicator that indie bookstores need to stay indie. Totally. They need to develop in-house talent for delivering books and products to their customers. They need to undertand how websites, Twitter, Facebook and ebook reader devices work. And they need to stay as close to their customers as they can. Hopefully groups like the ABA can step in and offer strategic help as lots of bookstores’ e-book sections go dark next January.

Now that I think about it, publishers really should get involved. I mean they want these shops to sell their books. I wonder what publishers could do to make it easy for indie store owners to sell their e-books… widgets… iframes… hmmm…

Birmingham, Bookstores, News

New CEO at Books-A-Million

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While overall revenue and sales are down, from the previous year, Books-A-Million’s CEO Clyde Anderson is stepping aside. Starting March 13, 2012, the CEO seat will be filled by Terry Finley. Finley will add the job to his current duties. So his title will now be CEO/President/COO. That’s quite a business card!

Books-A-Million is based in Birmingham. They closed 21 stores and opened 41 new stores in the past year, giving them a total of 256 stores in 31 states.

Digital Publishing, E-Books, News, Publishing Industry News, Technology

Books and the new iPad

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ipad with books

Apple announced a new iPad today, available March 16th. Prices start at $499 for wifi-only and $629 for 4G model. But does any of this matter for book readers?  As a reader, it’s not enough for me to update my first-gen iPad, but let me tell you why publishers should be very excited about the capabilities of Apple’s new device:

  • Hi-res screen: I mean VERY high-resolution. It’s first tablet that actually rivals print when it comes to resolution. I work for a travel publisher and we’ve always had issues with our maps on eReaders. Print books have always been better. No eReader device could rival the detail of a paper book. And that matters when you are looking at maps, topo lines and map keys. Well now there is a device that can support the level of detail and zoom book readers need and deserve.
  • 4G connection speed: Again I am looking at this from a travel publishing perspective. This over-the-air speed is capable (but not very likely while you are out and about) of being faster than some hom wifi connections. That’s huge for publishers pushing content to book readers as they move about. Expecially for travel publishers selling updates and maps as readers are out on their adventures.
  • Battery life: It’s nine hours with the 4G turned on. That’s a long road trip or a hike from sun-up to sundown. That’s a lot of reading and book referencing. Our customers/users/readers need to be happy, whether on a digital device or holding the print product. Big battery life is a step in this direction.

If publishers are doing their jobs the put A LOT of work into making unique quality content. It’s nice when device makers do their best to support this content. Now, having said all that, there are still many issues I have with reading non-fiction on eReaders. I’ll have to post about that later this week.