tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18086590.post116179210485697946..comments2023-12-23T05:12:55.809-05:00Comments on The Written Nerd: Chronicle: Coming and Going, Watching and TalkingBook Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02896226559142059293noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18086590.post-1162829962502911692006-11-06T11:19:00.000-05:002006-11-06T11:19:00.000-05:00Amy -- yep, that's him! Do you know Steve?Amy -- yep, that's him! Do you know Steve?Book Nerdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02896226559142059293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18086590.post-1162158508450582102006-10-29T16:48:00.000-05:002006-10-29T16:48:00.000-05:00Lauren,Unfortunately the nature of the retail chan...Lauren,<BR/><BR/>Unfortunately the nature of the retail channel influences the choices made by the big publishers. And since the bulk of books actually read by Americans are produced by these big publishers, that means that the nature of the retail channel conditions what books Americans will read.<BR/><BR/>Big Publishers are already publishing in a manner totally different from that employed only 15 years ago. The less the diversity of retail outlets, the more the big publishers have to make book-publishing decisions that have a very good chance of resulting in their products (books) being picked up by the large concentrated retail companies for sale nationwide.<BR/><BR/>So -- we're not only talking about the issues it sounds like were focused on in the film. It's also about which books get published, promoted and distributed. People who say they love superstores don't generally realize that superstores act to censor these customers' reading choices. <BR/><BR/>Of course, everything can be found online now, but in practice the vast majority of people make their reading decisions based on publicity and ubiquitous availability. It's very important that Big Publishing is desperately yearning for that Big Order from B&N for every title they publish. This shapes their decision-making.<BR/><BR/>The best evidence that B&N is effectively censoring the Big Publishers' decision-making process is that the recent Barron's article touting B&N's profitability and potential pointedly noted that B&N has achieved the goal of selling 10% self-published books. That is: B&N Publishing has got 10% of the total gross sales out of B&N bookstores. Just four years ago, the number was 3%. B&N Publishing therefore has been pushing the real publishers OUT of the retail shelf-space nationwide. (B&N Publishing does primarily reprints and genre books -- not editorially "real" books with "real" authors who get royalties, etc.) <BR/><BR/>So -- No, you're not allowed to take comfort that even if Borders kiosks in Wal-Mart do become the future way Americans get books, "at least we're reading books". Because the editorial content of those books will have been pre-shaped by the publishers to ensure the books CAN be sold in Wal-Mart.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18086590.post-1161881631017915532006-10-26T12:53:00.000-04:002006-10-26T12:53:00.000-04:00I think your discussion about urban planning, comm...I think your discussion about urban planning, commercial developers, and indie bookstores as a moral project was fascinating! Coming from a family of "smart growth" planners, I'm hyper sensitive to (read: biased against) big time commercial developers who make only token efforts to learn what communities want and need. There's no question that big box stores allow for a quick and easy profit for developers in a way that small indie businesses of any sort cannot. <BR/><BR/>But having said that, I'm not sure positioning indie bookstores as nonprofits is a useful idea. First of all, let's not forget that the nonprofit sector has plenty of its own infrastructural problems, and may not be the best (or even a short-term sustainable) model to follow. Secondly, the pat argument against the need for protected community-based, minimally commercial reading/literary communities is that they already exist, in the form of public libraries. And finally, I think we need to find a way to make small businesses of all types sustainable. <BR/><BR/>I don't think we can afford as a society to let niche or countercultural markets become absorbed by (inter)national conglomerates. I believe in Jane Jacobs's theories about mixed use, mixed income, pedestrian friendly neighborhoods, which are threatened by box stores' provision of one-stop-shopping. Granted, it's a middle/upper class privilege to suggest that everyone should take 3 hours out of their day to stop at small local groceries, coffee shops, bookstores, etc. and pay a premium for the experience to boot...but I like to think there's a middle ground to be found between quick-cheap-easy and culturally-rich-and-sustainable.<BR/><BR/>But maybe I'm just a snob, and Borders kiosks in Walmart is the way to go? After all, if we can't figure out a way to get an indie bookshop on every corner, are we allowed to take some solace in the fact that the Evil Empire, massive outlets of The Man at least get more of the populace reading?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18086590.post-1161881448116211712006-10-26T12:50:00.000-04:002006-10-26T12:50:00.000-04:00I think your discussion about urban planning, comm...I think your discussion about urban planning, commercial developers, and indie bookstores as a moral project was fascinating! Coming from a family of "smart growth" planners, I'm hyper sensitive to (read: biased against) big time commercial developers who make only token efforts to learn what communities want and need. There's no question that big box stores allow for a quick and easy profit for developers in a way that small indie businesses of any sort cannot. <BR/><BR/>But having said that, I'm not sure positioning indie bookstores as nonprofits is a useful idea. First of all, let's not forget that the nonprofit sector has plenty of its own infrastructural problems, and may not be the best (or even a short-term sustainable) model to follow. Secondly, the pat argument against the need for protected community-based, minimally commercial reading/literary communities is that they already exist, in the form of public libraries. And finally, I think we need to find a way to make small businesses of all types sustainable. <BR/><BR/>I don't think we can afford as a society to let niche or countercultural markets become absorbed by (inter)national conglomerates. I believe in Jane Jacobs's theories about mixed use, mixed income, pedestrian friendly neighborhoods, which are threatened by box stores' provision of one-stop-shopping. Granted, it's a middle/upper class privilege to suggest that everyone should take 3 hours out of their day to stop at small local groceries, coffee shops, bookstores, etc. and pay a premium for the experience to boot...but I like to think there's a middle ground to be found between quick-cheap-easy and culturally-rich-and-sustainable.<BR/><BR/>But maybe I'm just a snob, and Borders kiosks in Walmart is the way to go? After all, if we can't figure out a way to get an indie bookshop on every corner, are we allowed to take some solace in the fact that the Evil Empire, massive outlets of The Man at least get more of the populace reading?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com