Bookshelf, On the Web

My Bookshelf Standing Desk

2 Comments

I am a big proponent of standing desks and get excited about posts like the one on Unplggd. I’ve been a “stander” for over a year and would recommend everyone trying it out. You can always grab a bar stool, if you want to sit. I like my converted bookcase/bookshelf method because it’s:

  • easy to raise and lower the shelf for the monitor and keyboard (ergonomics are a must)
  • leaves plenty of room for a cashier’s mat (highly recommended, to ease strain on heels)
  • it’s cheap and easy to do
  • plenty of places for books and book covers that we’re working on

Bookstore Ideas, Bookstores, Digital Publishing, Publishing Industry News, Technology

Bookstores Make Your Inventory Mobile, Please

2 Comments

Hello independent bookstore owner. I am Trav. I believe in what you do and what you add to my community. I am your customer… and I have tools. You need to wake up and start participating, so I know you’re still there. Here is one thing all independent bookstore owners need to be aware of and learn how to do:

make your inventory public and accessible from mobile devices.

I use a few bard code scanning app. Currently, Red Laser is my favorite. I was in a big-box home improvement store the other day pricing closet organization systems. Up by the registers, I picked up a $17 book on closet makeovers. It seemed to be just what I needed. I was curious what else was out there, so I scanned it. Here are the results:

See that? There at the bottom? It should list everywhere that I could pick up this book locally. I only see some big-box chain stores and… my wonderful local library system. They understand what’s happening. You need to also.

These things aren’t too hard to learn and don’t cost tons of cash to implement. Bookstores of all sizes need to follow and study folks like LibraryThing (local books app and libanywhere app) and the scanning apps. Just doing that much is the surest way to remain relevant.

Gifts for Book Lovers, Type

2011 Typographic Calendars

Leave a comment

These are two of my favorites this year… and they’re cheap! First up is one sporting a series of wood cards printed in such a manner that they resemble old type-specimen cards. Pretty cool. It’s only $24 for the whole 2011 series.

But this one has to be my favorite so far. It’s almost a work of art. This wall calendar is only $10 and displays the entire year on the front, thanks to the cool circular type design. Sure this isn’t one that you could log appointments on, but it sure would look nice on the wall.

Did I miss any other cool calendars this year?

Authors

I don’t understand Seth Godin

Leave a comment

I admit – I don’t really follow Seth Godin, but it’s hard not to bump into someone re-tweeting, re-posting or waving the Godin flag online. I can understand why so many latch onto an author that speaks with such clarity.

But I honestly am beginning to think that he has amassed such a following simply because he supports both sides of any idea. Granted, Godin always presents a clearly defined side each time… but here’s the latest that I saw, just the other day:

February 9, 2011 Godin posted Autarky is dead. A very concise post that states:

All our productivity, leverage and insight comes from being part of a community, not apart from it. The goal, I think, is to figure out how to become more dependent, not less.

Just two months earlier on December 8, 2010 he posted about his Domino Project, where very logically he outlines eight reasons why he’s going solo in publishing his next book, cutting out publishers, bookstores, “middle men”, etc. It seems all that community was getting in his way.

Isn’t that hundreds-of-years-old ecosystem the kind of community he’s plugging this month? Or to Godin is a community simply a streamlined process between his customers and himself?

I fail to see the communal in one man cranking out a series of books to his flock of followers. That seems to be more of an echo chamber than a community. It seems that if the goal is to build a better product, then you need the expertise every step of the way.

Now, having said all of that, I totally get what he’s doing with the Domino Project. If you’ve read this blog before, you know that I have no problems with new platforms, leveraging new technology and adding effiencies to the publishing system.

This is really just about Godin’s ping-pong of a message and how it often leaves me confused. Am I being unfair?

Books, Publishing and Birmingham