Comments on: Should Bookstores Be Publishers Too? http://ereads.com/2009/06/should-bookstores-be-publishers-too.html Read the latest publishing news and provocative blogs by top commentators in the traditional and digital publishing fields. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:29:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Anonymous http://ereads.com/2009/06/should-bookstores-be-publishers-too.html/comment-page-1#comment-97 Anonymous Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:27:43 +0000 http://ereadsdev.com/?p=639#comment-97 You should be aware that the UK online bookseller The Book Depository publishes books through its imprint Dodo Press, over 10,000individual titles last year. You should be aware that the UK online bookseller The Book Depository publishes books through its imprint Dodo Press, over 10,000individual titles last year.

]]> By: MPW http://ereads.com/2009/06/should-bookstores-be-publishers-too.html/comment-page-1#comment-96 MPW Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:12:11 +0000 http://ereadsdev.com/?p=639#comment-96 I think that the B&N example, while understandably disturbing for small presses, is highly understandable in the light of most publishers' lack of support for bricks and mortar stores.<br /><br />Amazon, without the overheads, with huge market share, and with the ability to drive traffic directly to its own titles is an altogether different beast.<br /><br />As for Amazon's future moves in terms of cutting out publishers, engaging authors directly, moving into various formats etc... all you have to ask is this 'In the medium to long term is there profit in it?'<br /><br />Looking at certain sectors of publishing you'd have to say that there is money to be made, and Amazon, being Amazon, will want a bigger slice of that. I think that the B&N example, while understandably disturbing for small presses, is highly understandable in the light of most publishers' lack of support for bricks and mortar stores.

Amazon, without the overheads, with huge market share, and with the ability to drive traffic directly to its own titles is an altogether different beast.

As for Amazon's future moves in terms of cutting out publishers, engaging authors directly, moving into various formats etc… all you have to ask is this 'In the medium to long term is there profit in it?'

Looking at certain sectors of publishing you'd have to say that there is money to be made, and Amazon, being Amazon, will want a bigger slice of that.

]]> By: Chris Hamilton-Emery http://ereads.com/2009/06/should-bookstores-be-publishers-too.html/comment-page-1#comment-95 Chris Hamilton-Emery Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:41:37 +0000 http://ereadsdev.com/?p=639#comment-95 One has to put this into some additional context, that publishers are also booksellers: most publishers sell direct to consumers and mulching sites like Authonomy build direct relationships and monetise the slush pile. I think it's important to consider the changes and fluctuations in the whole book industry. The anxieties around the pressure of large aggregators like Amazon and Google are dependent to a large extent on the "tap of content" and that can be switched off or diverted. With the increasing emergence of sites which aggregate the aggregators it'll be possible to level out the playing field and create great visibility for publishers large and small as booksellers/content providers. It may yet be the case that those with expertise in writers, rather than books, will win through in the content game. After all writers also yearn for critical reception as much as sales and we've not seen any aggregator want to get their hands dirty and have actual one to one relationships with writers. It's largely a programmatic issue of shovelling content through mills right now. Publishing will always remain a people business. One has to put this into some additional context, that publishers are also booksellers: most publishers sell direct to consumers and mulching sites like Authonomy build direct relationships and monetise the slush pile. I think it's important to consider the changes and fluctuations in the whole book industry. The anxieties around the pressure of large aggregators like Amazon and Google are dependent to a large extent on the "tap of content" and that can be switched off or diverted. With the increasing emergence of sites which aggregate the aggregators it'll be possible to level out the playing field and create great visibility for publishers large and small as booksellers/content providers. It may yet be the case that those with expertise in writers, rather than books, will win through in the content game. After all writers also yearn for critical reception as much as sales and we've not seen any aggregator want to get their hands dirty and have actual one to one relationships with writers. It's largely a programmatic issue of shovelling content through mills right now. Publishing will always remain a people business.

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