If you’ve ever worked in a bookstore, you’re probably intimate with the practice of pulping mass market paperbacks. Publishers reimburse booksellers for inventory they don’t sell, but paperbacks are so cheap to produce that it would cost more to return them than to throw them away. Instead, stores tear off the covers, mail those back as proof of unsold inventory, and throw the books in the trash. [More]
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Goodreads: A Better Alternative To Amazon's User Reviews
By 1.18.10
Amazon’s user reviews for books are problematic because they serve more than one master. They’re meant to help inform consumers, sure, but they’re also meant to drive sales, and sometimes they’re even used by angry consumers as a form of protest. If you’re looking for more honest feedback on books, try Goodreads. [More]
Are Corporate Boards Ruining American Businesses? This Book Says Yes
By 1.15.10
The new book Money for Nothing looks at corporate boards: how they’re frequently hand-picked and ruled by the CEOs they’re supposed to keep in check, how they’re sidelined by various conflicts of interest and lack of accountability, and how the worst ones have massively screwed shareholders. [More]
Home Improvement Books Recalled
By 1.8.10
The publisher of a series of home improvement books has announced a recall of nine of them, because of errors in their instructions on installing or repairing electrical wiring. The Consumer Products Safety Commission says no injuries have been reported so far even though the books have been published since 1975, which I think proves that nobody has ever actually attempted a project from any home improvement book. [More]
Borders Crushes Employee Morale To Push Copies Of "Piano Teacher"
By 1.6.10
There is some sort of epic battle going on inside Zone #5 of dying book seller Borders to move as many units of the novel The Piano Teacher as possible. And goddamnit, people are just not pulling their weight, according to a string of emails from Zone VP Mike’s demoralized underlings posted on LiveJournal: “To the GMs of these 16 stores, thanks for nothing. Had you managed your inventory, processed your freight and/or effectively executed a simple expectation (SELL at least one Make/Key ITEM EVERY DAY), your team (Zone 5) would have won…If you can deliver we will finish one, one-hundreth of a percent ahead of Zone 3 for PTD sales of Piano Teacher. If not, we lose…again.” [More]
Borders Gets Into Ebook Business, Relaunches Shortcovers As Kobo Books
By 12.16.09
Shortcovers, an ebook retailer that I recommended to a Sony Reader owner last month, has morphed into something called kobobooks.com, and it’s now partially owned by Borders. If you own an ereader other than a Kindle, or if you read ebooks primarily on a smartphone, you might want to add it to your list of sources for ebooks. [More]
Apple And Audible Refuse To Sell Author's Audiobooks Without DRM Or Abusive Licensing Agreement
By 12.11.09
Cory Doctorow is self-publishing a book and documenting the process for Publishers Weekly. His latest column is about selling audiobook versions of his past works, and how both Apple and Audible have refused to budge on their anti-consumer policies when it comes to digital rights management (DRM) and end user license agreements (EULAs). Even though both companies get paid the same either way, and even though both Doctorow and his publisher, Random House, want to sell the content without these restrictions, Apple and Audible have said no. [More]
Gift Idea: A Book About Money
By 12.8.09
Books on managing your money better are an especially apt holiday gift this year. If you need some ideas, Vanguard recommends these 16 books. Mastering your personal finances, the gift that keeps on giving. [More]
Free Thanksgiving Tips Book Download
By 11.18.09
Here’s a free Thanksgiving-themed PDF booklet from Money Management International, a non-profit that focuses on financial literacy. The booklet contains some guidelines on how to plan out the big event, how to save money on decor, and tips on shopping and saving money.
Barnes & Noble Says They'll Accept Gift Cards For Ebooks Before Christmas
By 11.16.09
Apparently Barnes & Noble meant it when they said that they were looking into the gift card issue for ebook purchases. Currently, B&N gift cards can’t be used to buy ebooks, but a new post on one of the company’s blogs says that should change by mid-December.
Borders To Close 200 Bookstores
By 11.6.09
Borders announced that 200 of their stores will be, in the words of their CEO, “right-sized” by January. The shredding focuses on Waldenbooks, Borders Express and Borders Outlet stores, mainly those in malls and airports. We kinda saw this coming.
Walmart, Amazon, Target Rationing Below-Cost Books To Keep Independent Bookstores From Cashing In
By 10.30.09
Independent book stores can’t even buy new releases for the low prices that Target, Walmart, and Amazon are offering them to the public — which has led to rationing in order to keep the independents from buying and reselling the books at a profit.
A Stingy Scoundrel Explains How To Save On Groceries By Price-Matching
By 10.19.09
I wrote a (hopefully) humorous money-saving book called Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel: 100 Dirty Little Money-Grubbing Secrets. The New York Post called it “required reading” Sunday, although not everyone’s a fan.
Walmart Now Offering New Hardcovers For $9
By 10.16.09
Walmart just tried to undercut Amazon on, of all things, books. They’ve announced that they’re now selling the “top 10 pre-selling books” for $9 each, with free home delivery. Amazon has responded by dropping its price to $9 on the same titles, but their free shipping doesn’t kick in until you buy $25 worth of merchandise (or pay the annual fee for Amazon Prime). Price war!
"Millionaire By 30" Shares His Saving Secrets
By 10.3.09
Through a combination of extreme cheapness, hard work, and determination, Alan Corey became a millionaire at an age when most of us are still trying to figure out how to start paying back our student loans. How did he do it? He shared some of his saving secrets with Mainstreet.com, and they’re useful whether you aspire to wealth or just need more money to pay down debts.
Now In Stores: Video/Book Hybrids
By 10.2.09
Great news if you enjoy books, but have the puny attention span of a person raised on television and the Interne—oh, look at the kitten!
"So Sue Me, Jackass!" Provides Random Legal Advice In Humor Book Format
By 10.1.09
Here’s a new book that focuses on those random questions people always have about how the law pertains to everyday activities. You know, things like starting your own online porn site, burying a pet, or selling your ex-boyfriend’s things on eBay.
Florida State Universities Launch Free Digital Textbook Program
By 9.30.09
If you’re going to school at a Florida state university, your fee burden just grew a little bit lighter:
