A BOOKSTORE INSIDE A BOOKSTORE

I saw this photo on PW and thought it was great!



It's an independent bookstore called Fleeting Pages that has opened up inside a vacant Borders store in Pittsburgh. He he he!

IS THIS BORDERS OR BARNES AND NOBLE?

With the closing of many Borders stores one would think people would finally be able to tell the difference between the two businesses... but alas, shoppers remain clueless.

This is a typical conversation:

"Do you have the membership card?"
"Yeah."
They proceed to hand me a red card.
"Um... this is a Borders card. You are in Barnes and Noble."
"This is Barnes and Noble?"
"Yes."
"You can't take this card?"
"No."
"Why not?"

Or...
"Why are there so many empty shelves in here. Is that because you're going out of business?"
"No, we're not going out of business. We're just rearranging some books upstairs."
"But I heard that you were."
"No, that's Borders."
"This isn't Borders?"
"No."

Oy! It doesn't matter what you do or what the signage is... people remain clueless. Some people think that Borders and Barnes and Noble are one in the same. I'm sure that the corporate leaders would not like to know that this confusion exists. I think it's pretty silly.

Here's some more confusion:

"Where are the Kindle covers?"
"We don't sell the Kindle here."
"Okay, but where are the covers for it?"
"We don't sell covers for it. We sell the Nook."
"Why don't you sell covers for the Kindle?"
"Because the Kindle is made by Amazon. Barnes and Noble makes the Nook."
"What's the difference? Why can't you just sell the covers? Where am I supposed to get them then?"
"Amazon is the competition. That is why we don't sell the covers. You have to order them online."
"But that's annoying. I don't feel like getting them online."
"Well... I don't know what to tell you about that."

Or even better:

"Can you show me how to use iTunes?"
"Well... we sell CDs here, not iTunes."
"But I don't know how to buy songs on my computer."
"You should call Apple or go to their store."
"How do I do that? Do you have the number?"
I ended up giving the man a whole tutorial on how to use iTunes. This was completely useless to the BN CD department!

I have many examples. It goes on and on. The only time I'm happy to help out is when I can recommend a good library to go to. People ALWAYS balk when it comes to that. I have no idea why. They would much rather buy a book and return it. So strange. Like this man:

"What's your return policy?"
"Two weeks with the receipt."
"Only two weeks?"
"Yes."
"Why so short."
"That's our policy."
"This book has a CD that is opened. I want you to write that on the receipt."
"I can't do that."
"I want you to write it."
"I'm not supposed to do that."
"I want you to write it."
"I'll have to call a manager."
Manager comes over:
"What is the problem?"
"This book was opened. I want you to write that down so that I can return the book."
"You want to buy this book and return it?"
"Yes."
"So you are buying the book and then you are going to return it."
"Yes. I want to buy the book and return it in two weeks. I want you to write on the receipt that the book was opened."
This went on and on. This man has now come in and done the same buy and return thing at least 3 or 4 times. GO TO A LIBRARY!!!!

ODD (AND POSSIBLY FUNNY) CHILDREN'S BOOKS

The Huffington Post wrote an article called: The Creepiest Children's Books Ever. Here are a few of the examples they included:



Okay, I'm sure that conjoined twins is a very serious problem for perhaps one in a billion people and it's not at all a funny situation... but I'll admit it... I laughed. A lot. This is one of these things where you have to wonder who this book is targeting. Like I said: it's a serious problem for one person in a the United States MAYBE. Is there even one? I'm sure there will be a lot of sales on that one.



And this... I don't know what this story is about but perhaps they should have rethought the cover just a tad. Enough of my thoughts on that. I don't want to say anymore or I'll get myself in trouble.



And this. It's all nice and painterly and all but if you look closely there's a nude figure in it and stuff. And it's about Hiroshima. Huh???

For the rest of the covers and the journal's own thoughts on them go here. It's worth your time! Trust me. There are a few that I will admit that we, at the bookstore, carry. A couple of them do have their place for the choice customer on occasion.

OH NO BORDERS

AP: "Borders was slow to get the message as the big-box retailer lost book, music and video sales to the Internet and other competition. The result: It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Wednesday, and will close nearly a third of its stores"

I like this quote "Less nimble than rival Barnes & Noble, Borders now begins what analysts expect will be a quickly resolved struggle for the survival of its remaining stores. It's the latest cautionary tale about the dangers retailers face when they fail to keep up with swiftly changing technology and consumer habits."

My coworker last week was talking about the Nook... I mean Nook... (there's no article) and she is convinced EVERYTHING has to do with ebooks. But there are other things that are causing its demise too.

"Borders also suffered from a series of errors: failing to catch onto the growing importance of the Web and electronic books, not reacting quickly enough to declining music and DVD sales, and hiring four CEOs in 5 years without book-selling experience."

Not everything is about ebooks! They play a part, but A PART. Ugh, I'm getting sick of just mentioning the word ebook. (And don't think I forgot about my experiment! I haven't finished my sketches yet so I can't get to it yet).

"Norris said Borders' problems mean that publishers will have to immediately cut their 2011 revenue estimates by 1 to 10 percent. Paperback sales, an area that Borders cultivated more than Barnes & Noble, may suffer in particular."

"I think Borders' fall will cause a lot of publishers to realize they can't just count on a few giant entities to sell their products, and the best retailing partners are going to be those who have to sell books in order to draw their next breath," Norris said."

"Borders plans to close about 200 of its 642 stores over the next few weeks, from San Francisco to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., costing about 6,000 of the company's 19,500 employees their jobs. The closures are also a blow to publishers already owed tens of millions of dollars by the company, which stopped paying them in December."

OUCH. It's not over yet, but it could be soon. Only time will tell.

B&N REORGANIZES?

B&N let 45-50 people go last week, most of whom were buyers. The company claimed that they were focusing more on digital operations. Uh-huh. This is one quote by a publisher: "The growth in digital is great, but someone has to be in charge of getting books into the stores." Books? What are books?

At the beginning of this month B&N announced "solid gains" in the physical book category for holiday sales. PW wrote: "B&N said that sales of physical books, especially hardcovers, exceeded expectations." Yes, digital books will continue to GROW, much more so than their physical counterparts. This is because they're new. They're different. They're exciting. There is plenty of room for growth. Books have been around for a long, long time. But one can't expect ebooks to keep upping on the graph for ever and ever. There will come a point when the ebooks plateau. The question is when and at what point? We know where the physical book stands. The ebook is still a gamble. A big one. I don't think physical books and bookstores and book buyers and booksellers should be disposed of. Big, big mistake.

EBOOKS -THE GOOD AND THE BAD

There are so many reasons why I find ebooks problematic. Barnes & Noble has what’s called Pubit. It’s a self publishing platform. Anybody can upload what they've written and illustrated. B&N takes 65% of titles listed under 9.99 and 40% of those listed over. The cool thing for most people doing this is that THEIR BOOK gets to be placed on the BN website along with standard edited, designed, copyedited PUBLISHED BOOKS! How great is that? For THEM.

Here’s where I think things get VERY problematic. When you browse for a children’s ebook Goodnight Moon and this book may be side by side!



The below book is Number 23 in children's ebooks.



Somehow when I look at it I can't hate it. The character is kind of cute. But...it has no design to speak of. It's not done be a professional illustrator, designer, etc. And who knows what the text of these books reads like! One can only imagine. The Number 2 rated children's book is written and illustrated by the same folks. I went through the list on the BN ebook site up to 200 and saw very few books published by traditional publishers. Publishers need to wake up and see what’s going on! The price point for many of these ebooks is so low--only 99 cents. If THEY are what people are buying and being disappointed by (I've read some of the comments) then where will traditional books be in a few years? Can the buying public differentiate between a published book and a self published book? Will they go for the cheaper buy and then be disappointed? Will they then not want to buy picture books? I feel the same way about celebrity books but that's a discussion for another day.

Below are some other interesting covers that I found.





The above cover is accompanied this description:
"Recommend Highly-- another great children's story by this new author!
Read all her books and this moo ving story is one not to miss! Every wish upon a star and graze into the night. Read a good children's story like this and follow your dreams!" At first when I saw the cow cover I thought--aw, how cute, a kid is doing some books! But I guess not.

GOODBYE BORDERS?

Borders may very well file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. They have already eliminated 15 top positions. They owe money to publishers so the question is - will the publishers accept their deal or let them slip away? If Borders goes this will not be good for the industry because of the money owed. My question is: how has B&N managed to stay alive? Will it also crumble? These giants took down many smaller booksellers. Will this make room for the small guys to come back? Or are ebooks killing the book as a solid form entirely? Or will a new idea emerge, as I'd read, where there will be "filling stations," and customers will go to bookstores to plug in their devices, download books, and use the stores to ask questions and seek advice. Umm...

I have lots of questions today but no answers. I do know that the idea of a "filling station" is ridiculous.