With Barnes & Noble confirming that it continues to continue shutting down around 15 stores/year, it might seem to some like the day of the bricks-and-mortar bookseller is fading. But apparently, consumers aren’t just going online to buy their books — they’re also going to independent stores. [More]
books
Is Barnes & Noble Hurting Its Stores By Not Price-Matching Its Own Website?
By 12.26.12
Barnes & Noble’s website allows customers to reserve a book for in-store pick-up rather than buy it online, but bn.com does its best to gloss over the fact that you could be charged more for the book at the store, leading to angry customers who use B&N as a showroom for its own website. [More]
We’re Pretty Sure That A ‘Book’ Should Have More Than One Page
By 12.11.12
The first definition of the word “book” in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary is “a set of written sheets of skin or paper or tablets of wood or ivory.” A set. Doesn’t that mean more than one? Maybe e-books are forcing us to redefine what we believe about a book is and how it ought to behave, but there are a few things that are non-negotiable. Doug thinks that the “more than one page” thing is kind of non-negotiable. His child picked out a book from Barnes & Noble’s Nook store that turned out to be more of a leaflet. [More]
Here’s Why Digital Rights Management Is Stupid And Anti-Consumer
By 11.26.12
Comparisons of downloadable books and music to their ancient, tangible predecessors are an old, old meme, but sometimes the comparison applies. For example: if reader Synimatik had bought a paperback book a few months ago and picked it up to read now, the book’s pages wouldn’t magically glue shut just because the credit card she normally uses at the bookstore has expired. That’s how it works when you want to read a book downloaded from Barnes & Noble, though. [More]
Bookstore Combats E-Books With One Thing Your Kindle Can’t Offer
By 11.13.12
Whatever benefits an e-book might have over its print counterpart, and no matter how close digital media gets to ink-on-paper, there is one thing that downloaded copy of Moby Dick can’t offer to some readers: The collectable factor. [More]
Amazon Keeps Sending Me Dinged-Up Graphic Novels
By 9.26.12
Yes, buying used books can save a lot of money, but Spencer went to the trouble and expense to buy a new copy of the trade paperback he wanted from Amazon. A Star Wars graphic novel, thank you very much. Only Amazon was unable to send any books to him in mint condition, or without getting banged up in the box or puny padded envelope. [More]
Here's How To Get A Refund If You Don't Want A Book With Fake Bob Dylan Quotes
By 8.1.12
As we mentioned yesterday, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the publishers of Jonah Lehrer’s Imagine, have pulled the book from physical shelves as well as online retailers and in e-book form, after he admitted to making up Bob Dylan quotes. And in case you don’t want to hang on to your copy just for giggles, there’s good news — you’ll get your money back. [More]
Gifting An E-Book From Kobo: No Book, No Help
By 1.3.12
Kris purchased the new biography of Steve Jobs through the Kobo e-bookstore as a gift for his dad, but here’s the trouble with buying an e-book: no one knows where it went, and no one at Kobo is capable of helping him. The Kindle version cost $3 more, but actually worked. [More]
Where To Get Free Books For Your E-Reader
By 11.29.11
If you went out on Black Friday and snagged a cheap e-reader, it’s time to load it up with as many free e-books as it can hold. The amount of free stuff out there is astounding, ranging from public domain classics to new releases you can borrow from libraries. [More]
Sam's Club Pulls Lego Bible Due To Complaints
By 11.25.11
The author of The Brick Bible, which uses Lego blocks to tell biblical stories, says Sam’s Club has yanked his product from shelves because customers complained it is too vulgar and violent. He says he feels as though he’s being singled out because his book simply contains literal depictions of Bible stories. [More]
Amazon Marketplace Seller Bombards Me With Free Textbooks
By 11.17.11
Earlier this month, Tom ordered a microbiology textbook from the Amazon Marketplace. It arrived in the mail later that week, and everything was fine. Then he received another copy of the book the next day. Then a third, and a fourth. All of the books were identical, and his credit card was only charged for the first one. What was going on here? More importantly, what was he supposed to do with the extra textbooks? [More]
100,000 "Atlas Shrugged" DVDs Recalled
By 11.11.11
100,000 “Atlas Shrugged” DVDs have been recalled for an important danger they posed to unwary consumers: the title sheet suggested that viewers help someone out besides themselves. [More]
Amazon Considering Netflix-Like Service For Ebooks
By 9.13.11
The future of reading may involve shelling out a subscription fee to access an infinitely long electronic bookshelf. Amazon is reportedly in talks to launch such an endeavor, attaching it to its premium, $79-a-year Amazon Prime program. [More]
Ikea Redesigns Bookshelf To Hold More Non-Book Items
By 9.12.11
Who needs a bookshelf with important, leather-bound books when you have so many other trinkets to store on shelves? Ikea is taking note of the move toward e-books and has responded to the increasingly electronic world by redesigning its BILLY bookshelf as more of a just, you know, things-shelf. [More]
Google+ Circle Forms Jobs Blog For Ex-Borders Workers
By 7.28.11
Borders shutting down means 11,000 nice bookworms are out of a job. That’s a pretty sad thought so a couple of friends started musing together on Google+ about how someone should help these folks out. So they started a new blog, “Help Ex-Borders Employees” where people can post job listings for these newly unemployed. [More]
Library Grants Thousands Of Kids Fine Amnesty To Get Them Reading Again
By 7.25.11
It might not be a big deal in the scheme of granting pardons, but for more than 140,000 kids with overdue fees of $15 or more in New York public libraries, amnesty means they’ll get to take books out again — if they participate in the library’s summer reading program. [More]
Borders CEO's Goodbye Email To His Customers
By 7.22.11
Mike Edwards, the CEO of the liquidating Borders bookstores emailed a farewell note to all Borders Rewards Members last night. In it, he looked back at the over 40 years of bookselling and imagination-stoking the chain has done and explained why they were closing down. Beyond the sentiments, he also explained some important things you’ll want to know if you want to buy some books from them before they close their doors for good. [More]
Indie Bookstores Starting To Charge Admission To Author Events
By 6.23.11
Literature lovers who are used to hitting up book readings and signings as free entertainment may be in for a wallet shock. Some independent bookstores, which are trying to scrounge up revenue in the tough economy, have taken to charging for the events. [More]
