W. Witch asked some entrepreneurs about reviving independent bookstores and recorded her conversation with one strong entrepreneur and author.
Books can be bought cheaply and efficiently from too many people other than the independent bookstores. They, the bookstores, need to figure out what they can provide OTHER than books, while still revolving AROUND books, that CANNOT be provided by the others—and figure out a way to charge for THAT.
Service and recommendations aren’t enough, so how does a bookseller figure out where the frontier is in order to cross it? Ask readers and consumers what interests them.
That sounds like a long, hard road with many potential detours. For my part as a non-businessman who doesn’t understand making money, I’ve wondered about the profitability of an audiobook kiosk in a store which would allow a person to purchase and download audiobook MP3s to his player. Perhaps that would best fit a travel or tourist market in which customers don’t necessarily have all of their resources on hand to buy audiobooks through a website.
Another idea I’ve had is personalized dedications printed in nice editions of classic books. A store could work out a system with a local printer to have preprinted or custom printed dedications available as well as fine editions of popular classics (or maybe any nice book) for people to select and personalize as special gifts to students, visionaries, and book lovers.
And I won’t repeat my store marketing suggestion: Overpriced Books (Got Money to Burn? Spend It with Us.)
Phil,
I read the article. Sounds like everything I said last week.
How do they win? Think anything that can’t be cost or Internet related. Human contact is one area.
Nothing is without cost, and I believe I’ve heard of stores having success with internet cafes or dedicated computer space for local writers.
If you want a key, it’s localization. What do the shoppers/readers in the local area want? What local artistry and humanities work can a store support?
That store in Pennsylvania holds jewelry and craft shows to draw people in, but they still sell more books than anything else. I suppose the local people liked that kind of thing. I agree with you that the humanity of a store can be a great part of its success, but that isn’t what draws in new people; it’s what brings people back.
I agree that localization is the best idea. A music store in my city used to (they may still) accept zines and CDs from locals on a consignment basis. The process was standardized and fairly quick. Local products were exposed and the store got its percentage.
And there are so many people working as musicians, writers and artists that it would be an excellent way in general to process and provide an outlet for the so-called glut of works–maybe even something in the way of a farm system.
John, what do you mean by farm system?
I think promoting self-published local writers, artists, and musicians has appeal, though it could get crazy.
What do you think about a bookseller publishing a literary newspaper/newsletter? Not the typical store catalog, but real articles and reviews.
A newsletter would be good although I doubt it would have much effect on business.
By farm system, I meant the system of minor leagues developing players for the majors. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farm_system
Oh. I wasn’t thinking in those terms. That is a good idea, though publishers may prefer something closer to fiefdom like a ghost writing system where an editor is written for by a team of unknowns.