Digital technologies are radically and rapidly changing the manner in
which books are made available for sale.
Two of these developments are especially interesting.
The
first is the dramatic growth of e-book sales. Book content is
electronically transferred to a variety of devices. Probably the best
known of these devices is the "Kindle", developed by the giant e-commerce
retailer Amazon. More recently the more traditional "bricks and mortar"
retail book selling chain, Barnes
& Noble, has added its own e-book device, the "Nook", which
has in just this past selling season already made a splash. Both of
these devices are proprietary. That is, only available at their
respective stores.
However, e-books are available to be downloaded to a much larger
variety of devices from the i-phone to Blackberrys.
Sales growth
in this past December shows a decline in traditional book formats of 4%
to 7%. While e-book sales rose a mighty 176% in 2009, hence the e-book
share of trade book sales
revenue increased from 1.2% to 3.3%.
3.3% is not in itself a particularly threatening number . But, from
my perspective of having lived through the enormous loss of business to
e-commerce, stores such as Amazon, I can't see anything but increasing
exponential growth in this market.
Those of us who grew up with the tactile gratification and sensuous
pleasures of books made of words on paper between boards are not likely
to readily forgo these experiences.
Nor is it likely that
beachgoers who relish reading on the beach will want to risk losing a
$400 device to sand, wind and surf (especially, when we see customers
return regularly with water-logged books looking for replacements.)
That said, you can look on our website now at: islandbooksobx.com
and order e-books from us for your latest gadget.
The other
digital technology that is changing or has the potential to change
bookstore environments is the POD, print on demand. It's similar to what made
services like Kinkos,
that is, copying and binding small runs of papers, reports or books.
A couple of these large
printing machines have been around in several book stores for
several years. The familiar one is called "espresso" and it can print a
moderate sized novel customized for you in 20-30 minutes.
The machine is expensive but like all new hardware the price is
coming down. Presently they take up about 60 sq. ft of space.
Eventually, stores could reduce their inventory investment to offset costs and
space. This past fall another 15 or so were spread into larger stores
around the country. I haven't watched one perform yet, but expect I will
soon.I have heard reports of how they are being used
1) local and other regional books that have gone out-of-print from
traditional publishers can be reprinted in small lots to meet current
interest without having to search for used copies, while still
respecting copyright restrictions.
2) private printings of family albums or company histories can be
printed cost effectively.
3) vanity publishing can be done by
oneself instead of using one of the multitude of "pay to print"
publishers.
And lastly) occasionally the bookseller, herself, may wish to harken
back to the days of yore when booksellers, themselves, were also
publishers.
In fact the most successful printing that I'm aware
of is from Northshire Books, in Manchester Centre, Vermont, and it is a
blank book,that is, it is bound and its title is printed on the outside
covers but there is nothing inside but empty pages. The title is "The
Wit and Wisdom of Sarah Palin."
In spite of all these developments, It is comforting to note that
even with the common downloading of music, 65% of sales are still on
CD's.
If you want a good book in your hands we can heartily
recommend many to you. My personal favorite is a long awaited sequel to "Presumed Innocent" by Scott Turow, due in
May, titled, "Innocent."
