In a recent American study by book data specialist Bowker, bookstores were second only to favourite authors as the most important source of new book discovery. Few booksellers would find this surprising. What perhaps is surprising is that bookstores achieved this ranking with just 19% of book buyers nominating them. Bowker’s study identified 44 sources… Continue reading A lesson from tech history points to a thriving future role for bookshops
Category: bookselling
Clean sweep for Kobo in the New Zealand market
Kobo pulled off an almost-clean sweep of the New Zealand market when it announced at the Frankfurt Book Fair this week partnerships with the two major bookstore chains Whitcoulls and Paper Plus, and the independent bookseller members of the Booksellers Association. The deal could see Kobo tying up well over 80% of the bricks and… Continue reading Clean sweep for Kobo in the New Zealand market
Tune your website for digital marketing
In spite of the hype surrounding social media, a website remains the central hub for most digital marketing. But its effectiveness depends on it being properly set up for this purpose. Often it’s not. So here are a few ways to make your website more effective as a marketing tool.Anyone can access it, it’s visible to… Continue reading Tune your website for digital marketing
Hard questions for booksellers as ebook efforts face setbacks
The following post is reproduced from my column in the May 2012 edition of News on Bookselling, the magazine of the Australian Booksellers Association. Booksellers were dealt two blows last month in their efforts to carve out a slice of the ebook market. The agency pricing model began to fall apart. And Google cancelled its… Continue reading Hard questions for booksellers as ebook efforts face setbacks
Google pulls the plug on eBook resellers including Dymocks and Booktopia
In a pre-holiday announcement on its blog, Google quietly pulled the plug on its attempt to help booksellers to sell ebooks: it announced the end of its reseller programme in which Google provided the technology for booksellers to sell ebooks from their own websites. The move affects partners in the US, Canada, the UK and… Continue reading Google pulls the plug on eBook resellers including Dymocks and Booktopia
Hard work of publisher restructuring begins – and the #1 reason many will fail
Technology researcher Forrester released a survey of US publishing executives yesterday which uncovered an interesting disconnect: 82% were optimistic about the digital transition of books, but only 28% thought their own company would be stronger as a result. The explanation? “Publishers have started to do the hard work of making the digital transition and they’re… Continue reading Hard work of publisher restructuring begins – and the #1 reason many will fail
Australian ebook buyers offered choices aplenty this Christmas
Australian readers will have few reasons not to join the ebook revolution this Christmas as a host of offerings come on stream. The past year has seen major strides in the key areas of local availability, price, ease of use and ease of purchase. “This Christmas will be a very important one for ebooks in… Continue reading Australian ebook buyers offered choices aplenty this Christmas
Google Ebooks launches in Australia with Dymocks, Booktopia as partners
Almost a year after it launched in the US, Google has opened its ebooks business to Australian readers through partnerships with national bookselling chain Dymocks and online bookseller Booktopia. The two sites went live today and will bring “hundreds of thousands” of ebooks to Australian customers. A search of the Dymocks site shows 148,000 titles… Continue reading Google Ebooks launches in Australia with Dymocks, Booktopia as partners
Publishers, here’s how to stop Apple and why you should do it now
When the mightiest online retailer in the world, Amazon, has to bow to Apple’s demands and cut ties to its ebookstore in the Kindle app, we know we’re facing a big problem. Retailers have lost an important battle to stop Apple turning its hardware dominance into control over content sales. It’s now time for publishers to… Continue reading Publishers, here’s how to stop Apple and why you should do it now
Kobo, Google, other ebookstores bumped from iPhone and iPad
I went to update the Kobo app on my iPad this morning but stopped when I saw what has changed. The main reason for the update is to cut access to the Kobo ebookstore from within the reading app. Instead, you have to fire up a separate browser, go to their store and make the purchase outside the… Continue reading Kobo, Google, other ebookstores bumped from iPhone and iPad