THE STORY SO FAR: PART 198

THE BOOK BUSINESS IS BEING TURNED UPSIDE DOWN AT A TRULY ASTONISHING SPEED

IN NOVEMBER 2012, 28 PERCENT OF ALL BOOK PURCHASES IN THE U.S. WERE IN E-BOOK FORMAT—A DRAMATIC RISE FROM SIX PERCENT IN NOVEMBER 2010

When I was first published back in 1991—which doesn’t seem that long ago, as far as I am concerned, but is pre-history to many people—the book chains ruled the earth, and Barnes & Noble dominated the book chains.

Just over two decades later, the second largest book chain, Borders, is gone, and Barnes and Noble is looking sickly. What is more is that e-books—scarcely heard about until Amazon introduced the Kindle in 2007—have seized a truly significant market share.

Let me quote from mediabistro which is, in turn, quoting from Bowkers:

According to a new report from Bowker Market Research, U.S. chain bookstores lost 13 percent of their share of book purchases in 2012.

Overall, chain booksellers saw their share decrease from 32 percent to 19 percent of volume. At the same time, Bowker recorded some dramatic gains in U.S. eReatailers and digital book growth. Check it out:

In the U.S., e-retailers accounted for 44 percent of book purchases by volume in 2012, up from 25 percent in 2010. In the U.K. the rise has been somewhat less dramatic but still significant, up from 25 percent in January-November 2010, to 38 percent in the same period in 2012 … In November 2012, 28 percent of all book purchases in the U.S. were in e-book format — a dramatic rise from six percent in November 2010.

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 184

IT’S A GORGEOUS DAY—AND SPRING, AND THE SOUND OF LEAF BLOWERS, IS IN THE AIR

You can debate heaven and hell all you like, but I know there is a Devil, because who else could have devised a more hideous machine than the leaf blower. It’s a truly vile invention, guaranteed to remove tranquility for impressive distances—guaranteed to make it near impossible for a writer to write. This is not a culturally friendly device.

I once had the experience of trying to edit a book in Brooklyn—in high summer—with two leaf blowers screaming away nearby. In addition, apart from the fact that it was hot enough already—my hosts turned the central heating on accidentally (or so they said). Now, when I see scenes on TV or in movies about being captured and tortured, I can relate.

But why should someone be using one in early March? I have absolutely no idea. I encountered it as I was on my daily walk today. And yes, it was accompanied by a figure that looked vaguely human—but I could have sworn wore horns and had a tail. Hard to be sure amidst the swirling dust.

Leaf blowers apart, Seattle is rather wonderful in good weather, and pretty tolerable even in the rain. Today, I could see the snow-clad top of Mount Rainier in the distance. This is quite a city.

The above—very striking and rather creepy—illustration is from the New York Journal of Books—not to be confused with the New York Review of Books (though of course it is). I’m delighted to see it. Traditionally, print media reviewed books, but poor old print is taking a hammering, and though blogs have taken up the slack—some very well indeed—I still feel there is something to be said for the magazine format, even if in electronic form.

I wish the New York Journal of Books well. They are making us all more aware of books—which has to be a good thing—and what I have read from them so far has considerable merit. They have also evolved a rather neat way of reviewing books on Facebook. Check them out.

But surely I am biased in favor of anything—preferably without horns and a tail—that promotes books?

I would like to think I have some discrimination—but I plead guilty.

www.nyjournalofbooks.com

www.facebook.com/NYJBooks

 

 

 

IN SEARCH OF THE NEW FRAMERS – THOSE WHO KNOW HOW TO FRAME THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeMining the Digisphere Department 
I’m continuing to squirrel away on work to do with marketing my books via the Kindle (to be followed by print) but the more time I spend in the DIGISPHERE - which I define as Internet + Computer Power + (a new wave of brilliant) Software + Mindset - the more I am convinced that we don’t as yet fully appreciate this extraordinary resource we have at our disposal. It’s much more than a giant encyclopedia crossed with instant communications technologies and leavened with multimedia entertainment capabilities. It’s a synergistic environment. The totality is vastly more powerful than the sum of its parts. It is also – both currently and potentially – a problem solving tool of unprecedented power and application.

But are we using it this way? My general sense is that we’re using it tactically to increasingly great effect – sometimes for good and sometimes to our detriment - but we’re not yet using it adequately to get to grips with our more fundamental problems. Yet I am convinced that the answers are out there and that with the aid of the digisphere, we can find them.

This viewpoint leads me to a number of conclusions: 

• We are neither asking the right questions nor framing the questions correctly. We are letting our various ideologies get in the way of our reasoning to a degree which is downright frightening.
• We haven’t given nearly enough thought to the fact the availability of the digisphere means we need to rethink how we do just about everything and particularly how we work. 
• We are absolutely failing to appreciate the sheer power of what we have at our disposal together with the fact that this power and its related capabilities is increasing geometrically. 
• We are in serious danger of letting this power be controlled by special interests to the detriment of democracy and the public good. 
• We need to change the Constitution to deal with this. NOTE: I’ll be developing these thoughts in a separate paper, but my essential point is that most of the big problems we are facing only exist because we are not bothering to solve them. They are no longer intractable. Our current addiction to ideologies – so much easier than thinking - may be an exception. 

Department of Incredibly Ingenious Solutions 
Want the font of your choice to appear in every just as you intended? Check out WebInk http://www.extensis.com/en/WebINK/index.jsp and drool. Being of a graphic turn of mind, I’ve been looking for something like this for some time.

Department of People Who Really Do Seem To Know What They Are Doing 
LinkedIn is a professional network made of some 80 million of the sort of people it tends to be advantageous to network with. It’s business oriented rather than social and, based upon my experience so far, surprisingly effective. However, I would have made much more progress if I had had a guide because it’s not entirely clear at first – or even later on - how everything works. Enter a lady with the rather glamorous name of Kristina Jaramillo who really does seem to know which fork one should use (metaphorically speaking) when in such illustrious company. - Kristina@getlinkedinhelp.com  and http://www.GetLinkedInHelp.com Her phone number is 609-306-6205

Department of Really Good Thrillers 
I hate to boast but since self-promotion is the American Way and this is my blog, I probably should. Let me compromise by quoting Cosmopolitan on Games Of the Hangman:

“The hunt for the Hangman drives the plot with all the urgency of the Indy 500, but the author never sacrifices character to action – a rare grace in this genre… A truly captivating, atmospheric, un-putdownable read.”

The new books will be Kindled very soon – and the wait will be worth it.