tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post9154584787411442725..comments2024-03-13T07:34:24.149+00:00Comments on The Age of Uncertainty: Everything Must GoSteerforthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-76025721451914642582011-02-28T21:43:59.746+00:002011-02-28T21:43:59.746+00:00I'm not the right person to ask, as I'm fu...I'm not the right person to ask, as I'm furious whenever anyone gives me a book.<br /><br />I'm reserving judgement. Like many people, I was initially snotty about the Richard and Judy Book Club, then I saw lots of unlikely people buying <i>Cloud Atlas</i> and, even better, loving it. Since then, I've kept an open mind about these things.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-50405010608256402432011-02-28T21:26:38.419+00:002011-02-28T21:26:38.419+00:00what's your opinion of world book night?what's your opinion of world book night?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-37724803588198304942011-01-30T21:09:56.791+00:002011-01-30T21:09:56.791+00:00I'll put the kettle on and warm the pot.I'll put the kettle on and warm the pot.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-13890418425637347432011-01-30T20:58:04.677+00:002011-01-30T20:58:04.677+00:00"How awful that you'd have to travel over...<i>"How awful that you'd have to travel over 100 miles to find a good secondhand bookshop. Although more used books are being sold online, nothing beats the serendipitous discoveries that come through browsing."</i> <br /><br />Yes, as someone very susceptible to the tactile appeal of books, I agree. But as someone insatiably curious about the past, I love the websites that offer full views of copyright-free books. (That's how I read <i>The Diary of a Nobody</i>, complete with the hilarious illustrations.)<br /><br /><i>"If you ever come to England, I can recommend several places."</i><br /><br />Thank you! I can't think of anything better in the bookish way than getting bookstore recommendations from you. As it happens, my friend and I made plans just a few days ago to visit England once she retires in 2015, which gives you several years to brace yourself or alternately, to disappear into the vastnesses of cyberspace.Junienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-66215517488731603162011-01-30T17:05:17.338+00:002011-01-30T17:05:17.338+00:00I know nothing about the book trade but as a reade...I know nothing about the book trade but as a reader I worry about the dominance of Amazon. Once they control virtually the whole retail market they could raise prices and even more worryingly dictate publishing too. <br /> <br />I wholeheartedly support my two local, independent booksellers. Diversity is a good thing.Ehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12452842332549541201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-72029823234916662952011-01-30T13:10:43.062+00:002011-01-30T13:10:43.062+00:00A fascinating post. It's interesting to read s...A fascinating post. It's interesting to read so many comments about the experience of reading and owning a 'proper' (whatever that is) book and so little about the appreciation of the content - which is really the reason we buy a published text, yes? It's still the same on an e-reader - it will still transport you to another world or immerse you in another way of thinking. Steerforth is right to say that ultimately what really matters is that we keep reading.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-54099420696691601092011-01-29T19:17:50.729+00:002011-01-29T19:17:50.729+00:00Borders was very seductive at first appearance, bu...Borders was very seductive at first appearance, but it was still a corporate retail chain and from my point of view, as a UK bookshop manager, I was horrified by the lack of autonomy their branches had. <br /><br />When I managed bookshops for Ottakar's, I was responsible for buying most of the stock and had complete control over the pricing and displays. They trusted me to know my local market and the result was that every branch had its own distinct identity. <br /><br />Borders tried to have the best of both worlds. They used their events calendar to creat a "local" feeling, but in reality the senior management were just retailers who didn't trust their shop floor booksellers enough.<br /><br />How awful that you'd have to travel over 100 miles to find a good secondhand bookshop. Although more used books are being sold online, nothing beats the serendipitous discoveries that come through browsing. If you ever come to England, I can recommend several places.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-29781917945651043282011-01-29T18:48:31.209+00:002011-01-29T18:48:31.209+00:00"I remember visiting the first UK branch of B...<i>"I remember visiting the first UK branch of Borders, back in the late 90s and thinking that I had seen the future."</i><br /><br />I had the same experience in a Borders here in the American heartland. <br /><br />After the first pleasant impression had receded, I wasn't too thrilled. I like browsing through books while standing in claustrophobically small aisles full of step-stools, stacks of old volumes, the smell of leather and the flicker of tired fluorescent lighting. <br /><br />These days I do most of my book buying online, the rest at thrift shops. There are no used book stores of the kind I love within 100hundred miles of where I live now.Junienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-83440035017732222392011-01-28T23:33:21.428+00:002011-01-28T23:33:21.428+00:00Yes they are brilliant, and I love New Grub Street...Yes they are brilliant, and I love <i>New Grub Street</i>, even if (or because) it isn't the most cheerful read. <br /><br />It's central message about personal integrity versus world success is still relevant.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-10438309686681999622011-01-28T22:40:25.712+00:002011-01-28T22:40:25.712+00:00Steerforth - yes, it is from New Grub Street, whic...Steerforth - yes, it is from New Grub Street, which of course paints a rosy picture of toil in the literary world.<br />Lawks, books are brilliant though aren't they?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-20278413564094345672011-01-28T22:24:54.734+00:002011-01-28T22:24:54.734+00:00Yes Laura, I can see a future with quirky, indepen...Yes Laura, I can see a future with quirky, independent high street shops and internet chains. <br /><br />I don't think many high street chains have a future - the retail property rents mean that they can never compete with the internet. Only clothes stores like Primark and food retailers will endure. Probably.<br /><br />Jason - I was a HUGE fan of the NBA. It created a level playing field in which booksellers could only outdo their competitors by stocking a superior range or offering better service. Books were also priced more realistically. But the moment the internet appeared, its days were numbered.<br /><br />If the NBA hadn't been scrapped, several chains might have survived for longer, but today, vast numbers of people would be buying their books from some offshore internet seller. Once you have a global market, it's hard to legislate nationally, isn't it?<br /><br />Chickadee - "A kindle can't hold a candle..." - it's catchy. I like it!Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-61569263236376203972011-01-28T19:46:23.618+00:002011-01-28T19:46:23.618+00:00Poet Laura-eate: So true about the need to actual...Poet Laura-eate: So true about the need to actually see a book and to pinch the avocados! What a great analogy.<br /><br />And Steerforth, so true to point out that where are we going to be when the power goes out and the kindle crashes? My old paper copy of Vanity Fair is still readable, even during a power outage if I have a candle. So to my way of thinking, the kindle can't hold a candle to a real book!<br /><br />Canadian ChickadeeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-21445731371952047542011-01-28T16:15:42.685+00:002011-01-28T16:15:42.685+00:00Another factor that has made bookselling a perilou...Another factor that has made bookselling a perilous business for authors and publishers is the discounting phenomenon. Wholesalers have demanded ever increasing discounts from publishers which has the knock on effect of reducing rewards to authors, whilst also reducing profit margins for the publisher. Amazon are as guilty in this as the money they expect for taking books on makes it a loss-making exercise for small publishers with small print runs. So I don't buy books from Amazon. Or Waterstones, who are equally demanding in terms of discounts. (I lie - just bought a new COD but that was an exception.) My book buying code is "Support your local independent bookshop" - how they survive is thanks to the dedication of the people who work in them. As for e books, no thanks - it's the touchy feely printed book for me... And let's see the return of the Net Book Agreement!Jason Crabtreehttp://www.selectaskip.co.uk/skip-hire-in-hartlepoolnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-14576828176478308942011-01-28T14:04:51.852+00:002011-01-28T14:04:51.852+00:00Amazon were on Radio 4 this morning saying that al...Amazon were on Radio 4 this morning saying that although sales of e-books had gone up dramatically in the last 12 months, sales of paperbacks had also gone up almost as impressively.<br /><br />I like to hope there will remain space in the marketplace for both. If proper books disappear from our bookshops altogether I too shall retreat into the past and buy only secondhand books as one or two of your other commentators have threatened!<br /><br />I will not be forced to spend my life looking at screens, much though I enjoy blogging. And aside from the soul and feel of books, there's the SMELL as Canadian Chicadee pointed out. Kindles must be so dull once the initial novelty has worn off - almost an item to make you start devaluing books. They never vary in texture, thickness and tactility or smell, do not as yet reproduce illustrations or graphs reliably and human beings are very tactile creatures. Why else has online supermarket shopping never really taken off? Because unless it's a box of cornflakes shoppers want to see and feel that avodocado!<br /><br />At the risk of sounding paranoid I feel disturbed by how extra layers keep being put between humanity and reality, ostensibly to make life easier. I feel a blog posting coming on! ; - )The Poet Laura-eatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07779308486569849157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-53871492193876999292011-01-28T13:27:06.117+00:002011-01-28T13:27:06.117+00:00Interesting to see that Amazon are now claiming th...Interesting to see that Amazon are now claiming that e-books sales are now only 20% lower than paperback sales. Is that in actual sales or volume, I wonder?<br /><br />Televisiontakenote - I like the Gissing quote. It sounds familiar. Was it from <i>New Grub Street</i>?<br /><br />I agree with your comment. The future of bookshops will lie, once again, with booksellers (not, I hasten to add, the grumpy, misanthropic ones who helped to make chain bookstores so popular!). The self-aggrandising, sales-driven regional managers of this world will hopefully disappear from bookselling (although in fairness I had a couple of wonderful regional managers when I was in Ottakar's).<br /><br />Gill - Yes, I sell books, but I don't like to mix work and blogging, so that's why Google drew a blank. I'll write about books I find at work, but usually only if they're about to be consigned to oblivion. <br /><br />Brett - fascinating stuff and yet another reason to hold back on buying a Kindle. I didn't know that libraries were so involved in this phenomenon.<br /><br />Jim - Your wife's very generous. I just end up with gloves (although she'd argue that I'm a nightmare to buy presents for). I'm interested that you miss the backlight, when one of the Kindle's selling points is no backlight! I find the grey screen very depressing.<br /><br />David - A curator for the post-apocalyptic age? All my life I've been beset by a lack of direction and now, at last, I have a vocation! It's a brilliant idea. <br /><br />Chickadee - I can't see books completely dying, any more than film and photography has stopped people painting. It's just the mix that will change. What I don't like is our increasing vulnerability as we digitise everything. Where would we be if the power stopped?<br /><br />Annabel - I love <i>Les Miserables</i> as much as I love <i>Moby Dick</i> (which is a lot). I suppose e-readers are great for out of copyright titles, although in the case of the Hugo, I'm quite fussy about what translation I'm reading.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-31370167189472090082011-01-28T11:25:22.104+00:002011-01-28T11:25:22.104+00:00I too got a Kindle for Christmas. I read Moby Dick...I too got a Kindle for Christmas. I read Moby Dick on it, and it was fine. But I don't intend to buy any books for it that cost more than a few pence. It lives in my handbag and means I have a free classic on the go whenever I need a book to read, and it is fine for that. I get on well with the e-ink, but keep forgetting to put in bookmarks of bits I want to refer back to - I've started reading the mega-chunky Les Miserables, so finding bits again is a must.<br /><br />Your comments are sad, but as you say at the end - at least we're still reading which is hopeful.Annabel (gaskella)http://gaskella.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-61869692815888103942011-01-28T05:04:25.583+00:002011-01-28T05:04:25.583+00:00Oh Steerforth, what a sad commentary on our times!...Oh Steerforth, what a sad commentary on our times! I try to buy books in an actual physical form, partly as a backlash against the technology of ebooks. As one of your readers commented, after using a computer all day, a book in one's hand is a treat! <br /><br />I'm afraid I do order books online -- often from Amazon.co.uk -- Though I live in America, I have very English tastes and a lot of the stuff I want to read isn't available here. So I order from Amazon.co.uk. Not cheap of course, but hey, I deserve some vices!!<br /><br />Personally, I like the look, the feel, the scent of books, and have occasionally bought a book from a local bookshop just because the book felt so good in my hand. Take that, Kindle!!<br /><br />Good luck with your online sales, Steerforth -- and may the actual book with pages one can turn with a finger never die!<br /><br />Canadian ChickadeeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-84173122844718962082011-01-27T21:19:15.868+00:002011-01-27T21:19:15.868+00:00I have a horror of ebooks. While I can produce ra...I have a horror of ebooks. While I can produce rational justifications till the cows come home (a "reader" is another layer between you and the book, real books smell better, you can arrange them on your shelves) etc I think it's the sheer idea of books, beautiful, civilised, civilising books, just becoming "content" on somebody's server. And I hate the idea that this will drive bookshops out of business, publishers will go wholly e, and I won't be able to get new proper books anymore. I'm already noticing that some of the new books I'm waiting for will only appear in paperback, especially those published in America. <br /><br />Well, if they stop publishing on paper, I'll stop buying and content myself, as you say, with collecting second hand. Steerforth, I think that you current line of work has an excellent future in that world - curating the whole sum of human knowledge, before the new Dark Ages fall.<br /><br />DavidDavidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17256244895723910890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-36865557660603926382011-01-27T10:58:39.248+00:002011-01-27T10:58:39.248+00:00My wife bought me a Kindle for Xmas. It's not ...My wife bought me a Kindle for Xmas. It's not my first e-book reader - I had a Rocket eReader about 10 years ago - and I don't find the Kindle that different in fact I actually miss the Rocket's back light and stylus.<br /><br />The Kindle is a very basic machine there is no getting around that. It can't cope with so much, like tables or tabs and although it does do hanging indents it tends to much them up (at least I haven't figured a way of formatting them right yet). And reading PDFs on it is pointless; I've been converting mine to MOBIs which helps but it destroys any tables.<br /><br />We'll just have to see what the future holds but the only good thing I can say about the Kindle is that it has at least piqued the public's interest.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-26801652734299462732011-01-27T05:32:21.837+00:002011-01-27T05:32:21.837+00:00Interesting post and comments. I spent five years...Interesting post and comments. I spent five years in the mid-80's working for an early "big-box" chain in Texas and Florida, "Bookstop", which would be bought by B&N.<br /><br />The bad news for Kindle owners is that libraries and digital media vendors who sell to libraries, (at least in the U.S.), want materials in an open, industry standard format, ePUB, not Amazon's proprietary fork of the Mobipocket format.<br /><br />The ePUB format can allow for free sharing, as in the case of copyright expired Google books, but can also accept a layer of DRM. Adobe's ePUB+DRM format is what OverDrive, the top library digital media vendor in the U.S., is using.<br /><br />The Sony Reader, the B&N Nook, and Borders's Kobo eReader have all gone with Adobe, and all support PDF and ePUB. Owners of these eReaders can use the public library. Kindle owners are out of luck. Amazon owns their container.Bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09389916070547430075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-35363204675436278022011-01-27T02:15:08.967+00:002011-01-27T02:15:08.967+00:00And I came to read your as usual excellent post an...And I came to read your as usual excellent post and smiled when I read the last comment you made ...<br /><br />They need to buy their books from me ;)<br /><br />Interestingly, I have recently searched your blog to see how to do just that ... and used google ... no clues : )<br /><br />We typically purchase most of our books online because we are unable to find them in our local bookstores! (Ontario, Canada)<br /><br />GillGillnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-50083918893714816732011-01-27T01:28:55.181+00:002011-01-27T01:28:55.181+00:00The mantra in the (non-Waterstones) bookshop I wor...The mantra in the (non-Waterstones) bookshop I work in is "there's no money in books."<br />I know I should be looking around for something more secure and better paid, but I love what I do and I love "working in the valley of the shadow of books," as Gissing put it. I'm worried about the future of the bookselling business - of course I am - but, you know, I knuckle down and do my best. I'm in no way exceptional either - bookshops have some amazing, dedicated, overworked underpaid staff in them who are working bloody hard for sales. If it were purely down to them, shops would prosper. We don't even hold much sway with regional managers though, much less outside forces in retail and technology.<br />Wish us luck!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-43226906995370759692011-01-26T23:59:38.087+00:002011-01-26T23:59:38.087+00:00Laura - I'm glad to read that it isn't jus...Laura - I'm glad to read that it isn't just people over 30 who are resisting the Kindle (and as someone said, they'll be no use at all when the oil runs out).<br /><br />It's a shame about Borders, although I didn't like the fact that their branches weren't able to buy their own stock.<br /><br />I met someone who worked at Borders and he said that it was great when it started, as it was run only US model and had a thriving events calendar. But then a UK management team took over and they never really understood the "brand". I certainly felt that the shops lost their sparkle after the first three years.<br /><br />I agree that a really innovative bookseller should be able to survive. I quite like the idea of an arty cinema in Waterstone's Piccadilly - the shop's never made any money and that seems a clever way of attracting footfall and sharing the rent. <br /><br />Print-on-demand machines? No! They need to buy their books from me ;)Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-27765769778754174512011-01-26T23:47:58.938+00:002011-01-26T23:47:58.938+00:00zmkc - I wouldn't just blame the publishers. I...zmkc - I wouldn't just blame the publishers. I think that there are elements in both publishing and bookselling who are simply looking for a fast buck and never think further ahead than the end of the financial year.<br /><br />As Mike say, it's the "red braces brigade" who have ruined the book trade (I miss the launch parties!). I suppose EPOS systems didn't help - once you have hard evidence that Author X has only produced so much revenue in five years compared to Author Y, people in the trade become risk-averse.<br /><br />It took ten years for Ian Rankin to break through. Today, he would have probably been dropped after the second or third novel. <br /><br />Luckily, there are still enough people out there in the trade who are doing it for love rather than money - Dedalus, for example - and they all help to make up for the plethora of celebrity biographies and the Dan Brown/Stephanie Meyer imitators.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-33249277141867185922011-01-26T23:36:28.018+00:002011-01-26T23:36:28.018+00:00I agree with everything you say on this subject St...I agree with everything you say on this subject Steerforth but would offer the following rays of hope.<br /><br />While Kindles may be useful for travelling or those who live in exceptionally small homes where accumulating too many physical books is impractical, there are plenty of people of my acquaintance who cannot stand them. A 20 year old colleague studying publishing for example who thinks they lack 'soul'. A 23 year old graduate who feels he spends enough time looking at screens all day and sees a real book as a break for when he's had enough social networking and work--a-day screen work.<br /><br />Sure they will have their lovers. But I also feel certain they will have just as many detractors and people who prefer the tactility and versatility of a real book and being able to see at a glance how far they are through it thicknesswise.<br /><br />What bookshops could be doing to stay competitive however is installing print-on-demand machines (now as little as £16k each) to print specialist and out-of-print books for their customers at a reasonable rate and even 'Kindle download posts' for those Kindle enthusiasts who are less internet savvy. And many of the wisest ones have already diversified into events and any accompanying product merchandise.<br /><br />As you will recall, cinemas seemed very perilous for a while and as if we would see the last of them. Then people realised that watching videos at home lacked the magic and sense of occasion that a cinema gave. It think there is a lot of hope that the smartest booksellers will realise that even if things are tough now, a renaissance will come. The question is how much further damage and erosion can they and the publishing world take until it comes?<br /><br />Yes, I too thought Borders was terribly exciting when I visited the first one. It is still much-missed in Oxford.The Poet Laura-eatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07779308486569849157noreply@blogger.com