Entries tagged with “borders” from Tools of Change for Publishing
Tracking Amazon's Dominance in the Book Industry
Mac Slocum
October 17, 2008
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Morris Rosenthal says retail figures point to Amazon eclipsing Barnes & Nobles in U.S. book sales this year:
The book selling wars that began four decades ago with the rise of the mall chains, followed by the growing power of the Barnes & Noble, Borders and BAM superstore chains, has been won by Amazon. Amazon sales are on track for double-digit gains again this year, aided in part by high fuel prices discouraging trips to the regional superstores that have replaced so many local bookstores. Amazon's North American growth in media sales (books, music and movies) may exceed the incredible 23% gain they turned in last year. Amazon is on pace to sell more books in the US than the entire Barnes & Noble chain in 2008, even allowing for a higher music and video mix. If you add Amazon's international stores to the mix, they will easily sell more books than Barnes & Nobles plus Borders this year.
TOC Recommended Reading
Mac Slocum
October 16, 2008
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In Defense of Piracy (Lawrence Lessig, Wall Street Journal)
The return of this "remix" culture could drive extraordinary economic growth, if encouraged, and properly balanced. It could return our culture to a practice that has marked every culture in human history -- save a few in the developed world for much of the 20th century -- where many create as well as consume. And it could inspire a deeper, much more meaningful practice of learning for a generation that has no time to read a book, but spends scores of hours each week listening, or watching or creating, "media."
Where is everybody? (Joe Wikert, TeleRead)
"If you build it, they will come" only works in the movies. If they really want to succeed Borders needs to do something beyond just making all this technology available in the store. Where are the in-store events (e.g., come let us help you research your family name, come see the latest e-book technologies, etc.)? How about signage in other areas of the store that promotes the tech kiosk area?
Mass book digitization: The deeper story of Google Books and the Open Content Alliance (Kalev Leetaru, First Monday)
Both projects offer the ability to search within a particular work, but only Google offers the ability to search across its entire collection. A search across the OCA archive only searches titles and description fields, not the full text of works. The OCA system thus offers a document-centric model, while Google offers both document and collection-based models, allowing broad exploratory searches of its entire holdings: the equivalent of being able to "full text search" a library. The importance of this difference cannot be understated in the limitations it places on the ability of patrons to interact with the OCA collections.
News Roundup: B&N Won't Buy Borders, Kindle Roadblocks and Sightings, Pirates Convince Game Developer to Drop DRM
Mac Slocum
August 15, 2008
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Report: No Borders Bid for Barnes & Noble
It looks like Barnes & Noble won't acquire Borders after all. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) says B&N is changing course from earlier this year and will not submit a bid for Borders.
Kindle Projections, Roadblocks and Sightings
Theresa Poletti from MarketWatch comments on the relative absence of Kindle sightings, particularly in Silicon Valley:
The biggest problem is the fact that the Kindle is only available online, via the Amazon.com Website. For many consumer electronics products, potential buyers need to touch and feel the device, to pick it up and play with it, before making any kind of purchasing commitment ... (Continue reading)
Pirates Convince Game Developer to Drop DRM
"Why do people pirate my games?"
Game developer Cliff Harris recently posed this question on his blog and the onslaught of responses caught him (and his blog host) by surprise. Harris offers some interesting conclusions, but most notable is this passage on digital rights management (DRM):
People don't like DRM, we knew that, but the extent to which DRM is turning away people who have no other complaints is possibly misunderstood. If you wanted to change ONE thing to get more pirates to buy games, scrapping DRM is it. These gamers are the low hanging fruit of this whole debate.
Harris says his company will no longer use DRM on its games.
Report: No Borders Bid for Barnes & Noble
Mac Slocum
August 14, 2008
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It looks like Barnes & Noble won't acquire Borders after all. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) says B&N is changing course from earlier this year and will not submit a bid for Borders.
News Roundup: Borders Cuts 274 Positions, Kindle Hacks, Google Taking Long View on Book Search
Mac Slocum
June 6, 2008
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Borders is cutting 274 jobs, with most of the hit being absorbed by corporate groups within the company's Ann Arbor, Mich. headquarters. From Publishers Weekly:
Borders stressed that with a few exceptions none of the cuts came at the store level and a spokesperson said there are no plans to reduce the number of store employees. The cuts represented about 20% of Borders's corporate positions but only 1% of its total workforce. (Continue reading)
Reversing Everything popped the hood on the Kindle and poked around the underlying software. If you like to tinker (and don't mind putting devices in peril), this three-part Kindle series is worth a look.
Google Taking Long View on Book Search
With Microsoft abandoning Live Search Books, eWEEK turns the spotlight on Google Book Search:
... the smart strategy would be for Google to advance its effort from the "not-too-distant future" to the present. Google can pretty much corner the market at this point. Google was asked by eWEEK when it could expect to see some Book Search results, but the spokesperson declined to comment.
(Continue reading)
Borders Sells Stores in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore
Mac Slocum
June 5, 2008
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From Shelf Awareness:
Borders Group has sold its stores in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore to A&R Whitcoulls, the major Australian and New Zealand bookseller that is owned by private equity firm Pacific Equity Partners. The deal is valued at US $104 million (about $90 million now and up to $14 million in deferred payments next year) and should close next week.
Borders Cuts 274 Positions
Peter Brantley
June 3, 2008
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Borders is cutting 274 jobs, with most of the hit being absorbed by corporate groups within the company's Ann Arbor, Mich. headquarters. From Publishers Weekly:
Borders stressed that with a few exceptions none of the cuts came at the store level and a spokesperson said there are no plans to reduce the number of store employees. The cuts represented about 20% of Borders's corporate positions but only 1% of its total workforce.
The cuts are part of Borders' move to reduce expenses by $120 million over the next year and a half, PW reports.
Late last month, Barnes & Noble said it is studying a possible acquisition of Borders.
News Roundup: Kindle Price Drop and Rough Title Figures, Borders Goes Solo on New Web Site, Long-Term Google Questions
Mac Slocum
May 30, 2008
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Kindle Bits: Price Drop and Rough Title Sales Figures
Speaking at the D6 Conference, Jeff Bezos offered a glimpse into the Kindle's sales impact. From D6 Highlights:
On a title-by-title basis, [Bezos] says, Kindle unit sales now account for more than 6% of Amazon book sales for the 120,000 titles that are available on Kindle.
Amazon has also dropped the Kindle's price by $40 to $359. (Continue reading.)
Borders Goes Solo on New Web Site
Borders has separated its e-commerce offerings from Amazon and opened its own Web site. From the New York Times:
The new Borders site offers plenty to like, such as the Flash video-based "magic shelf" on the main page that recreates the experience of browsing the tables of new books at the entrance to stores. The site also ties in with the Borders reward card program and the physical book search kiosks in most Borders outlets, and offers video of author book signings and book discussion groups. (Continue Reading.)
Long-Term Questions Around Google and Content
Martyn Daniels offers long-view questions around Google's copying of content from publisher books:
Publishers have in many cases argued it is healthy to give them [Google] content as they drive up sales, others that they are stealing it. Whatever your viewpoint the question that must be answered is what do they intend to do with it tomorrow? Will they always us it as they do today? Can they re assign it to others, either in part or whole? Can the copyright owner revert rights, given or taken, if the copyright ownership of the original work changes? Can the originator object? History is littered with cases where the result was not what people expected to happen at the beginning and where market dominance created a new venture not previously envisaged.
Borders Goes Solo on New Web Site
Mac Slocum
May 27, 2008
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Borders has separated its e-commerce offerings from Amazon and opened its own Web site. From the New York Times:
The new Borders site offers plenty to like, such as the Flash video-based "magic shelf" on the main page that recreates the experience of browsing the tables of new books at the entrance to stores. The site also ties in with the Borders reward card program and the physical book search kiosks in most Borders outlets, and offers video of author book signings and book discussion groups.
The launch of Borders.com comes as the retailer tries to navigate through unsettled conditions. In March, the company hired outside firms to explore business alternatives, including a sale. More recently, Barnes & Noble said it is studying a possible Borders acquisition.
News Roundup: Apple vs. Kindle?, OLPC 2.0 as an E-Reader, B&N Studying Borders Acquisition
Mac Slocum
May 23, 2008
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Will Apple Challenge the Kindle?
Rex Hammock re-launches consideration of why Apple would give Amazon a run for ebook readers and content distribution:
... a slightly larger iPod Touch [view concept image] linked to eBooks distributed via the iTunes store would match and raise the game with Amazon. (Continue reading.)
Next Generation OLPC: E-Reader in Waiting?
[Nicholas] Negroponte didn't share many details about the XO-2's hardware, but the new system has two touch-sensitive displays. As you can see from the video and the pictures, the XO-2 will be much smaller than the original machine (half the size, according to the press release) and will have a foldable e-book form factor. “The next generation laptop should be a book,” Negroponte said. (Continue reading.)
B&N Considering Borders Acquisition
When Borders announced its exploration of "strategic alternatives" in March, speculation marked Barnes & Noble as a possible suitor. The Wall Street Journal says B&N is taking that speculation seriously -- it's assembled an advisory team to study an acquisition of its brick-and-mortar competitor. (Continue reading.)
B&N Considering Borders Acquisition
Mac Slocum
May 21, 2008
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When Borders announced its exploration of "strategic alternatives" in March, speculation marked Barnes & Noble as a possible suitor. The Wall Street Journal says B&N is taking that speculation seriously -- it's assembled an advisory team to study an acquisition of its brick-and-mortar competitor. From the WSJ:
That Barnes & Noble is contemplating a bid illustrates how competitive book retailing has become ... Not only have Amazon and other Web retailers taken a significant portion of the $15 billion consumer book business, but also book sales have shown little real growth in recent years.
Roundup: Free Doesn't Always Apply, Kindle's Ebook Impact, Indie Bookstores and Chains Face Same Competitor, UK Publishers and Amazon in Price Battle, Borders Gets a Better Deal
Mac Slocum
April 11, 2008
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Free Doesn't Work for Every Company
From Peter Brantley: Hank Williams of Why Does Everything Suck? does an informal economic critique of Chris Anderson's "things tend to free" hypothesis:
"Some of you will argue that Google does fine based purely on advertising. But just because one company can commoditize everyone else's work and make pennies on things that used to generate dollars, is that sustainable across the whole economy? Or would we really be reducing the overall amount of money flowing into the digital market and therefore to the overall labor force?" (Continue reading ...)
An Educated Guess at Kindle's Impact
Kindle sales figures aren't available and the devices are still sold out, but the Associated Press notes a connection between the Kindle's Nov. '07 release and an uptick in ebook sales across the industry:
Publishing officials are reluctant to discuss sales figures, but say that they have seen double digit increases in e-book sales since the Kindle's release, including renewed interest in downloads on the Sony Reader.
Independent Booksellers and Chains Face Big-Box Competitors
Looks like the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" maxim is coming in to play with the increased attention big-box retailers are giving to books. Small indie booksellers and chain stores, such as Borders and B&N, are feeling the pinch from big-box store markdowns. From the Washington Post:
Costco, Target, Wal-Mart and Sam's Club aren't just moving in for the kill with big discounts on the latest Stephen King or John Grisham page-turners. They are also engaging the culturally connected, targeting readers who delight in cocktail or book-club conversation about the latest titles. About 34 percent of book buyers made purchases at such locations last year, according to the Simmons National Consumer Survey.
Publishers and Amazon Locked in Price War
The UK's Times Online says Penguin, Bloomsbury and other publishers are trying to woo customers with steep discounts on their own Web sites. Amazon isn't happy about the cuts:
There are fears that Amazon may retaliate by regarding a publisher’s online price as the recommended retail price and applying its trading terms to that. If a publisher discounts a £20 book to £15 online and Amazon has a contract for a 50 percent discount on the full price, Amazon would pay the company £7.50 instead of £10. Publishers say that this would be unfair and could ultimately drive up prices.
Borders has revised its $42.5 million loan with Pershing Square Capital Management. According to The Bookseller, the loan interest rate has been reduced from 12.5 percent to 9.8 percent. Pershing has also boosted its backup offer for Borders' international operations to $135 million.
Borders Gets a Better Deal
Mac Slocum
April 8, 2008
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Borders has revised its $42.5 million loan with Pershing Square Capital Management. According to The Bookseller, the loan interest rate has been reduced from 12.5 percent to 9.8 percent. Pershing has also boosted its backup offer for Borders' international operations to $135 million.
Independent Booksellers and Chains Face Big-Box Competitors
Mac Slocum
April 8, 2008
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Looks like the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" maxim is coming in to play with the increased attention big-box retailers are giving to books. Small indie booksellers and chain stores, such as Borders and B&N, are feeling the pinch from big-box store markdowns. From the Washington Post:
Costco, Target, Wal-Mart and Sam's Club aren't just moving in for the kill with big discounts on the latest Stephen King or John Grisham page-turners. They are also engaging the culturally connected, targeting readers who delight in cocktail or book-club conversation about the latest titles. About 34 percent of book buyers made purchases at such locations last year, according to the Simmons National Consumer Survey.
Roundup: Borders Mulling Sale, Blogs to Books
Mac Slocum
March 20, 2008
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Borders Considers Sale
The Wall Street Journal says Borders is exploring business options, including a partial or full sale. Barnes & Noble is considered a top suitor, notes DealBook.
Fractal Press Taps Blogosphere for Anthologies
Fractal Press is working with personal finance bloggers to develop a print anthology. The final product, expected in April, will be a print-on-demand book that aggregates best-of-the-blogosphere posts. Fractal Press co-founder Navanit Arakeri says authors will receive a percentage of book sales.
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