Used Books Blog

Last week (or so) I wrote about sites that had good bookstore maps. A kind reader noted that I’d missed LibraryThing Local. I use LibraryThing, fairly regularly, and missed this completely. So much for tab UI huh?

In general I find LibraryThing to be the best social reading website. Sure enough, they’ve implemented an extremely nice local section that lets users see bookstores, libraries and fairs/festivals in both text and map form based on an address or postal code radius search.

In addition, they provide event listings for these venues. These listings are dependent on users and/or venues uploading their events, so the information is less than comprehensive. It’s better than nothing and I’m hoping more and more bookstores and libraries will begin to use the service.

Features also include an individual listing for each venue where you can comment, edit or favorite the venue. I find it a bit humorous that in the edit area they ask whether it is a ‘Real place’ or ‘Online’.

As you might expect, LibraryThing Local has more libraries listed (>21,000) than bookstores (nearly 10,000). Also, there just isn’t a lot of user generated information here yet (event/venue ratio is below 5%), but it is ready and waiting … so stop by and help build what could be the best resource for finding used bookstores online.

Is Amazon UK putting the squeeze on publishers? Hachette, the largest UK publisher, certainly thinks so and has decided enough is enough. The fracas may have started when some publishers began to offer deeper discounts to customers if they bought directly from them on their websites.

I can understand how this might disconcert Amazon. They want to be the price leader and they see publishers trying to take more of the retail business. 10 years ago there was no conceivable way that publishers could sell direct to the public online. They needed Amazon if they were going to sell books on the Internet. But … things have changed.

It’s not easy, but publishers can build a customer facing website with most of the necessary bells and whistles. Many publishers see this as an easy investment decision. A small portion of business that eliminates the middleman would be a boon to revenue.

According to Tim Hely Hutchinson, Hachette CEO, Amazon already receives on average more than 50% of the recommended retail price (RRP). So you can see how selling direct would have it’s lure. If a publisher could discount and sell a RRP $20 book for $15 on its own website they’d be up $5 on that transaction versus a sale via Amazon that would net them $10. Some speculate that Amazon might try to ignore the RRP and instead base the retail price on what publisher’s charge on their own website.

So what did Amazon do? Reports are that Amazon has demanded a greater share from publishers, asking for 2 or 3 percent more of the take. In the past, publishers caved into these demands because Amazon was too great a source for sales and revenue. This time the demand also came with a threat. Give us the extra percentage points or we take the ‘buy now’ buttons off your titles. (I’m assuming they mean the Add to Shopping Basket functionality.)

Seems like that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Hachette decided to take a stand and not give in to Amazon’s terms. Sure enough, Amazon followed through on their threat.

Here’s how a regular listing looks with the Add to Shopping Basket button.

Here’s how an affected listing looks without the Add to Shopping Basket button.

Victoria Strauss at Writer Beware Blogs! has done a great job documenting all the action and write-ups. In particular, some publishers and ancillary groups are making noise about bringing this to the attention of the Competition Commission, a governmental agency that investigates unfair competition and/or monopolies. Amazon UK would have to be deemed in a dominant position in the industry, usually pegged at 25% market share. At present they’re at about 15%, but growing.

While I understand that Amazon is irked at the apparent revolt by publishers, I find their course of action very emotional. This is business and they should get used to having a bit more competition from publishers.

Does Amazon really think that publisher direct sales is going to substantially erode their sales? Couldn’t they have found a way to perhaps negotiate some ‘exclusive’ titles from publishers, with the lure of additional promotion?

From my perspective they’ve overplayed their market position, and the negative fallout among authors, publishers, booksellers and potential customers isn’t worth the relatively low risk to their continuing business.

Dave Rosenthal and the team at Read Street have put together a great Google Map of favorite bookstores away from home as compiled by Read Street readers and contributors, including yours truly of the Used Books Blog.

View Larger Map

It got me thinking about what other bookstore maps were out there. I immediately thought of the Abebooks Frappr. I won’t embed that map because it’s ugly (think MySpace of maps) and doesn’t seem to be working that well. (Frappr itself has seen traffic drop by over half in the last year.) Still, it holds an impressive 646 listings from around the world.

It was the international aspect that intrigued me and after a few searches I stumbled upon Bookstore Guide, “an amateur guide to book shopping throughout Europe..” (Yes, two periods for some reason.) This is a neat site (minus the black background) and their city coverage is impressive. Sure enough, they recently added a new mapping feature!

Thanks to Nomao and Google Maps, we have the pleasure to introduce a new feature to our guide. Namely, it’s a map where we’ve marked all the bookstores in our guide. This should help you locate the bookstores more easily. Unfortunately, not all the cities have a detailed map of the streets but should at least give you some sense to where the place with the bookstore is. We have just started adding the bookstores to the map, so stick around to see the whole map of Europe become filled out with your favorite bookstores.

Of course you can use Google Maps and just type in ‘bookstore’ without any geographic parameters. But there’s no easy way to sort the nearly 200,000 results or remove chain stores like Borders. There’s a good deal of search and scroll involved. A tagged taxonomy might go a long way to making it easier to find the right bookstore.

No, I’m not talking about The Paper Chase, the novel, movie and TV series featuring John Houseman. Instead, I’m referring to the UK stationary retailer that Borders purchased in 2004. Yes, according to Todd Sullivan of Seeking Alpha, Borders has hired Goldman Sachs “to conduct a review that ought to lead to a sale.”

Indeed, if you eyeball a May 27, 2008 Borders press release you’ll note the following under the International heading:

Management indicated that the strategic alternatives process for its Australia/New Zealand/Singapore and Paperchase businesses is ongoing.

Can I say again how much I dislike the euphemism “strategic alternatives process”. Putting aside this pet peeve, Borders has already sold the Australia business, so they’re not just talking but actually following through on these “strategic alternatives”.

This is yet another move by Borders to focus on the core business and the domestic (US) market. It makes sense whether they’re in it for the long run or simply making themselves pretty for a Barnes & Noble purchase.

As one Borders employee commented, “Paperchase is also losing money, and is a big waste of space.”

The 2008 Kids and Family Reading Report by Yankelovich and Scholastic contains some interesting statistics that may provide insight about the future of books in the digital age.

• 75% of kids age 5-17 agree with the statement, “No matter what I can do online, I’ll always want to read books printed on paper”
• 62% of kids surveyed say they prefer to read books printed on paper rather than on a computer or a handheld device.

Those are some pretty shocking(ly good) statistics given the prevalence of online media and handheld devices. I’ve blogged previously that eBooks and the Kindle have an uphill battle because of the passive nature of books and the lack of a motivating agent of change for the medium. Books are already portable, can be printed in color, and don’t get better due to new technology (e.g. - Dolby or HD.)

To be fair, there does seem to be a place for digital books.

• Two thirds of kids age 9-17 believe that within the next 10 years, most books which are read for fun will be read digitally – either on a computer or on another kind of electronic device. Eighty-seven percent of kids think people will be able to tag and share their favorite parts of books with others.

So perhaps there is room for both eBooks and the musty regular old book. The problem may be whether the digital book market can be a large enough and viable business.

Ready for some more good news?

• A majority of kids say they like to read books for fun and that reading books for fun is important. Most kids perceive a correlation between reading and success.
• One in four kids age 5–17 reads books for fun every day (high frequency reader), and more than half of kids read books for fun at least two to three times a week.

A part of me doesn’t believe these statistics given all the doom and gloom you often hear about reading and literacy. But the study was done to a 90% confidence level. It’s gratifying to see books still being linked to success.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS), which tracks the progress of more than 20,000 American schoolchildren from kindergarten through the fifth grade, showed a correlation between the number of books in a child’s home and their test scores. This was referenced in Freakonomics and also cause for some sniping regarding correlation versus causality.

The crux of the report was this finding:

• A child with at least 50 kids’ books in his home, for instance, scores roughly 5 percentile points higher than a child with no books, and a child with 100 books scores another 5 percentile points higher than a child with 50 books.

Yet, there was no correlation between a parent reading to the child and test scores. This led many to believe that books, and the number of books, in the home wasn’t the primary factor, but instead was linked to the parent’s income and education.

I find that a weak argument for a couple of reasons. The first being the difference in scores between 50 books and 100 books. If you believe this argument, then the parents of the 100 book group are richer and better educated than those in the 50 book group. I’d be surprised if this was the case. It would have been a major finding in the report had this been true.

The second reason is that the environment has so much to do with a child’s growth and development. Akin to the Montessori idea of the prepared environment, it makes sense that having books around greatly increases the chance that they’ll seek them out on their own.

Parents reading to their child might not be correlated to success, but having access to books for children to seek out and explore on their own makes sense. You could be rich and intelligent parents, but if you’re feeding your kids a diet of Halo 3 on a daily basis you might get some odd results.

So how am I linking these two reports together? I know, it seems like a stretch, right? Here’s how.

• Most kids say there are not enough really good books for boys/girls their age, and they say finding books they like is one of the key reasons they do not read for fun more frequently.

This important statement comes from The Reading Report, making it clear that finding books is a key to reading. The odds of you finding books is far higher if you’ve got them in your home.

The Reading Report goes on to show the dramatic effect Harry Potter had on reading habits and attitudes. Again, I’d offer up the question: would a child be more or less likely to read Harry Potter if the books were in the home?

Yeah … parents, buy more books.

Are the lights going out at Borders Books?

Borders Books completed the sale of its Australian, New Zealand and Singapore business to A&R Whitcoulls (ARW), the leading Australasian retailer of books.

Borders Group will receive proceeds of approximately $95 million (AUD) or approximately $90 million (USD based on current exchange rates). Additional deferred payments of up to $15 million (AUD) or approximately $14 million (USD based on current exchange rates) will be paid to Borders Group on or about March 31, 2009 if certain performance targets are achieved.

As part of the agreement, ARW … will have the right to use the Borders brand throughout Australia/New Zealand/Singapore consistent with a brand licensing pact that is part of the agreement.

On the face, Borders is simply continuing it’s quest to reduce debt and create liquidity. Pull back; get the financials in order; join the ecommerce party (better late then never); and launch new concept stores in the US. This would all put Borders in a better position to compete with Barnes and Noble.

But these moves also make Borders far more attractive to a buyer like … oh, Barnes and Noble. Remember, Barnes and Noble is a US centric company and would likely purge any international businesses they acquired. Less debt to inherit is certainly attractive, right?

Then there’s the new online business just launched by Borders. It’s interesting that both Barnes and Noble and Borders rely on Alibris to drive much of their used books business, more so for the latter than the former. Finally, the new Borders concept stores echo the Barnes and Noble brick and mortar strategy. How difficult would it be for them to claim some of this real estate and quickly transform them into Barnes and Noble stores? Not very.

Obviously I could be reading a lot into nothing. But couple this with the recent corporate job cuts, dwindling employee perks, store employee hour cutbacks and the accelerated return of merchandise to publishers and you get a real sense of urgency that speaks to a pending purchase and not a return to greatness.

The other day Dave Rosenthal, Assistant Managing Editor of The Baltimore Sun, emailed me and asked if I’d contribute to a blog post regarding the best bookstores in vacation destinations.

Following is my contribution:

This is a great topic and I always like to check out an independent bookstore while on vacation. It often gives you a real sense of what that area is like - something you won’t get at Borders or Barnes and Noble.

If you’re in San Francisco, I’d recommend City Lights Books:

City Lights Books reflects the political heritage of San Francisco and you can often see freedom of expression banners of every sort adorning the second story. City Lights is in the heart of North Beach, a focal point of the Beat genre. This is a great store, with plenty of poetry and local authors you might not find elsewhere. Please note that it is a stone’s throw away from the ‘other’ part of North Beach which is comprised of strip clubs.

If you’re going to Portland, Oregon you must go to Powell’s:

The main store is just gigantic and you can tell how passionate they are about books and about remaining independent. You could spend an entire day here without a problem. They also maintain perhaps the best independent website if you’re unable to visit in person.

In particular, I like the ongoing story of Fup the store cat. Though Fup passed on in 2007 you may keep up with Fup online here.

If you’re in Washington, DC I’d recommend stopping in at Kramerbooks & Afterwords:

This is a funky little place in Dupont Circle where you can browse books while waiting for a table in the cafe. It’s an experience and a hang out. Not a place to find the best selection but certainly a place to experience if you’re looking for a literary lunch.

If you’re in New York City you should go to The Strand:

I’ve (sadly) never been to The Strand but I know those who have and they are thrilled with the selection. How could you not when they have 18 Miles of books.

If you’re in Denver, Colorado take a look at The Tattered Cover:

This is another long established independent housed in a unique location. I’ve never been, but many have told me of their visits here and that it has character. Couple that with an obvious passion for literature and you have a winning combination.

If you’re in Los Angeles, CA and you’re into the Horror genre you must go to Dark Delicacies:

This might not be a place to take the little ones, but if you’re into Horror then this is the place to go. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Del Howison who runs the store, and you could not meet a nicer guy. Del is also an actor and author himself. Just look for the pale guy with the long white hair.

A Berkeley store that I’ve been urged to go to but haven’t (shame on me) is Dark Carnival:

“Dark Carnival specializes in science fiction, fantasy, and mystery books! We have a huge selection, a knowledgeable staff and plenty of random plastic stuff to round out your bookstore experience!”

Their Hot 100 or essential reading is a perfect match for me, including folks like Jonathan Lethem, Jonathan Carroll, Steve Erickson, Philip K. Dick, William Gibson and Neil Stephenson.

I know I’ve missed plenty others. The important thing is to visit and patronize these and other independent bookstores so that the flavor of literature in each city remains for generations to come.

Thanks to Dave and The Sun for the invite. I encourage readers to check out the other responses to this question and to contribute your own bookstore gems. Is there a dynamite bookstore in Maui? What about San Diego? I’m sure there’s a great Chicago bookstore and what about Seattle?

Speaking at D6, a conference about all things digital, Jeff Bezos told reporter Staci D. Kramer that about his vision for the Kindle.

The vision for Kindle is every book ever in print in any language—all available in less than 60 seconds.

It’s a lofty goal that Bezos says may take “years of work.” Years of work? You’ve got 125,000 titles and you think getting the entire compendium of printed books ever, in any language, is simply going to take years of work? I’m hoping this is just posturing or marketing because it will not be possible to do this in years, if ever!

The current way in which Amazon handles pre-ISBN (International Standard Book Number) titles isn’t very good. Long story short, Amazon doesn’t have good visibility into out-of-print books. Their catalog is often wrong because of the chaos that existed in publishing before ISBNs were introduced.

Kudos to Staci D. Kramer for not drinking the Kool Aid and believing that publishers are eager to contribute titles to Kindle. If this were the case you’d have plenty more titles available already. According to Bowker, the number of titles currently available on Kindle is only a third of the total titles published in 2006.

A third of a single year!

Publishers are wary of the digital age and the entrance of Amazon into this arena. Some may embrace the idea, but I believe most have a gut sense that Amazon must be getting more out of the deal somehow. These are established (some stodgy) companies who are not ready to cede control of the future of books to one player.

Mr. Bezos, my advice is to focus on the renewable and ripe market of textbooks.

Kindle Textbooks could be huge. That’s saying a lot for me since I’m not a big fan of the Kindle. It’s not that the device doesn’t look interesting or perform half-way well. I simply believe reading is active rather than passive and there is no motivating agent of change to adopt a new reading platform. So, I’m not nearly as bullish on future Kindle sales, despite the ’sold out’ buzz and fawning praise from gadgeteers.

Yet, the textbook niche seems ripe for the Kindle. Textbooks are expensive, heavy, frequently updated, largely disposable and reach a demographic eager to adopt new technology.

The US Department of Education (DOE) and Government Accountability Office (GAO) have researched the rising cost of textbooks in the last ten years. Following are a few excerpts from the DOE Koch Report:

Between 1986 and 2004, textbook prices rose 186 percent in the United States, or slightly more than six percent per year (GAO, 2005). Meanwhile, other prices rose only about three percent per year (GAO, 2005).

CALPIRG (2005) found that students at California public universities spent an average of $898 on textbooks in the 2004-2005 academic year. If textbook prices have continued to rise at six percent per year, then this expenditure will rise to $1,009 in the 2006-2007 academic year and constitute 6.1 percent of the estimated annual cost of education for a resident student at a four-year public university (College Board, 2005).

There is a lot of money to be made in textbooks - publishers, college bookstores, used booksellers. In fact, the secondary market in textbooks is perhaps as important to the book vertical as the holiday season. Textbooks provide an ever renewing source of customers who are essentially forced to buy textbooks at high price points.

The Kindle would disrupt this ecosystem which may be why Amazon hasn’t (yet) tapped the textbook potential.

Who would win? Publishers could be persuaded to lower prices for digital distribution based on lower production costs. In addition, if DRM can be attached, the resale capability of textbooks is severely reduced. They likely lock in higher margins, even while reducing the cost of textbooks. The latter means students win and, of course, Amazon wins.

Who loses? Certainly the secondary market for used textbooks. The college bookstores also lose since they’re no longer in the distribution chain, ceding this to Amazon. Folks like Barnes & Noble (who run many college bookstores) and Follett would not be pleased.

Aside from the economic issues, the weight of textbooks has been a growing concern for both parents and educators. Kindle textbooks would solve the weight issue and would certainly appeal to those concerned with the environment.

However, it could potentially expand the disparity in education via the digital divide. Here’s where Kindle contracts with school systems or grants from non-profits could help distribute the Kindle to all economic classes.

Finally, the market is perfect. They’re young, not reading for pleasure and have no real necessity to hang onto a particular textbook. It’s practical and functional. Yet, a certain percentage will begin to view the Kindle as the preferred reading platform and likely use it for more than textbooks. Amazon could actually create the market I currently don’t see through wide adoption of Kindle textbooks.

The Kindle already provides some features that would benefit students:

… you can add annotations to text, just like you might write in the margins of a book. And because it is digital, you can edit, delete, and export your notes, highlight and clip key passages, and bookmark pages for future use.

There’s already a drum beat of folks advocating for Kindle textbooks, including here, here and even on Amazon. Me? I still don’t have one and don’t really want one either.

I still think wide Kindle adoption is a long-shot but the odds would get better if Amazon launched a highly focused Kindle textbook initiative.

In a first quarter earnings call, Barnes & Noble indicated that it was contemplating the purchase of Borders Books. They didn’t just come out and say this but it’s pretty easy to decipher the doublespeak and read between the lines.

The retailer also said it has put together a team of senior executives and financial advisers to study “the feasibility of a transaction” with rival Borders Group Inc, but it declined to say if it had been contacted by Borders’ bankers.

The feasibility of a transaction? Oy! Translation: We’re thinking of buying Borders Books.

Not to be outdone, Borders responded with a marketing masterpiece.

Borders issued a statement on Thursday saying that the company is “in the midst of the strategic alternatives process and has not engaged in substantive discussions regarding any specific transaction to date.”

As a marketer I can spot gems like these a mile away. Translation: We’re looking for some way out of this mess and haven’t had the big talk with Barnes & Noble. Sure, maybe a few conversations here and there and a coffee or two but it’s nothing serious, it’s totally casual … so far.

So the strange mating dance seems likely to continue.

Perhaps this news was meant to distract from Barnes & Noble’s first quarter earnings. They came in on the low end of guidance, with sales edging up 1.1% but same store sales decreasing 1.5%. At some point you can’t rely on new store openings. However, congratulations are in order to BN.com who posted a 7.2% increase.

Of particular interest to me was the following statement:

During the first quarter Barnes & Noble reached an agreement in principle with the State of California (subject to final Board of Equalization review and approval expected at the end of May) to settle its long-standing dispute regarding the collection of sales and use taxes on sales made by Barnes & Noble.com from 1999 to 2005. As a result, the company recorded a one-time pre-tax charge of approximately $8.3 million.

Here’s hoping California puts this money into public libraries or education.

Finally, Barnes & Noble blames J.K. Rowling for their expected second quarter downturn.

Additionally, due to the difficult comparison against last year’s July release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, second quarter comparable store sales are expected to decrease in the low to mid-single digits.

I know it’s true, but it all sounds a bit whiny and juvenile. “Couldn’t you write another book? Pleeeeeeaase?!”

Will Barnes & Noble buy Borders Books? I’m guessing they will, providing bookstore homogenization throughout the USA.