...whether they know it or not (and, at the highest levels of the biggest publishing houses, they certainly do know it) the competitive advantage of the trade publisher is inextricably dependent on the survival of brick-and-mortar shelf space for books, which is distinct from total sales of books or even total sales of print books. You don’t need an organization of the scale and capabilities of a major publisher to reach customers through online channels. And, in fact, because the biggest trade publishers are horizontal in their subject matter, their size is more of a handicap than an advantage in competing for markets online.Link via @berniecorbett
Monday, July 12, 2010
The future for book shops and publishers
On The Idea Logical blog, Mike Shatzkin considers the future for book shops and publishers.
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All very good but twice I've asked Waterstones (my local branch in Chatham) to order myself books I can order on line from their online stores and having looked at their computer screen THEY ARE UNABLE TO. They operate like two separate companies.
ReplyDeleteIt rather reminds me of that "Little Britain" sketch when the girl says, "The computer says 'no'."
Should I feel any urge in future to bother with the "bricks & mortar" store?